Parsi Food And Customs

A treasure-house of recipes and customs that define the Parsi way of life celebrations rituals and food inevitably go together. And so it is with the Parsis. From Navroz the dawn of the Parsi New Year to Navjote the initiation ceremony of a young child lagan or marriage jashans and ghambhars there is a variety of food to suit every occasion. In this unique book Bhicoo J. Manekshaw takes the reader on a journey far beyond the traditional stereotypical dhan sakh recipe. For those who love fish there is a choice of patrani machchi (fish in banana leaves) masala ni machchi or the famed tarapori patio made with sookha boomla (Bombay duck) amongst many others. The Parsi weakness for eggs on the other hand has created a range of mouth-watering dishes from the kera per eeda (eggs cooked on bananas) to the humble scrambled egg. There are also teatime snacks sweets and desserts and a chapter on kitchen medicine straight from grandmother’s recipe book. Interlaced with the recipes is the author’s piquant description of the customs rituals and ceremonies that form the Parsi way of life. Review I like this book because it has a lot of recipes I remember and has become a regular used book --By 24321431 13 Jun. 2014For those that do not know the term Parsi refers to people of the Zoroastrian/Zarathusti religion who left Iran and migrated to India over a thousand years ago to avoid religious persecution. There are only approximatley 150000 Parsi's in the world today predominantly in India but scattered world side. The Parsi's have their own culture and cuisine which is very different from that of the rest of India. The first 86 pages of this book are about Parsi customs including Navjote (a Bat Mitzvah like ceremony) marriage death Navroz (new year) etc... The next 300+ pages consist of recepies compiled by the author from a variety of sources (although mainly her family's recepies) including multiple recepies for the same dish for you to pick and choose from (i.e. there are 2 alternative recepies for dhan sakh plus alternative recepies for masala ni dar val ni dar etc...). The book has the best recepie for Dhan Sakh I've tasted outside of India. The only problem is not being in India some of the ingredients and measurements will have to be translated/converted to make sense (i.e. some recepies ask for 1 1/2 kilos of lamb 100g cholai bhaji etc...). Definitely get this book if you either are Parsi and trying to cook like mamaiji used to or are interested in trying a completely new and unique food that you will never find in any Indian restaurant. --By Behram ParekhI bought this book for my wife who has been using it for the last 10 years at least. The first book has seen better days and needs replacing hence the purchase. You can't get much better when cooking Parsi dishes. I would recommend it to anyony having sampled the end products. --By Sarosh J. Ghandy 16 July 2014 About the Author Born in 1922 Bhicoo Manekshaw grew up in Mumbai. Her fondness for good food and cooking began at the early age of five in her grandmother's kitchen. In 1963 she became the first Indian to gain admission to the Advanced Course at the famed Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London. In a long career as expert chef and catering consultant she has worked with the Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai and the Spencer Group of Hotels the India International Centre in Delhi and the Delhi Golf Club. She was also the catering consultant at Raj Bhavan in Bangalore during the tenure of Governor Dharma Vira. For over a decade she worked with Chef Air and Air India where she was responsible for catering for all VIP flights including those during the NAM and CHOGM conferences.Bhicoo Manekshaw has also taught at the Delhi Polytechnic for Women and given numerous demonstrations of Indian and continental cuisine in India and abroad. She is the author of Traditional Recipes of India and has contrib