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Try this parsi egg dish….

Cut onions tomatoes garlic ginger and saute it in a pan till cooked, u can add some dry masalas too like garam masala or corriander powder and a dash of red chilli powder as per your chilli quotient .

Spread the mixture into the pan, like u would spread a pancake and then break the eggs on the cooked masala ( as per the size of the dish ). cover it and let it cook. once done in about 7 minutes or so. serve hot with a garnishing of green corriander. tastes awesome with bread or roti

try and lemme know how you liked it !!! Cheers

Indian cuisine is like the English language — a stunning repertoire of its own as the foundation while totally open to new elements. That's why it's so madly eclectic and adventurous while retaining its distinct identity. Arab, Persian, Chinese and Western food have all acquired Indian avatars and purists who can't take the heat just leave the kitchen — to sneak back for a taste. Check out these 60 K2K (Kashmir to Kanyakumari) classics that celebrate the way we are.

GIVEN UP THE GHOSHT

Luchi-Alur Dum: the Bengali maida puri with potato curry in tomato broth that gladdens many a Sunday lunch.
Mattar-ki-kachori: UP's winter treat made with fresh, tender peas tastes better than the oversweet tinned American peas sold all-year round.
Tahiri: basmati rice-and-peas UP-style with a hint of jeera and salt tempered in ghee or butter. A clean fragrance that can't be beat.
Samosa: the original triangle of dough was stuffed with minced meat before being deep-fried. Called a 'sambusa', it was a Mughal import from Central Asia. While the ones in the north are fat and squat, the samosas of Maharashtra and South India are thin, elegant and crunchy-crusted, a direct legacy of the Iranian version. Bengalis call theirs 'singara'.
Mango Kadhi: thin buttermilk-besan soup tempered with curry leaves, grated coconut and mustard seeds. The seasonal treat is the ripe mango sliced and boiled in it.
Gatte-ki-sabzi: Rajasthanis steam up rolls of besan, slice them and spice them dry or in yoghurt gravy.
Nadru: sliced lotus stem cut diagonally for a pretty shape to please the eye, spiced with powders of anise and ginger, a la Kashmir. North India also knows it as kamal-kakkdi (lotus-cucumber) or by the unlovely word 'bhein'.
Paneer-Tsaman: Kashmiri-style pasandas (flat pieces) of paneer fried and dunked in pure tomato gravy without onions and garlic. Eat with Punjabi-style layered parathas to feel you've died and gone to heaven.
Adai: the dal dosa of Tamil Nadu that you won't usually find in restaurants: urad, arhar and chana dal whizzed into a grainy batter, spiked with onion, red chilly, salt and pinched curry leaves. Eat with white butter and jaggery, green chutney, pickle or tomato ketchup. Protein breakfast, anyone?
Bisi-bele-bhaath: literally, 'hot-mixed-rice' in Kannada, this divine glop of sambhar-rice is teamed with crunchy appalam (rice papad) and vadaam (fat papad-straws).
Cauliflower Manchurian: this audacious take on Chicken Manchurian is as desi as it gets and no Manchu warlord would recognise it. Nelson Wang, the Bombay restaurant whiz, is said to have invented the chicken avatar: pakodas in red gravy.

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Undhiyaan: a mixed batch of vegetables cooked in a pot buried underground over live coals, this is a complicated but delicious Gujju version of 'avial', the jhalfrezy or mixed-veg of the south.
Litti: this poor man's food has sanskritised in the last some years, sharing menu space with palak paneer and muttar paneer in most Bihari restaurants; now increasingly outside the state too. Goes well with chokha.
Anarsa: a flaky Maharashtrian matthi made of fermented rice dough rolled in khus-khus (poppy seeds) and fried.
Puttu-kadala-pazham: a grainy broken Kerala rice-mix is steamed with grated coconut into a dry porridge. That's the puttu. A gravy of kala chana (kadala) is ladled over your helping. Small, sweet hill bananas (pazham) are eaten alongside.
Chops: never tried these Bengali bombs? Mashed potatoes mixed with veg/mincemeat/fish flakes, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried golden brown.
Khichri/Pongal: the pan-Indian equivalent of chicken soup in the west, it's comfort food supreme, with or without kkeema.

Masuru Anna: that's Kannada for Curd Rice with South Indian tadka.
Rajma-Chaval: that rich tomato gravy, those satisfyingly mashy kidney beans, the dancing notes of ginger, garlic and fresh coriander. The fluffy, fragrant rice.
Chhole-Bhature: CBs are part of our hardwiring.
Aapam and Stew: there are chicken versions of this Kerala classic but somehow it's nicer with just veg cooked in thin coconut gravy, poured over spongy rice aapam with crisp, curly edges, made in a little iron chatti (wok).
Pearl Onion Sambhar: also called Madras Onion and Button Onion, these tiny translucent blobs are the devil to peel but a marriage made in sambhar heaven teamed with rice and potato subzi.
Vendekka Pachidi (Bhindi-ka-raita): slice bhindi very finely, fry crunchy-crisp and dunk just before serving in dahi tempered with South Indian tadka.
Moinja-haak: knol-kol or kohlrabi, both bulb and leaves cooked in a thin watery broth with Kashmiri spices.

