Having started my work life in Bombay, and spending the bulk of the working hours in South Bombay, I had ample exposure and luckily, a multitude of opportunities to partake of Parsi (from Pars; Persian) culture and the cuisine, which is a fantastic blend of Persian (Iranian) cuisine, Gujarati flavors, and riddled with Maharashtrian and British influences. The Parsis fled from Persia to India in the 17th century to escape persecution, and in the quest for religious freedom as Zoroastrians, they settled in Western India along the coast of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and are a thriving community in Bombay today
While not specifically associated with a state of India, I talked about this group of folks as being the perfect microcosmic blend of culture and cuisine, between the west (well, the middle-east to be more specific) and the east. They love eggs, potatoes and meat (this one statement had my girls grinning - this was going to be an easy conversation, with the promise of a fantastic meal at the end of it!). I continued: Almost all the vegetable dishes made from okra, tomatoes or potatoes will have eggs on top; meat preparations have potatoes in the form of ‘Salli’ (matchstick fried potatoes); even dishes like the khichdi and dhansak that have lentils (which is what they adopted from the Indian culture) is given a meaty twist to make it their own. Also, the flavor of the dishes achieved with minimal usage of spices makes it akin to Caucasian cuisine. The desserts are made from vermicelli (sevaiyan) and semolina (rava) common to most Indian desserts but with a Middle Eastern twist, laden with nuts, raisins and other dried fruits (such as plums, pomegranates, quince, prunes, apricots and the like). But more on the food later...
Worshippers of fire, the Parsi community mingled right in, but stayed as true to their ethnicity, rituals and their customs as possible, given they traversed a good distance from their roots. Most Parsis get married within their community; rarely is there an exception, and that has helped retain and reiterate the sanctity of their traditions... it was Navroz yesterday, the Parsi new year, and what better timing than today to pay my respects to this amazing community, the perfect blend between the east and middle-east. So here we are... the girls and I picked the following to celebrate and partake of the festivities:
For starters, I made Prawn cutlets (a nice crispy fritter-y finish to shrimp, enhanced with a mashed potato and some bread to give it a some structure)
Patrani Maachchi (a classic Parsi dish, with Pompfret fish coated in coconut chutney, and traditionally steamed wrapped in banana leaves), Mutton Dhansaak (an epitome of comfort food, this is a full meal onto itself - a flavorful mix of mutton, 4 varieties of lentils and vegetables, all cooked in a super medley of spices and herbs) and Jardalu na Marghi (jardalu=apricots, a chicken preparation cooked with apricots and a little bit of jaggery, to give it a sweet and savory twist), with white rice
And for dessert, Lagan nu Custard (Lagan=wedding, so literally, the wedding custard... this is a slight variation of the flan or caramel custard, but ever so yummy!)
Prawn Cutlets
What you'll need:
2 lbs deveined shrimp; 2 boiled potatoes, mashed; 2 slices white bread
2 tsp salt; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1/2 cup fried onions; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped; 1/2 tsp turmeric pd; yolk of 1 egg; 3 tblsp semolina
Oil for shallow frying
Cut the shrimp into small 1/2 inch pieces and add in the roughly mashed potatoes. Soak the slices of bread in water, then squelch the water out, and crumble the bread pieces into the shrimp and potato mixture. Now add in all the remaining ingredients, and mix well so you can make small round flat discs to fry as cutlets (note that the yolk and the semolina help with binding the shrimp with the rest of the ingredients, but you don't want to add too much of either!). Next, heat 2 tblsp of oil in a frying pan, and make small discs with the cutlet mixture, and fry gently for about 4-5 minutes on each side... and serve with green mint or coriander chutney!
Patra nu Maachchi
What you'll need:
3 pomfrets (pompano), fillets (so 6 fillets from 3 fish)
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped; 1 cup fresh mint leaves; 2 tblsp fresh coconut, grated; 4 garlic cloves; 3 green chillies, roughly chopped; 1 raw mango, cubed; 1 tblsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp sugar; juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tblsp oil; butter paper
Let me start with a confession: I cheated! I didn't have the time to go buy banana leaves, so I actually steamed the fish, wrapped in butter paper.. but the result, equally brilliant! First, you want to make a chutney with all the ingredients listed under the second bullet point above... try and use a max of 2-3 tblsp of water in the blender. Blend to a smooth mix. Now add in the lemon juice, the salt and sugar and mix well. Next, add a dash of salt to each of the fillets... take a sheet of parchment or butter paper, and spread a spoon of this chutney of the paper, place the salted fillet on the paper, and then another spoonful of the chutney spread on the top of the fillet as well. Now wrap the fish in the butter paper, like you would a parcel, and complete these steps with the remaining fillet sas well. Heat 1 tblsp of oil on a frying pan and place two of the wrapped fillets on the pan and steam the steam for about 4-5 minutes on each side... you know what a fantastic preparation this is... you'll get the fish browned and fully cooked without a drop of oil actually touching the fish :). One of the quickest, easiest, yummiest and healthiest fish entrees I've ever cooked in my life!!!
