,,Jumvachalo jit' - the wor& hll like music on the ears of the well-dressed, bejewelled the crowd that

has been Passlng time sipplng soft drlnks or thr' onging that discreteuPPerroom whlre Scotch (genulne;ls being dispensed In that Senerous quantity called tho Parqipeg'

eoooFooo,

RPPETITE HERRTV

Meat ls cooked, curiouslY en' ough, with a varietYof vegetables. ma goshtor Thuswe havepaPeta the kid gosht (meatwith Potatoes, latter sometimesalso served at weddings),cabbagema gosht, tamata ma gosht, cauliflower ma gosht, etc., etc. lt is also cooked with a varlety of dals as in ma' soor ma goshtand the celebrated dhansak. A varietY of dals are used in Parsicooking, doubtless a borrowing from'Gujarati cook' ing.

Eggs are anotherfavourite,and are-liberatlyand indiscriminately broken over a varietYof vege' sPitomatoes, tables- potatoes, nach, tady'sfingers-and allowed to set by steam. Omelettes are food but a much ioved breakfast thev are not the fluffY, light'as' so air concoctions belovedof the French.A Parsi Poro is a subst' tom4o'onion'coriander antial filted affair and for some un' a lt known reason is alwaYs filling carriedon a Picnic in sandwiches (as a light snack,of course). peculiar , Another characteiistlc to the Parisipalateis incorporat' ing a sweet flavour In the main dish itself and not iust in a sePa' arate preparationlike shrikhand I' a or sweet iurds, wtrich maY make at its appearance the tail end of A concertedmove is made In the meat (hence mY friend's the direction of the long trestle confuslonwith the custard. Di' tableslaid with white tablecloths (con' sakarkan qheslike chaspaila (cutlery op' and banana leaves sweet Potatoes and sisting of tional), For, the Parsisare about meat)and chaspaila Eajar(carrots) to indulgeln one of their favour' as are cookedin a sugarsYruP, is ite pastimes eatinggood food havea distinctivecuisineof The Parsis ambakalya,a mango and meat with a hearty aPPetite.You.won't of find the succession limP sal- their own despite the varied culturesthat have mixture, and eaten as a main dish. Raisinsare often added to doused ads and lumpy sPaghetti influenced'them. They love good food, an akoori and a Particularvari' sauceat a traditional in tomato 'lagan nu do not believe in gastronbmlcabstinenceand ety of cooking banana.sweet In Parsi wedding where thank you' first class, flivour. is cut and fried till lt their digestion-is bhonoo' is served,as You would acquiresan almost caramelised five-stdr hotels in characterless coating, and then mlxed with with their equallY characterless ShernaGandhy meat.A favouritelike jardalooma Parsiwill insult No true cuisine. gosht (meat or chicken, in aPri' his or her stomach,and. so the are served iots) also has a sweetishflavour, four hundred or one tlrousand point believing the meal to be prietors being Parsis) or two thousand8ueslssit down over). In fact, we were only half- throughout the meal and for and using aPrlcotslike the ha' (in three shiftsusuallY) a meal way through. Next come the in- some obscurereasonone drinks bit of thickly sPrinklinga Pulao to that startswith wafers,thin chaP- dispensable eggs- hundredsof violently-hued raspberries and with almonds, raisins and cash'' patisand a sweetPicklemade of them fried together in a huge, pineapples that one wouldn't ewnuts and, in fact, using dry and flat thal or else servedas an ako- dream of drinking at anY other fruits in a number of PrePara' dried fruits (lugun nu achar), tions could well be an echo of a progress through fish - Patrani ori, a kind of spicy, heavy:.tcram' time. long ago Persianheritage. machl (stuffed with green chut' bled eggs.Thento fill uP any emParslshave never been botherney and wrapped In a banana pty cornets in one's stomachcerAs in other communities, on lea0 or the more famous saasnl and by the grace of the powers ed with any finicky restrlctions foods are traditionallyeaten machi (made In a sPicy whlte that be, we are surelY'bornwith food, and abstinencewas never tain on certain occasirons.Dun'dar, coloured sauce),to chicken, ei' larger stomachsthan other mort- touted as a virtue. One is enyellorr coloured dal using tur ther with the thin Potato straws als - there is rneatr rtlao and ]oined to .eat well andto seeto it a with largepieces dal. Kulfi or ice-cream finishes that one's lessfortunatebrethren or moong dal, sPrinkled calledsali,or farchas, crisply fri,ed onions and sewed ol chicken marlnatedIn sPlces the repast,though at one time, do the same.Meat is an imPort' makes its aPand fried in an egg and flour pan, a few almondsand cashews ant part of Parsicuisine, particul- with rice alwavs and othet on not much pearance birthdaYs batter. were also servbd to each guest, arty mutton. Pork was Fish, tog' auspicious occasions. By now the lugun nu custard doubtlessas .an aid to digestion favoured ln the old days, and is servedon these occasions. ThS (A - not that there was ever any- beef, ln deferenceto Hindu newill havemade its appearance. chummna (pomfret), ParticularlY' . noh-Parsifrlend 'of mlne. think- thrn6 the matter with our diges- lghbourc, was also not indulged ing this sweet, firm custard was tion. A varibty'of drinks - Rog- in much. Chlcken, though, is Contlhued on Prge 7t the dessert,left the tabJed this er'9 9r Duke's always (the-pro- used almost as much as mutton.