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Sindhi Kadhi: lots of vegetables, including sambhar-drumsticks, chopped and stewed, with colour and a tart edge from kokum, the red flavouring agent popular all along the west coast from Sindh to Maharashtra as an alternative to tamarind.
Sheermal: flaky, sweetish bread, moistened with saffron-milk, fresh from a tandoor. Lovely if eaten 'just like that' with great gobs of white butter and properly fruity jam.
Khasta Roti (layered roti): freshly made, spiked with saunf, it's another great stand-alone bread, needing nothing but a smear of butter.
Bhaja: called Bajji further down the eastern seaboard, these vegetable fritters taste best the Bengali way, thinly sliced and crisp, in a delicate, tempura-like batter. Pumpkin flower bhaja is particularly scrumptious.
Baigan Boorani: this Afghani 'raita' is special to Bhopal and has acquired poetic names like 'Baadal Jaam' (Cloud Wine). Rounds of baingan are deep-fried and served with thick, creamy globs of garlic-flavoured dahi on each round, topped with crumbled fried onion.
Dosa: because that's we are: a nation of dosa eaters.

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MEAT TREATS
Anishi Gahauri: succulent pork cooked with dried yam leaves in Nagaland.

Salli-boti-zardalu: a Parsi classic, it uses dried fruit in that lovely, lavish Iranian way. Salli are potato straws (alu-ke-lachhe) used as a heavy garnish over meat (boti) cooked with dried apricots (zardalu).
Konju Pulao: check out Ummi Abdullah, queen of Moplah (Malabar Muslim) cookery for this fabulous dish of fried prawns and cashew nuts baked in lightly spiced rice — and eaten with lots more fried prawns.
Spag-Bog: the desi version of Spaghetti Bolognaise can't be bettered. Boil spaghetti, make a rich keema curry with ginger, garlic, onion and green chillies and heaps of tomato puree, bhuno-ed like a Punjabi gravy. Grate Amul cheese on top, it won't taste right else.
Shepherd's Pie: same principle as above in this Indian boarding school classic learnt from the angrez. Desify the keema nicely, top with a Great Wall of buttery mashed potato and bake golden.
Prawn Cocktail: elegantly pink in Thousand Island Dressing, steamed prawns are tossed into a wide-rimmed cocktail glass with a few shreds of lettuce, very tender cabbage, a few sticks of capsicum, onion and olive. It's back.
Mulligatawny Soup: a hearty angrez avatar of rasam (from molagu tanni, Tamil for pepper water), this dal-like soup can have a value-add with bits of boiled chicken. Squeeze some lemon on top and sprinkle a few grains of rice before spooning up.
Railway Cutlets: the Indian Railways does (did?) spicy mutton and veg cutlets best. To be smeared with tomato sauce and squished between two slices of white bread.
Kachnaar-keema: tender blooms of this pretty flowering tree are dry-cooked with minced meat, a Punjabi delicacy.
Pepper Chicken Chettinad: the subtle flavours of Chettinad food reflect the adventurous spirit of this ancient merchant community that sent its ships to China more than fifteen centuries ago. This chicken fry-up is speckled with black peppercorns, sort of a gourmet chicken chaat.

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Meen Molee: the Kerala fish dish in a creamy coconut-milk sauce often pops up at parties. Eat with hot rice; rotis NEVER absorb the fabulous gravy properly.
Chicken Cafreal: the splendid Goan green chicken of Portuguese origin that no holiday in Goa tastes complete without.
Chilly Chicken: some people might get really angry if you insult this OTHER national favourite. Punjabi-Chinese is what we really, really like.
Mutton Do-Piaza: this means meat:onion, 2:1. Cooked slowly until the onions have virtually dissolved, and sharpened with lemon, ginger, mint and coriander, the meat should be falling off the bone. Eaten almost like a subzi with soft flaps of naan.
Methi Murgh: chicken curry made extra-special with fresh fenugreek when in season, but better somehow with fragrant dried 'Qasuri' methi. (Qasur is in Pakistan, birthplace of Hindustani vocalist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan).
Malai Chingri: prawn curry in coconut milk, Bengali-style.
Thokpa: Ladakhi/Tibetan noodle soup with meatballs. If you have this in Leh, the meat is faintly scented with the artemisia that the baral (sheep) graze on in the high-altitude desert.
Yakhni: a light Kashmiri summer dish of quenelles (mincemeat fingers) in thin yoghurt gravy.
Safed Maas: the rich Rajasthani mutton dish favoured by the Erstwhiles (former princes), its counterpart is the fiery Lal Maas.
Kakori Kababs: these delicate, soft kababs were invented in the 19th century by the cooks of Kakori near Lucknow for the convenience of toothless old nawabs.
Tabakmaaz: rib-chops Kashmiri-style, fried crisp.