Mutton Dhansaak
What you'll need:
3 tblsp ghee (clarified butter); 1 cinnamon stick; 6-7 cloves; 2 tblsp cumin seeds; 4-5 pepper corns
2 red onions, finely sliced; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 2 tblsp ginger garlic paste; 3 green chillies, sliced in half; 1 kg mutton pieces, bone in; 1/2 aubergine, cubed; 1 cup pumpkin, cubed; 2 cups water
1/4 cup each of Toor daal, Masoor daal, Urad daal, Chana daal, soaked in water
3 tsp salt; 2 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp garam masala; 2 tsp dhansaak masala; 2 tsp coriander pd; 1 tsp cumin pd; 3 tblsp kasoori methi
Roast the whole, dry spices in the ghee until lightly browned, and the cumin seeds start spluttering. Add in the onions and saute the onions until they become a rich brown color... then add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and green chillies and saute until the tomatoes are blended in. Now add in the mutton and roast for a few minutes, until the mutton is slightly browned... follow this up with the pumpkin and aubergine, as well as the soaked lentils, topping it off with the 2 cups of water. Mix this slowly and well with a spatula, making sure that the spices and gravy coat the vegetables and mutton evenly. Lastly, add in the dry powdered spices and pressure cook on high for 40 minutes. Once the pressure has released naturally, separate the mutton and run a hand blender through the lentils and vegetables mix to make this a coarse puree. Add the mutton back in, garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with a side of kachoomber (a zesty, tangy salad made with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and onions, and a dash of salt and vinegar for the tangy flavor!)
Jardalu na Marghi
What you'll need:
2 lbs chicken, boneless, skinless thighs, cut into 2" pieces; 4 tblsp yogurt; 2 tblsp ginger garlic paste, 2 tsp salt
2 tblsp ghee (clarified butter)1 cinnamon stick; 1 tblsp cumin seeds; 3 cloves
1 red onion, thinly sliced; 1 tomato, diced; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp garam masala
7-8 pitted dried apricots; 3-4 tblsp jaggery; fresh cilantro for garnish
Marinate the chicken in the yogurt, ginger garlic paste and salt for 30-45 minutes. Heat the ghee, and roast the whole dry spices for 2-3 minutes. Add in the onions, and saute until golden brown. Add in the tomatoes and the dry powdered spices, and let the spices roast for 4-5 minutes. Spoon in the marinated chicken and mix gently with a spatula so the onion mix coats the chicken pieces evenly all around. Cook covered, for about 30-35 minutes... now add in the jaggery and the apricots - these lend a slightly sweet flavor to the chicken, and the apricots will absorb the spicy gravy and almost blend in with the chicken. Let this cook for another 10-12 minutes... your Jardalu ma Marghi (literal translation "Apricot chicken") is now ready to be served with rice.
Note that the Parsis typically serve this with brown rice, topped with some fried onions, but given how much we were going to eat for dinner, I stuck with white basmati rice instead
Lagan nu Custard
What you'll need:
2 cans evaporated milk (alternately, 1 liter of whole milk that you will need to boil and reduce the volume down to about 2/3rd); 1.5-2 cups sugar
3 eggs; 3 tsp vanilla essence; 1 tsp cardamom pd; 1/2 tsp nutmeg pd
1 cup of assorted nuts (I used raisins, slivered almonds and pistachio halves & bits)
Start by heating the evaporated milk (or the boiled, reduced milk) and dissolve the sugar, stirring all the time - you don't want the milk or the sugar to start sticking to the bottom of the pan. Switch off the stove once the sugar is dissolved. In another bowl, whisk the three eggs and add in the vanilla essence and make sure the vanilla mixes and blends perfectly with the eggs. Now add in the the cardamom and nutmeg powders. Once the milk has cooled to room temperature, add in the egg mixture slowly, whisking continuously. Add in half the nuts mix into the pan as well. Prepare a 9x9 round baking pan in a water bath, and pour the mix into this pan. Heat the oven to 350F and bake for 1.5 hours. At about the 1 hour mark, top the custard with the remaining nuts.... this is one of the simplest desserts, and yes, it truly is fit for a king's wedding! Or to ring in the new year... Navroz Mubarak!!!!
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