On Parsi New Year today, folks will celebrate with meeting family and friends, a traditional bhonu and more….
It is Parsi New Year, and Navroz Mubarak to Mumbai’s Zoroastrians! You will see them at the city’s fire temples — most of which are in South Mumbai, from the sea-swept Seth Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Agiary at Colaba where the community’s biggest weddings and navjotes are held, to the majestic Wadiaji Atash Behram standing placidly among trees at chaotic Princess Street. Mumbai has 47 fire temples for its 45,000 Parsis, and today they will all be out — dressed in their Navroz finery, crowding the sandalwood shops outside the fire temples. Everyone in the family wakes up early, bathes and wears new clothes.
Thresholds are decorated with the traditional colourful chalk (rangoli) and incense sticks are burned in the house, which has been scrupulously cleaned in the days leading to the New Year.
Bring on the bhonu!
With Parsis (and Iranis), the New Year is about eating good food and spending time with family and close friends. Non-Zoroastrians should not confuse the Parsi lagan nu bhonu at community weddings with the Navroz meal. Breakfast kickstarts the festivity. And some things are traditional. Like the Parsi Sev or sweet vermicelli. Some Parsis prefer the Rava, which is sheera, though the Parsis make a white rava and flavour it with almonds, raisins and rose petals. Sev or rava, a plate of sliced yellow bananas, a bowl of sweet curd with rose petals, as well as the mawa ni boi (mithai in the shape of a fish), is sent across neighbours’ homes. Then the family sits down to its breakfast.
Lunch is an elaborate affair. You start with the achar (sweet pickle with carrot and mewa). A must-have is the Parsi poro (masala omlette) or akuri, that resembles the bhurji. Says chef Kaikoy Bokdawala of Hotel Sea Princess, Mumbai, “Traditional dishes include jardaloo gosht (apricot meat stew), salli marghi (chicken cooked with apricots and garnished with crispy potato straws) and dhan dar patia (which is a yellow dal had with a semi-thick gravy) with rice. Parsis love their fish so pomfret is the traditional favourite. They either have the tangy prawn patia, with tomatoes and spices or the delicate saas ni machhi (a succulent pomfret, made in a sweet and sour gravy).” You simply put your saria (wafers) into it or relish it by itself.
Some folks love the Patra Ni Machi, which are fish fillets to be had steaming hot with green chutney. Others prepare another fish dish, the vinegar-and-onion tarapori sooka boomla no patio. You will find another staple at the table – the Parsi rice and tur masala dal specialty. Spiced meat kebabs and kachumber make for delicious side servings. In addition, there might also be Parsi kheema, all of this finally washed down with raspberry and ginger drinks or beer. In Gujarat where there is prohibition, Parsis have toddy with lunch! For dessert, the choice is between Jalebi, Sutarfeni and Kulfi, all available in the Parsi dairies of the city as well as the custard, made with sweet milk that has vanilla essence, nutmeg and charoli, and baked.
A little majaa at night!
Dinner is always out. And, in the good old days when Parsi stalwarts like Adi Marzaban, Hosi Vasunia and Burjor Patel ruled the Gujarati theatre, dinner would be preceded by a ‘naatak’ staged by one of the production companies enterprisingly run by these men. But no more. So, this evening, the entertainment is left to Salman Khan. Come in, tiger.
Source: Zeenia Baria & Ismat Tahseen, Times of India.
