Navaz Master, a Napean Sea Road resident, will not eat any traditional Parsi food on Saturday. Master and her husband will instead eat at a regular restaurant to celebrate the Parsi New Year. "We look at this day as a break from the usual Parsi food that we eat," said Master, who would usually order burgers and pizzas on the occasion till her daughter left to study abroad a few years ago. "We will go to a nice restaurant and enjoy some non-Parsi food for a change," she said.
Many Parsis in the city are opting to spend their new year eating at a restaurant or ordering food home instead of preparing the special dishes themselves.
"We are swarmed with orders for the new year, and our booking was already full by August 15," said Kurush Dalal, who runs a catering service in Mazgaon. "We will be serving traditional Parsi delicacies such as patra ni macchi, and chicken and mutton pulav.
For the Dadrawalas who live in Mazgaon, the day will involve a family outing, as their son, who works abroad, will join them.
"We usually don’t prepare food at home so as to keep time for prayers and friends and relatives," said Noshir Dadrawala.
"We will go to the fire temple in the morning, visit relatives’ homes, eat at a restaurant, and end the day with a fun movie," he added.
However, some Parsis do choose to make the items at home on the special day. Behroz Shroff, a homemaker in Charni Road, will wake up early on Saturday to prepare a long list of food items as friends and relatives drop in through the day. "I will prepare several dishes such as sali murgi and macchi-no-patio," said Shroff.
"This is the time of the year to watch a Parsi play with the entire family," said Niloufer Nasirabadwala, a Napean Sea Road resident who will head to the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, to watch a Parsi-Gujarati play on Saturday evening.