In Bombayand they would echo off the asphalt) But the phalse sell because the Delhite likes thick skin, like hls epidermis,in his mouth. The capital'swintertime predi-' lections- Bombay's winters? ere different. At dead of night with plumes of fog issuingfrom the mou.th,the place to go is Moolchand: andaparathas, steaming hot and made with unerring acrobatichands, lorry drivers, some drunk, some well on the way to being drunk, imbibing and chewing, warm the cockles of the heart before the climate freezeslt up again. And the winter brings its aluka tikkis, steaminglresh off the batter, interred between tlvo stale slicesof bread (no equally stale hunks of pao there). Downed with boiled water (tea) from

the thela parked next to your flank. lt's a questlon df osmo. sis: you give the tikkis splced with enoughchillis to fox the fire brigade and l'll provide the quencher.The business boomi. Climatic equanimity ienders Bombaya bit more boring: the weatherin Delhi helpsin keeping some things-off the market for months and Stokingthe betly of the public beast. So back into the loo of the summer, golgappas (Bombay's pani puris are stocked. Kanji and cool jaljeera appear at every corner, and especially bus stopswhere at gueuescollapselike ninepins in the sun. And the only metropolis where water sells for 10 paisea tumbler is Delhi. (ln a decade,Bombayshould outbld this, by selling oxvgen at the 6amerate a whiff. O capitalisml).

The lirst time I came to this Dream ity, sitting dangling my legs over the cement tank-stoppers at the Oueen's Necklace, I had my first green coconut, decapitated clear.ly. Then the man walked down the length of Marine Drive, presumably, selling the fruit to couples hunched over the sea like so many inverted commas. And towards garishlylighted Land's End, Nariman Point, where young studs crowd the curbs with cars and blaring stereos,the Chinese van restaurants. gvery bit of the city'3 .gastronomic ingenuitycomes to a head at fand's End, where Hungry Eyes(talk of anatomlcalmismanagem?nl) ir said to supply the best inexpensive Chlnese grub in town. Next to the oiltopped, viscous sea. Of course,a comparison of l0l0lofcl0lflctclc|clf

prime citier would be odious, ln more ways than one. About /to per cent of Bomba/s working population of 45 lakhs d:pcndr on the hawkers the municipal commissioner would so dearly like consignedto the sea.About 60 per cent of Delhi,svast,sheeF like secretariat is dependam on the vendors around. The two ci. ties have their own constant.eater outs'. But, in Bombay, while eating out is fraught with the dangerof hospitalisation, Delhi's renegadesfrom the home and hearth have a child-like faith in the hygieneof the public place. lf you were to ask me, eating out is more of a necessityin Bornbay; in Delhi, the necosity ir often ternpered with rare enjoyment.

