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Culled for Parsiana readers by Morvarid Fernandez (née Irani, pictured) from her book ‘Seasoned’ for Family and Friends: Contemporary Recipes with an Old World Flavour and Reminiscences and Vignettes of Life in Provincial India, these recipes evolved from the food she grew up with, prepared by her myriad relatives, but presented with a trendy twist. Her family has lived and worked on an organic farm deep in the jungles of the Western Ghats for 39 years where they successfully ran a small guesthouse for 13 years. Though now retired, they continue to live and work on the farm. Their daughter Katrina is a research scientist based in Goa.

LIMA BEANS WITH TIGER PRAWNS
Serves 4 or 5
Lima beans (250 g — soaked overnight)
Tiger prawns (40)
Tomatoes (250 g — chopped)
Yellow capsicum (1 large)
Green capsicum (1 large)
Dried marjoram (1 tsp)
Garlic paste (1 tsp)
Mustard seeds (½ tsp)
Cumin seeds (1 tsp)
Rocket leaves (½ cup — chopped)
Mayonnaise or horseradish sauce (2-3 tbsp)
Lemon juice (to taste)
Vegetable oil (2 tbsp)
Salt and pepper (to taste)         
Drain the beans and boil in fresh water without salt. When the beans are soft and velvety, take them off the heat, drain and set aside to cool. Clean and rinse the prawns and marinate for half an hour with marjoram, garlic paste and a little salt and pepper. Meanwhile, roast the capsicums on an open flame until they blacken, cool in a zip lock bag and then peel and slice them into strips.
Heat the oil in a wok or a frying pan, add the mustard and cumin seeds and fry for half a minute. Next fry the prawns in batches, cook each batch until just done. (If you attempt to fry all the prawns together, they will stew rather than fry.) Squeeze the lemon juice onto the prawns and allow them to cool. Assemble the salad by mixing all the ingredients together, then add the mayonnaise or horseradish sauce. Toss once again and serve at room temperature.

RUNNING DAL WITH DEVIL’S DUNG
Serves 4-5
The consistency of this dal, as the name suggests, should be runny, just so that it flows freely but not thin or watery. You can replace the moong dal with tur dal for some interesting variation.
Moong dal (200 g)
Red onions (150 g)
Green chillies (2-3)
Curry leaves (2 sprigs)
Garlic (6 to 8 cloves)
Devil’s dung (hing or asafetida, ½-1 tsp)
Cumin seeds (1 tsp)
Turmeric (½ tsp)
Parsley or coriander (2 tbsp)
Ghee (2½ tbsp)
Salt to taste
Cook the dal with turmeric, garlic, devil’s dung and green chillies with 600 ml of water until done. The dal should be nice and soft. Remove from heat and with a slotted spoon carefully remove the green chillies onto a plate and set aside. Blend the dal until smooth adding a little water if necessary. Put the dal back on the heat, add the chillies and gently heat through, season to taste, adding more water to thin the dal if required. Just before serving, thinly slice the onions and chop the parsley or coriander, then heat the ghee in a small pot on medium heat, and add the curry leaves and cumin seeds. Fry and let them brown lightly. Add the onions and continue to fry on low heat until the onions are a nice golden brown. Heat the dal, and then pour into a serving dish, sprinkle the chopped coriander on top and then pour over the onion and ghee mixture that should be sizzling hot. Serve immediately. Devil worshipers may lightly sprinkle some more dung on the top!
This dish tastes very nice if served with white rice, prawn patio or mutton pepper fry and an assortment of papadums.

BAKED FILLETS OF SOLE WITH TARRAGON BUTTER
Serves 6
Sole (1 kg fillets) or any other fish (2 — large, kept whole)
Butter  (50 g — should be at room temperature)
Fresh tarragon (1tbsp)
Fresh chives (1 tbsp)
Fresh parsley (½ tbsp)
Coriander powder (1 tbsp)
Lemon juice (few drops)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry, season with salt, pepper and the coriander powder. Drizzle with lemon juice and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Gently heat half the quantity of butter and pour over the fish, place in a lightly greased ovenproof dish, cover with kitchen foil and bake in a moderate oven until done. Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter, add all the herbs, fry until they are crisp and darken, taking care not to burn them. Remove from heat and set aside. When the fish is ready, reheat the herbed butter gently, and pour over the fish and serve immediately.

CARROTS IN YOGURT
Serves 3 to 4
Yogurt (400 g — thick, well-set) 
Carrots (100 g)
White onion (75 g)
Green chilly (1)
Garlic paste (1 tsp)
Nigella seeds (1 tsp)
Curry leaves (1 sprig)
Persian barberries (Zeresht, 1 tbsp — dry)
Charoli (1 tbsp)
Olive oil or grape seed oil (1½ tbsp)
Fresh coriander leaves (for garnish)
Sea salt or rock salt (to taste)
Beat the yogurt with a fork adding a little cold water if necessary. Pare the carrots and grate using a medium grade. Finely chop the onion and the chilly. Add the carrot, green chilly, onion and garlic paste to the yogurt, season with salt and chill until needed. Just before serving, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the nigella seeds, curry leaves, barberries and charoli and cook for 30 seconds to a minute but do not burn. Remove from the heat and cool a little, then add it to the curds. Mix gently, garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and serve.

ORANGE AND SPICE SHORT BREAD
Makes one large 8 to 9” round shortbread
All-purpose flour (275 g)
Rice flour (60 g — finely ground)
Butter (200 g — softened)
Castor sugar (100 g)
Orange rind (1 tsp — grated)
Cloves (¼ tsp — ground)
Cinnamon (¼ tsp — ground)
Nutmeg (¼ tsp — grated)
Salt (a pinch)
Tip the butter into a mixing bowl with castor sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Sift the rice flour and the all-purpose flour together with the salt. Next, add the spice powders and the orange rind to the flour mixture and mix well. Work the flour mixture into the butter and knead into a soft dough. Roll out into a circle about ¼ ” thick, pinch all around the edge and turn onto a baking tray. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes or until the shortbread is done. Remove from the oven and cool, cut into wedges and serve.
Cook’s note: Reduce grated orange rind to half if you prefer a milder flavor.
This bread goes perfectly with a cup of hot, South Indian coffee!