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Irani Berry Pulao: best eaten at Britannia restaurant in Ballard Estate, Bombay Fort. A mound of spiced rice hides a cache of mutton/chicken curry. The deliciously sour dried berries dotting the rice are called zereshk in Iran and imported specially for this jewel of a pulao.
Chicken Sixtyfour: not an impossibly athletic position from some old Indian love manual, but a Chettinad-style dish that was apparently Number 64 on the menu of Buhary's, the only decent non-veg restaurant for decades in Chennai.
Karwar Crab: stuffed masala crabs like you only dream of eating, from this pretty coastal town in North Karnataka.
Alu-Ghosht: this is a Sunday lunch special in many urban Indian homes: regular mutton curry embellished with huge chunks of fried potato. The alu absorbs the flavour of meat and masala and is eaten ceremonially by itself, not mashed carelessly with rice or roti.
Hyderabadi Biryani: there's biryani and then there's Hyderabadi Biryani. Don't ask questions, taste to know the difference.
Butter Chicken: okay, so we tried really hard to avoid this obvious one, but a national favourite deserves respect.
Kathi Roll: we're not particular if it's from Nizam's or wherever. Nothing restores morale and flagging spirits like a double-chicken-double-egg.
Kheema/Tandoori Pizza: who cares if pizza was originally American? Indian-style pizza is established since decades as urban comfort food. Or else, eat a Jain Pizza (all veg, no onion, no garlic) if you're a strict vegetarian.
Bun-anda: don't be ridiculous, you know what it is.

If it’s not Greek, well, it’s Parsi. The cuisine of the Parsis is attached with quite some history and mystery, and the book, 101 Parsi Recipes by Jeroo Mehta, is here to help you with all that.

Originating from the shores of the Caspian, their food absorbed the exotic flavours and
become a blend of East and West. The author explains some of the best kept secrets of the Parsi kitchen and also ‘shortcut recipes’ with readymade masalas which are easily available in the market.

Price: Rs. 250. 

Take a tasting tour recommended by experts Rocky and Mayur from the show Highway On My Plate and sample the delicacies on offer.

1. Gajaalee
In monetary terms, this is the best seafood joint in town and you are welcome to come arm wrestle if you disagree. Specialising in Malwani cuisine, it features amazing seafood dishes with hot coconut-based sweet and sour curries. Chef Ramachandran’s speciality, Bombil Fry, has the flavour of the fish, permeating your senses at every bite. The crab tandoori is also highly recommended, as is the delicious vegetarian platter.

2. Britannia
This iconic Parsi eatery, located at Ballard Estate, got its name because when it opened in 1923, it was a lot easier to get a license from the British Government if you had an English name. The British have long gone, but the fabulous food remains. They still use special Iranian barberries to flavour their Berry Pulaos, both chicken and vegetarian, and the Sali Boti and Dhansak are popular as well. What will make it even more special is if you can have a little chat with the old owner Boman Kohinoor, who will regale you with stories from the past.

3. Bade MiyaStarted in the 1960s, this roadside eatery in a Colaba bylane is famour for its tikkas, kebabs and stuffed rolls. Place your order with one of the super-efficient waiters buzzing around all over the place. Place your plate on tables and enjoy watching the world pass by as you munch on the delicious Chicken Bhuna Roll and paneer roll. The Chicken Tangdi is up there with any tangdi anywhere else.

4. Haji Ali Juice Centre
This place is known to probably every denizen of Mumbai and besides the delicious range of freshly-squeezed juices, they also serve ‘natural’ ice creams with kiwi, sitaphal (custard apple) etc. The unique and beautiful shrine of Haji Ali provides a beautiful backdrop as you sip on your juice. The kiwi-pomegranate is a personal favourite, but feel free to mix and match flavours. Or if you’re pandering to your inner child, the colours!

5. Aurus
Executive chef Vicky Ratnani brings his joy for life into his cooking and though classified as ‘fine dining’, we also like to think of his creative dishes as ‘fun cooking’. The food is so amazing that you will almost forget the fabulous location by the sea and the crowds of  ‘oh-so-famous’ people that throng for the legendary Friday nights. The Vietnamese Basa Fish with Mountain Spice and the Champagne and Asparagus Risotto are to die for, as are all the other dishes. Did we remember to mention that the wine list is very impressive, the cocktails superb and the service impeccable?

6. Sardar Pav Bhaji
With something as close to the heart of every Mumbaiker as ‘pav bhaji’ the title of ‘best pav bhaji’ is something that can be debated until the end of time. Personally, we like the pav bhaji’ at Sardar’s in Tardeo. It is often referred to as the ‘original’ pav bhaji and the long line of cars outside this place late into the evening suggests that Mumbaikars agree.

7. Parsi DairyTrue Mumbaikars know the place for delicious sweets, desserts and even milk since 1916 is the Parsi Dairy Farm on Princess Street. Despite foreign ice cream and gelato shops sprouting up across the city, the love for the Parsi Dairy Kulfi is undying. Parsi Dairy Farm also serves other Maharastrian specialties like Shrikhand, Mawa Barfi, Rajkoti Peda,
Kesari Peda and Lassi. Our personal favourite though is a delicious dish of kulfi sliced into multiple wedges and served with a smile.

8. Bachelorr'sWhen you are looking for falooda, late night dessert or a quick snack then stop by at Bachelorr’s beside the railway tracks at Charni Road station on Marine Drive. They have the range of ‘normal’ flavours too, but we love the Green Chilli and the Ginger Orange Ice Creams and the delicious Vanilla Falooda with Sago Seeds, Vermicelli and syrups.

