On this episode, Bawi Bride Perzen Patel is in conversation with the sixth generation owner of the very famous Dotivala Bakery in Surat, Cyrus Dotivala. Cyrus shares the story of how bread traveled from Dutch settlers to Parsis and how the famous Parsi Batasas and Nankhatai were invented. Together they talk about multi-generational businesses and… Continue reading Batasas and the Parsi Bakery: Not Just Dhansak Ep 02 Featuring Cyrus Dotiwala
Month: May 2019
A Bid to Maintain One of the World’s Oldest Culinary Traditions
For the ever dwindling Parsi community of western India, food is both pleasure and heritage — and a secret language in danger of dying out. TO TASTE DHANSAK at the Ripon Club in Mumbai — whose version of the slow-cooked, densely spiced lentil, vegetable and meat stew is one of the city’s greatest pleasures —… Continue reading A Bid to Maintain One of the World’s Oldest Culinary Traditions
Chairman, trustees in battle over BPP’s place in all-India Parsi body
Yazdi Desai’s idea of keeping BPP out of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India’s affairs led to a heated exchange of words between trustees Noshir Dadrawala and Yazdi Desai With the tension between the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) growing over the past couple of months, an ‘extraordinary general meeting’ of… Continue reading Chairman, trustees in battle over BPP’s place in all-India Parsi body
Irani Cafes: A fading love story
The little culinary revolution that Mumbai’s tiny Iranian diaspora began a 100 years ago is now quickly dwindling “Agar teer e aalambejombad be jay. Na barradragi, gar nakhwaahadkhodaay (Even if the world shoots all its arrows at you, not even a vein will be pierced if God protects you),” gushes 97-year-old Aqa Boman Kohinoor, digging… Continue reading Irani Cafes: A fading love story
What is Parsi Food, Really: Not Just Dhansak Ep 01 Featuring Kurush Dalal
On the first episode of our Parsi food show, Not Just Dhansak, our host Perzen Patel, popularly known as the Bawi Bride, is in conversation with archaeologist and food historian, Kurush Dalal. When he is not digging and teaching, Kurush runs a boutique catering company, Katy’s Kitchen. They reminisce about their childhood food memories and… Continue reading What is Parsi Food, Really: Not Just Dhansak Ep 01 Featuring Kurush Dalal
The opium trader who became one of India’s richest men
On his fourth trip to China, Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy was captured by the French. It was the middle of the Napoleonic Wars and hostilities between the British and the French had carried over to the Indian Ocean. Jejeebhoy was on a British ship called the Brunswick when, off the coast of Point de Galle in present-day… Continue reading The opium trader who became one of India’s richest men
Not Just Dhansak: A New Parsi Podcast
Our dear friend Perzen Patel a.k.a Bawi Bride writes in… What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone tells you they are Parsi? Is it Dhansak? Well, no one would blame you!Over the past few decades this simple preparation of spices, lentils and vegetables cooked with meat has come to be… Continue reading Not Just Dhansak: A New Parsi Podcast
