Parsi cuisine recipes for food cooked in Udvada, Devka, Dahanu and Gholvad.



Doodh Na Puff (Milk froth)Serves 3-6 glasses

Ingredients:

2 litres full cream milk
250 gm sugar
Rose water to taste
Grated nutmeg to taste

Procedure:
Attempt this recipe at sundown. Mix milk and sugar in a pan, put on low heat and cook till sugar has dissolved. Bring milk to the boil, three or four times. Allow it to get cold, stirring all the while it is cooling.
If you have a terrace, pour milk into a ceramic pot, cover the mouth with a cloth, tie it down and hang the pot. Leave overnight.
Next morning, remove the pot. Mix the cream formed on top with the milk, stirring in one direction only. Add rosewater and mix well.
Pour half the milk into a cold bowl and churn or beat till foam rises to the top. Spoon foam into chilled glasses till it reaches the top. Fill glasses till the froth is a little over the lip of the glasses. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve immediately.
If you don�t have a terrace, the refrigerator, one of the best of modern inventions, comes to your help. Instead of hanging the pot in the terrace, place it in the refrigerator.
Doodh na puff can be kept in the refrigerator for about one hour only. If kept longer the froth starts sinking. It must be made early, before the sun gets too hot.

Akoori (Masala scrambled eggs)Serves 6

Ingredients:
8 eggs
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp ghee with 2 tsp oil
Chop:
2 medium-sized onions, sliced
2 green chillies, seeded
1 medium-sized tomato
2 tbsp coriander leaves
3 cloves garlic

Procedure:
Melt ghee in a pan. Add onions and brown lightly. Add garlic and saute for half a minute. Add remaining ingredients except eggs and cook over high flame for one minute. Remove from fire. Beat eggs and add to pan. Return to slow fire and scramble till just done. Do not overcook eggs as they continue cooking even after they have been removed from heat.
You may also add:
Add about 100g cooked corn just before serving.
Add 200g fried prawns
Add 2 tbsp finely diced and fried potatoes, one fried shredded Bombay duck, and a teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper.

Bhakra With tari (Parsi doughnuts with toddy)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup flour; 1/2 cup fine semolina
1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 cup ghee;
1 egg, beaten;
125ml toddy mixed with 1 tsp sugar and
125 ml warm water
Water as required
1 tsp powdered cardamom and nutmeg mixture
1/2 tsp salt; Oil for deep frying
Sift flour, semolina, spices and salt together.

Procedure:
Beat sugar and ghee together. Add egg and mix well. Add flour mixture, mix well and add toddy. Beat to a stiff dough, adding water if necessary.
Cover with cling film or damp cloth and keep in a warm place for about 2-3 hours, till dough has risen.
Roll out about quarter-inch thick and cut into one-and-a-half-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Deep fry and drain. Cool and store in an airtight glass jar.

Tarela Sookha Boomla (Fried Bombay Duck)Serves 6

Ingredients:
18 large Bombay Duck, freshly dried 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp chilli powder 3 tsp cumin powder Sesame seed oil for frying

Procedure:
Soak Bombay Duck in water for ten minutes. Remove and dry. Slit open and remove backbone. Mix spices and rub onto fish. Shallow fry fish in hot oil till crisp. Serve as an accompaniment to any dish, especially curries. Bombay Duck is the Parsi dried boomlas. It is believed that the name was given by an Englishman travelling past an area where the fish was being dried. He wanted to know what the smell was and due to a misunderstanding in the languages, the name Bombay Duck, somehow got attached to the dried fish. To clean Bombay Duck, snip off heads, slit soft belly and clean out the inside.

Kheemo (Parsi Mince)Serves 8

Ingredients:
3/4 kg. mince meat
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
50g shelled green peas
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar or lime juice
Salt to taste
2 tbsp ghee
Chop:
2 onions
1 one-inch piece ginger
6 cloves garlic
2 green chillies, seeded
2 tomatoes
1 small bunch of coriander leaves

Procedure:
Heat fat in a pan and fry one onion till browned. Add chopped ginger and garlic, turmeric and cumin powder, green chillies and remaining onion. Add mince and saute well till browned. Mix well and remove all lumps. Add two cups water and simmer. When mince is half cooked add potatoes or peas and continue to simmer till mince is cooked. Add sugar and vinegar or lime juice to taste. Variation: Serve with sali over the mince and you get Sali Ma Kheema which is another popular Parsi dish.

Aleti Paleti (Chicken liver and gizzard)Serves 4

Ingredients:
250 gm chicken liver, washed and cut into 4 pieces each
250 gm chicken gizzard, washed and cut into 8 pieces each
250 gm chicken hearts, washed and kept whole
4 large onions, sliced
1 half-inch piece ginger
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp chilli powder;
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste
3 tbsp ghee or oil

Procedure:
Heat fat in a pan and fry onions till well browned. Add half cup water and simmer till onions are mushy and water has evaporated. Add ginger and garlic and powdered spices and saute for a few minutes. Add chicken gizzard and hearts and simmer on low heat till done. Add chicken liver, Worcestershire sauce, coriander leaves and salt. Cook till done, adding a little water if required.

Ravo (Sheera or Rava Kesari)Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
This is better known as Sheera or Rava Kesari.
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp fine semolina
1 cup water
4 tbsp sugar
1 litre full cream milk
1 cup cream
2 tbsp rosewater
A pinch of salt
1 tsp coarsely ground cardamom and nutmeg
Garnish:
2 tbsp almonds, blanched and slivered
2 tbsp sultana
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp coarsely powdered cardamom and nutmeg
Pale pink rose petals

Procedure:
Melt butter in a pan and add semolina. Saute for one minute, add water, salt and sugar and simmer, stirring continuously till thick. Use a flat-based wooden spoon, so that you can scrape the entire surface of the base of the pan. In this way no lumps will form. Add milk and continue simmering and stirring till it starts thickening. Add cream and continue cooking till it reaches the consistency of pourable porridge. Keep stirring while it cools so that does not form a layer of skin. Add spices and rosewater. Pour into a glass dish and garnish with lightly fried almonds and sultanas and powdered spices and rose petals. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

You may also try this variation:
Add four egg yolks, half teaspoon vanilla essence and half a tin condensed milk instead of cream. Reduce quantity of sugar if condensed milk is sweet.

Bheja Na Cutlets(Brain cutlets)Serves 8

Ingredients:
6 sets of brains; 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 slices of bread, soaked in water and squeezed out
2 eggs
Breadcrumbs as required
Salt to taste; Oil for frying

Chop:
1 onion; 2 green chillies seeded
1 inch piece ginger
6-8 cloves garlic

Procedure
Clean brains and remove all membranes. Wash, dry and coarsely mash with a fork. Add all ingredients except eggs and breadcrumbs and mix well. Add just enough beaten eggs to bind. Divide into 12 portions and shape into cutlets. Dip into beaten eggs and spread with breadcrumbs. Shallow fry.




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