There’s even more to eat...This January, Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach has started on its expedition to trace and revive the lost royal Indian cuisines. The Khansamas of the Nawabs have passed on the secret recipes of the cuisine from one generation to the other and now bring back the rich heritage of the Rampuri Cuisine to Bageecha. Dishes that Indian Masterchef Bhairav Singh recommends are Rampuri Seekh, Sone Ki Daal and Alu Batasha Korma.
Call 022 66934444

Golden Star Thali Restaurant at Charni Road is organising the Gujarat and Rajasthan Rasoi Utsav till February 12. Special Vegetables which include Ker Sangri, Surti Undhiyu, Karela Kashmir, Dum Aloo Rajasthani and Tindola Sambharia.
Cost: R 320. Call  23631983, 23671952

Celebrate the Chinese New Year at The Tasty Tangles and try several mouth-watering dishes. Thespecialties on offer include Roasted Chicken or Paneer, and Mandarin Salad, Seven-vegetable Noodles with Roasted Chili Dressing, Mapo Tofu with Steamed Rice, Crispy Chicken and Plum Sauce and Roasted Duck And Peppers in Black Bean. Till January 31 at Khar.
Call 67094444

Usher in the Year of the Dragon with a specially designed set-menu crafted by Chef Danny Huang and Chef Ben. Enjoy a delectable mix of fiery and subtle flavours with authentic Chinese delights like ‘Pi Pa’ Tofu with Spicy Sauce, Braised Mixed Mushroom With Greens served in clay pot.
Call  66911211

The Chinese New Year celebrations go on till January 29 at Hakkasan with an authentic special menu offered for lunch and dinner. Try the Steamed Aubergine with Preserved Chinese olives; Pi Pa Tofu and shrimp With Broccoli, Shitake Mushroom and Dry scallop, and Coconut Crème Brulee with Dark Chocolate Sorbet.
Call 26444445

Indians find this mildly insulting but the truth is that Westerners always scoff at our desserts. They regard our sweets and puddings with the amused contempt that we in India reserve for Chinese desserts. When the Chinese suggest that we eat red bean pancakes, we laugh derisively. So it is with
Europeans and our gulab jamuns, rasmalais, or jalebis.

The principal objection to Indian sweets, as far as I can tell, is that they are too sweet. While the West has a long and globally respected tradition of patisserie and dessert making, India is treated as a nation with a first-rate cuisine that is sorely lacking in the dessert department.

Naturally, I do not share the West’s dismissiveness about our puddings. I concede that we do not have the range and variety of European desserts. Baking is not integral to the Indian dessert tradition whereas in the West most patissiers also double as bakers. While India accepted many of the ingredients that came out of the New World (potatoes, chillies, etc.), the wonders of chocolate passed us by. And so, while every Western dessert menu is at least one-third chocolate, Indian chefs give the cocoa bean a miss. (Why should this be so? Chocolate is as alien to Europe as it is to India. How come they grabbed and we did not? No idea.)

Europeans will tell you that their tradition is so different from ours that there is no possible meeting ground. This is not entirely correct. I can think of at least three desserts that India shares with the West. The first is kulfi, which is a close relative of ice-cream. The second is our kheer/payasam tradition which mirrors the rice puddings of the West.

And then, there is bread pudding. In the West, bread pudding changes as you go from country to country. American bread pudding can be stodgy (or even, in Nora Ephron’s phrase, ‘caramelised mush’) and is not overly exciting. The British bread and butter pudding is a nursery dish that remained something of a joke till the 1980s when it was reinvented by the Swiss chef Anton Mosimann. (The British also have variations on bread pudding: Summer Pudding, Cabinet Pudding etc.)

In France, they have pain perdu, which literally means ‘lost bread’, and can be – in the right hands – the most delicious of all bread puddings. (It is a cousin of the sweet French toast that is often served at breakfast time.)

The Indian bread pudding tradition is not, I will readily concede, some ancient Vedic ritual. But then, neither is our biryani tradition. Our bread puddings reached us from Western Asia and came to our shores along with traders, invaders and refuge-seekers.

The closest we get to a Western-style bread pudding is the Parsi version which is cooked in an oven and either has its roots in the Persian origins of the Parsi community or in the tendency of some Parsis to adopt British ways in the Raj era. It is not a dish that has spread widely in India. It is difficult to find outside of Parsi homes and a few clubs but even a mediocre Parsi bread pudding is usually better than a good British bread and butter pudding. (Perhaps one day Anton Mosimann will be hired by some rich Parsi – say the Tatas – to re-invent the Parsi bread pudding just as he transformed the British nursery staple.)

My personal favourite of all Indian bread puddings is the shahi tukda. It is not necessarily a sophisticated dish. All you have to do is to reduce some sweetened milk and pour it over pieces of fried bread. Put the pudding in a fridge for a few hours so that the flavour of the milk mingles with that of the bread and the texture is perfect and your pudding is ready.



I would guess that like most kebabs and biryanis, the shahi tukda is an Indian take on some Middle-Eastern dish. But if you ask a gifted Indian chef to make a shahi tukda, you are liable to end up with a classic that will put all of the world’s bread puddings to shame.

My favourite shahi tukda has always been the Dum Pukht version. This is a slightly fancy dish, not ideally suited to the home cook because the key to its success is the bread. In the hands of Dum Pukht’s chefs, the bread is enriched so much that it becomes a sort of cake. The milk that is poured over it also bears little relation to the ordinary reduced milk we use at home and is almost like the rabdi that halwais use.

