Celebrate this Navroz
by serving a mélange
of delicious dishes from across world cuisines
Recipes, from The ZSM Cookbook, are reprinted with permission from The Zoroastrian Stree Mandal, Secunderabad-Hyderabad. Now in its sixth edition, the book is a treasure trove for foodies containing 280 recipes collected from members and others over half a century. The 300-page book is available for sale at the Parsiana Book Club (price: Rs 550 plus postage) or from Rashna Mistry at
rashnamis3@gmail.com
Photos from Wikipedia are for representational purposes only
SWEET CORN BHEL
Serves 4
Sweet corn — 1½ cups, boiled
Potatoes — 2 medium, cubed and boiled
Green chillies — 2 or 3, chopped fine
Tomato — 1, center removed and chopped
Red chilli powder — 1 pinch
Sweet date chutney — 2 or 3 tbsp
Green chutney — 2 tbsp
Khari sev, thick variety
Namakpara — broken
Bhelpuri papdi — crushed
Mix together corn, potatoes, tomatoes and green chillies. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder. Just before serving, in a bowl mix the sweet date chutney and the green chutney and add the corn mixture and see that it is well coated. Sprinkle khari sev, namakpara and the bhelpuri papdi.
Serve the corn bhel immediately.
Note: Can use 1½ cups of boiled kabuli chana (chickpeas) as an alternative choice for sweet corn.
Perin B. Dittia
CHEESE TART
Serves 6-8
Cheese — 100 g, grated
Pastry — 225 g
Eggs — 2, slightly beaten
Fresh cream — 100 g
Flour — 2 tbsp
Salt, pepper and mustard to taste
Line a flan tin with the pastry. Mix all the other ingredients, pour into the pastry shell and bake.
Basic pastry shell
Plain flour — 115 g
Butter — 60 g
Egg — 1
Salt to taste
Water as required
Cut the butter into little pieces and crumble it thoroughly with the sieved flour, adding a good pinch of salt. Break in the egg and mix dough with your hands. Add enough water (2-4 tbsp) to make the dough soft, but should be firm. Knead into a ball, wrap in grease proof paper and leave it for a minimum of two hours. Roll out very thin, line an eight inch flan tin with it and with a fork pierce the surface. Use as required. Gool Y. Chenoy
POTATO, ONION AND LEEK SOUP
Serves 4
Leeks — 200 g, chopped
Potatoes — 200 g, chopped
Garlic — 10 to 15 cloves
Onion — 200 g, chopped
Bay leaf — 1
Olive oil — 1 tbsp
Fresh cream — 1 tbsp
Dried oregano — 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Heat oil and sauté chopped garlic and onions, add the bay leaf, then add the chopped potatoes and leeks. Fry for some time and then add some water and pressure cook till done. Cool and blend. Strain soup and season with salt, pepper and oregano. Boil for a few minutes and serve garnished with a dollop of cream. Armin Wadia
DAHI CHICKEN
Serves 6
Chicken — 1 kg, cut into pieces
Curd — ½ kg
Lemon juice — from 2 lemons
Ginger garlic paste — 2 tbsp
Turmeric — ½ tsp
White pepper powder — 1½ tsp
Potatoes — ½ kg, sliced long
Cornflour — 1 tbsp, optional
Ghee — 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Wash the chicken and marinate the pieces and the potatoes with curd, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, white pepper powder and salt. Set aside for at least two or three hours. Heat ghee, add marinated chicken and potatoes and cook till done. Add a little cornflour paste to thicken gravy if you prefer a thick gravy. Harjeet Kaur
ITALIAN RICE
Serves 8
Basmati rice — ½ kg
Minced mutton — ¼ kg
Ghee or oil — ¼ cup
Onions — 2 big, sliced
Cloves — 5
Cinnamon — 3 sticks
Ginger-garlic paste — 2 tsp
Red chillies — 5 small, ground to a paste
Cumin powder — ½ tsp
Curd — ¼ kg
Saffron — few strands
Fry onions till golden brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, chilli paste, cumin powder and then add minced meat. Let it cook till tender and brown. Add curd and fry until most of the liquid dries and the mince mixture is semi-solid in consistency. Dissolve saffron in two tbsp hot milk. Separately, boil rice in water with cloves, cinnamon and salt. After rice is cooked, mix in the saffron.
In a flat dish spread some of the rice with a little pure ghee on top, then spread a layer of the meat mixture. Assemble alternate layers of rice and mince. Cover the dish and bake in an oven on low heat for 30 minutes.
Pervize P. Nalladaru
FROZEN BISCUIT CAKE
Serves 6
Biscuits — 120 g, crushed
Drinking chocolate — 120 g
Butter — 120 g
Walnuts or almonds — 120 g
Sugar — 120 g
Egg —1
Almond essence — ½ tbsp
Cream the butter and chocolate together. Add ground walnuts or almonds, sugar, egg and essence. Mix well. Add crushed or powdered biscuits to the mixture. Pour into a greased tin or dish. Freeze for 24 hours before serving.
Note: Instead of almond essence, you can add a tbsp of rum.
Pervize P. Nalladaru