'd
I onlon, flncly rllccd

GOOD FOOD, HEARTY still are, generallyGoan - both GRIND TO A PASTE: the dish and the pronunciation APPETITE
Continucd fiom prge 5l is a great favouriteand a bol which is the inevitableadjunctto the baBgage of Parsisreturning from the pilgrimage centre of Udvadaon the Gujarat coast, is hard to beaL So auspicious the lish that a is mithai made with mava,dispensed on occasions like enSagements, the new year etc., ls fashioned in the shape of a flsh. Ravaand sev, both liberally sprinkled with raisinsand roasted almonds- if one can afford them - are also traditionally sen'ed on auspiciousoccasions. Other sweetsare khajur ni lhari, made with datei, dal nl poll made of channadal, sugar, ghee,nuts and encased a kind in of pastry, and kumas, sandhra and bhakra,all three traditionally made, using toddy. Toddy was a favourlte drlnk, Parsisowning many large toddy plantationsIn Gujarat before the wealth of Bombaylured them to come and settle here. Sincethe Parsis were so influenced by Englishculture in general, our food culture too, showed the foreign hand, 5nd a strange hybrid cuisine resulted.Some oi these dishesare pure Anglolndian, others are western in conception but adapted to Indian conditions,and, in ,. the hands of Indian cooks - in of its nane, bore no more than a faint resemblanceto the original. Hence soobee chops (soubise), tipsy pudding (origin of nomenclature unknown),iampoly (iam roly poly), crumb chops, lacy cutlets, lrish stew and queen and cabinet pudding still make their appearance at Parsldining tables.ln the days when you could get one, a cook trained under an English memsahib was much coveted,and a cook who,could make.a nougat basketwas cherished like the family sllver. Parsi cooking, then, is more than just dhansak. has assimillt ated the influer\ces that have shapedthe history of the community.While there is little 'culture' in the senseof art, literature, music, dance, that ls dlstinctively Parsl,a very distinctive cuisine does exist.

Parsl homes cooks were; and

2-lncherdnnemon rdcl

&0 clover gerllc, llekcd 2-lnch plece glnger

Cleanand wash the Bombayduthe headsand tails cks. Remove and cut each into four. Soak the jaggery in hdlf of thc vinegarand grind to a pastethe Soak the apricots in wlter for red chillies,garlic,cummin, corinearly four hours. ln the mean- ander and cummin powder,and time, heat the oil and fry the sahinthe remainingvinegar. Ine chopped onions till golden pan heatthe oil, and fry the finebrown. Add the ginger-garlic ly sliced onion till brown. Add paste and cna$ for five to eiSht the above ground paste and minutes.Add meat, salt and tlre cook. Add the Bombayduck piecinnamonstick.Cook for a while, ces and mix well. Add the vineadd sufficient water to cook the gar and jaggerymixtureand cook meat. Cook till the meat is ten- till the Bombayducks are rcft der and little gravy remaln3.In serve wirh khichdi. anot$jt pan, brown the sugar. ,{dct ihe apricotstogether with the-rcakedwater. Bringto a boil, lower heat and let the apricots AMBAKALYA cook till soft.Add the apricots together with soakedwater, bring kg green rnantoer to a boil, lower heat and let the I 500 8m. latgery or as requlred apdcots cook till soft. Add the aiilEt mixture to the above 2-lnch clnnamonrtlck coo&ed meat, Heat again and serye hot. Peel, seed and cut the mangoel
into desired pieces. Wash them well. Place them in a large pan, cover and cook them for five minutes without water till slightly soft. In another pan, heat quarter cup.of water, Bring to a boif, add jaggery and cook till the iaggery dissolves. Add the mango pieces and the cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over medirrm fire fot 15 minutes. Cook further till the syrup is fairly thick. Cool and serve.

PARSI RECIPES

I'AMPORI PATIO IARDALOO MA GOSHT (Meatin Apricots)

Vt kg. mutlon, cut 24O gn. dded rpdcolr, rcede{ 2-3 onlonr, choppcd Salt to lastc Sugarto tatte Oil ar requlred {o fry thc onlom 15-20driqt', lonbay duckr 10-12dry tbd chilller . pod"$rlic. flaked 1 tsp. crimmin t S.lt to taste ' ,,,. I tsp. turmcili I tsp. coriender end cummln, porrdcr 2 tbsp. oil qi cup vlnegare-..' I smrll ball fggry, -getcd

Recipesgiven by Roshan Billimorla