Because of its richness, the Dum Pukht shahi tukda could be a soggy, greasy mess. In fact, it is a dish that is almost perfect in the engineering of its construction with the right cake-like texture and a wonderful moist sweetness. My guess is that its secret lies in the quantities and proportions. The chefs have figured out the perfect balance between the bread and the milk.

Till about a month ago, I would have said that the Dum Pukht shahi tukda was the world’s most amazing bread pudding. But now I think that I have found one that is even better. Poppy Agha, a brilliant and talented chef from Karachi, created the single-best shahi tukda I have ever eaten as part of a TV competition called Foodistan, that I am currently judging. (More about Foodistan when it starts on NDTV Good Times.)

Poppy’s shahi tukda plays around with ingredients and uses mascarpone cheese, apricots and a little cream. But it is so astonishingly light that the dessert course alone was strong enough to help the Pakistani team nearly defeat the Indian on that night. (Why do I say nearly? Well, you will have to watch the show to find out.) I asked Poppy for the recipe and she was kind enough to part with it for Brunch readers. My hope is that Indian chefs will learn from our cousins across the border. While I do not share the Western aversion to Indian sweets, I have to concede that most of our chefs don’t bother too much with desserts. When was the last time that any Indian chef invented a great dessert that went on to become a staple on menus all over India? Can you think of any Indian chef who has reinvented classic desserts in the way in which Western chefs are always doing?
I called Poppy the sub-continent’s Anton Mosimann on the show because of what she had done to the shahi tukda. But I am sure there are many Indian chefs who, if given a chance, could re-invent all our indigenous bread puddings to similar effect.
The problem, I guess, is that we are too scared to even try. In case you want to take the initiative yourself, here are the recipes for my favourite bread puddings. The Parsi bread pudding recipe is from the Time and Talents club cookbook and no doubt hundreds of Parsis will claim that the version at their homes is better! The pain perdu recipe comes from Set’z where chef Nick Van Riemsdijk makes a killer version of the dessert. I would like to
give you the Dum Pukht shahi tukda recipe but ITC tends to make a fetish out of the secrecy of its recipes. So that’s not going to be possible.
Not to worry. Try Poppy’s recipe instead. And you will realise why the shahi tukda can be the king of all bread puddings. And this is one battle Pakistan has won.

Shahi Tukda with an Apricot Sheera [Golden slices of fried bread in a warm heavy custard cream, flavoured with a layer of apricot compote and topped with 
marscarpone cream]
Serves 4 topping it up Poppy Agha, a talented chef from Karachi, made excellent shahi tukda
Ingredients
1.5 litres milk
1 stick cinnamon
2 pcs green cardamom (elaichi)
2.5 cups sugar
Few strands of saffron
12 slices white bread
300 ml cooking oil
2.5 tbsp mascarpone cream
2 tbsp heavy double cream
50 gm apricots (small and dry with seeds)
New method
* Boil 1.5 litres milk, add 1 stick cinnamon and 2 pcs elaichi (green).
* Add 4 tbsp heaped sugar.
* Cook the milk for approximately 6 minutes.
* Layer saffron in a serving dish and pour 2 ladles (approx 4 tbsp) of the milk mixture on top.
* Cut squares of white bread, and heat oil to deep fry in a pan.
* Add a star anise to the oil to flavour it.
* Once the star anise is bubbling, remove from the oil.
* Fry the bread squares till golden, and drain excess oil on a napkin.
* Place bread in the milk mixture with saffron and let it soak for 5 minutes.
* In a large bowl, whisk 2.5 tbsp of mascarpone cream. Add 2 tbsp of heavy double cream and 1 ladle of milk mixture.
* Whisk thoroughly, and place in the fridge to chill for 10 mins.
* Boil sugar in 1 cup. Quarter apricots and infuse with sheera.
For plating:
* On a plate, layer a little apricot on the base.
* Place a slice of soaked bread on top.
* Spoon a little mascarpone mixture between layers of 3 slices. Drizzle some apricot sheera on top.
Plain Perdue with Orchard Fruit Compote(Bread and Butter Pudding) making it different Chef Nick Van Riemsdijk makes a killer version of the bread pudding
Ingredients
20 gm fruit compote (a mix of apricots and prunes)
10 ml vanilla sauce with cinnamon
20 ml milk with cinnamon
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 mint leaf
5 gm caramelised sugar
10 gm brown sugar
Ingredients for the brioche:10 gm flour
1 egg
5 ml milk
5 gm sugar
3 gm yeast
5 gm butter
Cooking method
* Soak brioche in milk and cinnamon and toss it in frying pan with caramelised sugar.
* Caramelise some brown sugar again over the top of the brioche.
* Place compote on the centre of plate, then brioche on sides.
* Pour vanilla sauce on the side.
* Garnish with caramel stick, fresh mint leaf and serve with scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

Brioche * Mix all the ingredients together (except for the butter) and make a dough.
* Melt butter and add slowly to the dough, shape it and keep aside for proofing (15 mins).
* Shape the brioche and bake it for 20 min at 200 degree Fahrenheit.
* Take out and rest it until it gets cool.
Fruit compote 
 * Mix all ingredients and cook it on a slow fire with sugar and water.
* Accompaniment Vanilla bean ice cream.
Bread Pudding de Luxe
Serves 12
Ingredients1 loaf of bread
2 tbsp ghee
6 cups milk
450 gm sugar (stir into the milk)
1/2 tsp saffron
225 gm mava
1/2 tsp nutmeg (powder) 4 cardamoms (powder)
30 gm almonds, sliced
30 gm pistachio, sliced
30 gm charoli
30 gm raisins
450 gm clotted cream
Cooking method
* Cut the bread into cubes, fry in ghee and drain on brown paper.
* Scald milk after adding one cup sugar, add fried bread cubes and saffron and cook for 15 minutes.
* Mix the remaining sugar with mava, nutmeg, cardamoms and a few sliced nuts and raisins.
* Add this to the bread mixture and bake in a slow oven for 45 minutes.
* Remove pan from oven and put the mixture into an ovenproof dish, spread with cream and decorate with remaining nuts and raisins. Serve hot.

