Parsi Food and Customs (Essential Parsi Cookbook) - Softcover

Bhicoo J. Manekshaw

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140257594 ISBN 13: 9780140257595

Publisher: Penguin, 1996

Synopsis

"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."

About this title

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. 2014

For 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 150,000 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 Parekh

I 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

Synopsis:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0140257594
• ISBN 13: 9780140257595
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440