Parsi food in Delhi? Well, you need not go to Mumbai or some place in Gujarat where a majority of the Parsis stay, but here is a place where you get to relish authentic Parsi food, known for its unique flavour.

The Bagli Kitchen serving out of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman premises on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg is the place to be if you want to savour dhansak, sali murghi or patra ni machchi. Manager of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman’s guest house, Dhun Bagli — the force behind the Bagli Kitchen — has been running the service for more than five decades now. But mind you, this is not a restaurant where you can enjoy food at any given time.

This is a catering service and the orders have to be placed before hand. “We have been catering for Parsi weddings for many years. But last year, a non-Parsi gentleman attended one reception here by chance and almost fell in love with the cuisine. Inquiries followed and he ended up ordering for a party at his place soon,” says Bagli.

The word of mouth publicity brought in further orders from the non-Parsi Delhiites thus reiterating the popularity of Bagli’s traditional Parsi dishes cooked in authentic style. So even if you have had chicken or mutton dishes countless times, sali murghi will bowl you over.

While your regular biryani or pulao will have meat, here dhansak offers meat (chicken or mutton both) in dal, which makes for a different taste altogether. For the fish lovers, it is patra ni machchi (fish wrapped in green chutney and salt in banana leaf and steamed). Other dishes on the menu are brown rice (rice caramelised with a pinch of jaggery), fried stew and chicken zardaloo etc.

Whatever be the dish, original Parsi masala makes it special.“We get all the masalas, including the dhansak masala, from Mumbai. Even our pickles are different and people like those too,” says Bagli. Another popular item is lagan-nu-custard (milk and sugar baked thick with egg and garnished with chironji and kismish).

The Baglis have a cook with them since 1952, who prepares specialty Parsi dishes. Expressing happiness that the Parsi food is slowly and steadily making inroads into the national capital’s food calendar, Bagli says she and her team is ready to cater to a large order too.

"There is one secret that even the American security forces will not be able to decode," said Boman Kohinoor, 90, owner of Britannia and Company Restaurant at Ballard Estate. "That is the secret recipe of our signature dish, berry pulao."   A few weeks ago, when the US ambassador to India, Peter Burleigh, visited the restaurant for lunch, he tried to talk Kohinoor into sharing the recipe of the Barberry Rice delicacy that, in August, will complete 30 years of being served at the quaint restaurant. Kohinoor retorted: "I will reveal it to you only if you share the recipe of Coca Cola."

The closely-held family secret was introduced in the kitchen of the 89-year-old establishment by Kohinoor's wife, Bachan, in August 1982. Thirty years later, it continues to draw huge crowds every afternoon.
"Back then, the dish made of soft fluffy rice, tender meat or chicken and imported Irani zeereshk berries was priced at Rs. 45 a plate," Kohinoor reminisced. "My wife tried out her own version of the Persian zeereshk pulao in our restaurant kitchen, which soon became the high point of our Parsi food menu," he said, adding that owing to inflation, the price of the mutton berry pulao has risen to Rs. 350 a plate today. The restaurant also offers a vegetarian version of the pulao on its menu.
Seated on an imported Polish chair with a table swathed in a red checked cloth, Firoza Mistree, 50, has been frequenting the restaurant from 1982. "One of the first few Parsi dishes I tasted in Mumbai was the Berry Pulao at Britannia. Over the past three decades, though the cost of the pulao has increased, the taste has remained the same," said Mistree, who ensures all her foreign guests visit the restaurant to savour the barberry rice delicacy. "Even today, I stand for more than 20 minutes outside the restaurant, waiting for a table," she said.
For food blogger Rushina Ghildiyal, the experience of relishing the berry pulao is more appealing than actually eating it. "It has become a part of every food lover's list of dishes to be tasted in the city. The berries on the steamed rice also have medicinal properties, working as a digestive," she said.
Though the dish has become synonymous with Britannia and Company Restaurant, the 13-year-old Parsi restaurant, Jimmy Boy, at Fort, has also included it on its menu. "Berry Pulao is one of the most popular dishes on our menu. We prepare our own version of the Persian dish with imported berries from Iran," said Sherzad Irani, manager of the restaurant. "We have had customers pack and carry the dish for relatives in Delhi and Kolkata," he said.

Going beyond dhansak

If you go to the right places, you’ll find that there’s more to Parsi food than dhansak and papeta par eedu (eggs). You can start with food served by Aban Pardiwalla. The 56-tear-old Pedder Road resident began supplying traditional Parsi food to those who ached for the ‘real’ kolmina kebabs and sali chicken, but couldn’t quite get it right in their own kitchens. “I love how ‘good’ Parsi food stays away from fusion. If you want to get a Parsi recipe right, don’t tinker with your grandmother’s handwritten cookbooks.”
In the Parsi cuisine, the rich flavours of the Persian cuisine are set off by the simple methods of Gujarati cooking. The result is a well-balanced, slightly spicy and sometimes sweet and sour taste in the food. According to food writer Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal Parsi cuisine has adapted itself to local tastes. “The hirvi chutney used in patra ni machhi is typically Maharashtrian. Sas ni machhi (fish in white sauce) is distinctly British.”

Salli chicken

Ingredients: 800g chicken, salt and freshly milled pepper, 1tsp red chilli powder, 1/2tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp curry powder, 1tsp ginger paste, 2tsp garlic paste, 3tbsp oil, 2  bay leaves, 1tsp cumin seeds, 2 onions chopped, 2 tsp red chilly paste, 2tsp coriander powder, 3  large tomatoes finely chopped or grated, 2  cups deep fried potato straws, finely chopped fresh coriander to garnish
Preparation: Apply the salt, pepper, red chilly powder, turmeric, half the curry powder, ginger and garlic pastes to the chicken pieces. Marinate for 2hr. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the bay leaves and cumin seeds. Fry till the cumin seeds crackle. Add the onions and fry till the onions are golden brown. Add the red chilly paste, remaining ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for about 2min. Add coriander powder and remaining curry powder. Add the tomatoes and fry till a thick gravy is formed. Add the chicken and salt to taste. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low heat till chicken is well cooked and the gravy is thick. Garnish with potato straws (salli) before serving.

- Kareena N Gianani

Naynaz Munsaf cooks little-known, traditional Parsi dishes like bhatia marghi (right), malido (above) and bhaji dana nu gosh. She gets them just right thanks to the masala ingredients that come all the way from Navsari in Gujarat

Decades ago, when Francis Caraciolo, now 70, moved to Mumbai from Goa, he gradually lost touch with old Goan dishes such as prawn baffad and fish jeira meera. “What do people in metros know about traditional preparations? Everyone thinks Goan cuisine is limited to pork vindaloo and sorpotel.”
Whenever Caraciolo visited that dear aunt or distant relative in Goa, he would beg them to make his favourite dishes. Back in Mumbai, however, he made his peace by calling for cutlets, tikkas and curries for house parties until he came to know that Ann Dias, 59, a caterer in his vicinity, was ready to recreate traditional recipes. Now, for a get-together, or his children’s birthday parties, Caraciolo says he doesn’t need to settle for the typical fare.

Back to their rootsDias, on her part, is surprised at the sudden rise in requests for old Goan dishes. “I’ve been churning out vindaloo and dodol for years now. But now, I think people are well-travelled and are more interested in reliving some part of their history. They want to eat what their elders ate. Others, like Caraciolo, just miss their childhood,” she smiles. Today almost a third of her orders are for authentic Goan dishes.
According to Dias, traditional Goan recipes are not that difficult to make. But you do need to put your heart into it because you may be out of touch with some techniques, she says. Then there are ingredients that must come only from Goa. Dias makes her masalas at home and gets other ingredients — like dried fish and palm vinegar — from Goa. “I wouldn’t touch local products,” she claims.
Every now and then, she visits Goa, where her brother has a catering business, and taps relatives for old recipes handed down by her grandmother and mother. “Tastes stay with you, you know. When I try out an old Goan dish, I don’t have an elder who can tell me what’s right and wrong. I rely on my childhood memories and decide what’s best.” Dias has no faith in the plethora of recent cookbooks. “It’s all half-baked and full of shortcuts. For xacuti, they simply say that you must fry onions. But you actually have to brown them really, really well. And the chillies should make your neighbour’s eyes water,” she says.

Heard of Vasanu?At her Mahim home, Naynaz Munsaf, 35, says she’s expecting her next order for vasanu any day. Though the old Parsi dessert is unheard of in most places, Munsaf is comfortable with what it means to rustle it up. “It takes eight hours to cook,” she says.
In the past year, Munsaf has been cooking only authentic Parsi cuisine for clients, and says the demand has gone up manifold recently. “Parsi food served in most restaurants is sweet and sour, but authentic Parsi food is more balanced, and spicier than what you get there.”
Most old Parsi dishes, says Munsaf, have disappeared from daily cooking because they weren’t well documented. Only a few have survived. “Dhansak is just as old as vasanu, but people still make it because it is a part of your Sunday lunch routine, like the Sindhi curry for Sindhis.”
Some old dishes, like popatji (similar to appam), need specific utensils that aren’t available in the market. Munsaf, who is from Navsari in Gujarat, says she is thinking of going back and getting the vessel. If you want to sample authentic Parsi food, says Munsaf, you only need to step into Navsari.
Just then, Munsaf’s brother enters her home with three bags of ingredients for masalas. “I grind the masalas here, but the flavour in my dishes comes from these Navsari ingredients.” Little details go a long way in getting old dishes right — one must never, says Munsaf, attempt to put chicken into an old dish like bhaji dana nu gosh (a dish made with spinach, coriander and green peas). “It is authentic only if you put mutton in it. You can’t interchange the meat like we do for contemporary recipes.”
Shermeen Merchant is not a Parsi, but cannot stop raving about how she has found the perfect answer to her Parsi cuisine cravings thanks to Munsaf. The 35-year-old HR executive studied in a Parsi school and remembers how, as a six-year-old, she craved for old Parsi delicacies that were served at the school every Friday. “My mother’s adoptive mother was Parsi and even today, my mouth waters when I remember her get-togethers. I get the same kolmi no patio, moora dal and chicken farcha from Munsaf’s kitchen. I thought I’d have to give up on certain old dishes before I heard of her kitchen,” says Merchant, who has been calling regularly for traditional Parsi dishes for the past few months.
A night of nostalgiaShrirang Khatavkar, 40, who runs a catering service in Thane, says the demand for traditional Maharashtrian and Gujarati dishes has gone up because people are tired of the same old Chinese and Punjabi cuisine. Recently, a client asked for traditional, authentic Maharashtrian, Gujarati and Sindhi dishes for a three-day celebration.
“I do not agree to make every traditional dish, of course. For instance, a client recently asked me to make a Maharashtrian dish that few have heard of — appe (it is prepared like a puri, steamed and boiled). I refused because if I claim it is authentic, then it must be served piping hot. That’s not possible when you have 100 guests,” says Khatavkar. He does oblige when his clients are craving for aduche fudfude, a traditional dish made from adu leaves which aren’t easily available in most vegetable markets.
The caterer says his Bible for the recipes are yellowing papers and diaries left behind by his grandmother and mother, who tried all cuisines. “Thanks to those, I now know that authentic payasam (a south Indian sweet dish) was actually made with banana or jackfruit, and coconut milk drained thrice was used instead of water,” he says.
Six months back, when Madhavi Ranade wanted to throw a housewarming party, she wanted traditional Maharashtrian fare as a good omen. “I was thrilled when Khatavkar told me he can make panchamrut, an old Maharashtrian chutney that no one really gets right — most of us either get it too tangy, or end up with a sweet mess.”
Served with Khatavkar’s bhardyacha vada (red pumpkin vada) and bhajniche vade (vadas made of pulses), Ranade’s party became a rather nostalgic affair. “We sat late into the night and reminisced about our elders cooking, and how close this came to their preparations. I began my life in my new home on a very positive note with all that wonderful food,” says Ranade.

Some recipes

Traditional Payasam
Ingredients
4tbsp rice l4tbsp moong dal l4tbsp jaggery l2tbsp ghee l1 ripe bananal1 cup freshly grated coconut, 1 cup l3-4, powdered cardamom lCashews and raisins to garnish l2tbsp ghee
Pressure cook the rice and moong dal, or cook in a pan till it has the consistency of khichdi. Grate the coconut and sieve with a muslin cloth. This is the first milk. Keep aside. Add some water to the grated coconut and sieve again to get the second milk. The third milk goes into the rice and moong dal mixture. Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan, add cashews and raisins and cook till light brown. Add jaggery and stir. Bring to a boil, add rice and moong dal mixture and boil again. Then add the second and third coconut milk. Mash a banana or jackfruit by hand and bring it to boil. Add cardamom powder and serve.

Fish jeira meera
Ingredients
Fish-surmai, pomfret or rawas, salted for l15 minutesl2, medium onionsl2-3 slit green chilliesl8-10 red chilliesl1 tsp jeeral10 pepper cornsl1 tsp turmericl15 flakes garlicl2tbsp oilla small ball of tamarind soaked in waterl2-3 cups water lSalt to taste
Grind the red chillies, jeera, pepper corns, jeera, turmeric and garlic and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and fry onions and green chillies till light brown. Add the ground masalas and some salt. When you begin to get an aroma, add the tamarind juice and water. When the gravy boils, throw in the fish and cook till well done.

Bhaji dana nu ghosh
Ingredients
2 onions l200gm green peas l1 pureed tomato l2 cups methil 2.5 cups corianderl1tsp red chilli powderl1.5tsp turmeric powderl 3-4 sticks cinnamonl 3-4 pieces clovel 3-4 black pepperl 1/2tsp garam masala l300gm mutton l1tsp each ginger garlic paste l1cup water
Take oil in a pan and brown onions. Add all the spices. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the red chilli and turmeric powder and cook for 30 seconds. Now, add the tomato puree and cook till oil starts separating from the mixture. Here, add the mutton, methi leaves, half of the coriander, the green peas and cook for 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle the garam masala and add water. Pressure cook the dish for about 3-4 whistles till the meat is tender. Sprinkle the rest of the coriander on top and serve hot.

Aduche fudfude
Ingredients
15 medium-sized, soft adu leaves, chopped into small pieces (make sure you don’t buy the thick variety) l1 bowl (mix another 1tbsp with water) gram flour la fistful peanuts l2-3 tbsp oil l1tsp cumin seeds l1tsp fenugreek seeds l1tsp curry leaves l1tsp turmeric powder l5-6 finely chopped garlic flakes lmedium sized-ball tamarind l1tbsp jaggery lSalt to taste
Clean adu leaves and pressure cook for about 3-4 whistles with gram flour and peanuts. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, turmeric and garlic. Add the cooked adu to this. Add the mixture of gram flour in water at this stage. Put tamarind in this mixture and bring to boil. Then add jaggery and salt and boil for 10 minutes. erve with roti or rice.