144 replies to this topic

[arnab]

another subcontinent presents as our first feature of 2008, a review by sue darlow of niloufer ichaporia king's book on parsi home-cooking, "my bombay kitchen", a conversation between sue and niloufer, and 6 recipes from the book, tested, photographed and annotated by sue.

this will be our featured presentation till februrary 5, 2008, after which it will be archived in the "written" section of the home site. we invite your comments and questions here for niloufer and sue, who will join the discussion.

[bague25]

Wonderful feature Sue!

I have this book since a few months. I've tried a few recipes from this book and remember that they were quite good.

I love the chatty tone of the book, the wonderful anecdotes and the recipes that do not seem daunting. I relate to Ms Ichaporia King's cuisine that is sometimes experimental, original, using ingredients easily available.

Could we do a group project or something like that? I'm planning on fish patio (I've had too much shellfish/seafood over the holiday time)...

First question for Ms Ichaporia King when she joins in: What are your favorite foods?

[saffrontrail]

Thanks Arnab for the nice start to 2008. It was wonderful reading through the whole feature including recipes and Sue's interesting comments in the end....Though I have tried the Patra wadi before, I'd like to try out the Parsi method again, the pics and illustrations are tempting enough - and I just realised that I haven't been doing the folds 1 and 2a and b, before rolling the leaf stack, which made them look kinda un-uniform...

[Dilliwala Dilwala]

oh thank you so much, sue! i had always wondered where this mysteriously delightful snack of my childhood had originated and how it had somehow sneaked into our very punjabi household. had not been able to find recipes -- not that i ever looke hard enough -- only because i knew it as, what we called it then, "pataur". am sure an uncle with a transferable job and his wife were responsible for introducing us to it! and thanks a bunch for tempting me enough to want to try it as soon as I can find taro leaves!

[Ammini]

Sue; Wonderful review. My Bombay Kitchen is a great book. I was fortunate to meet Niloufer Ichaporia King at the recent Worlds of Flavor conference at CIA and taste some of her food. I also got my copy of My Bombay Kitchen signed by her. It is one of my prized possessions. She is such a great lady.

[sweety]

Sue, thank you...what a nice feature!
I would love to try the patrel and cardamom shotbread. Both look very tempting.
Thank you and niloufer for this wonderful feature.

Bague, group project sounds good. I'm in.

-Vani

[seeker]

Sue, thanks so much for such an interesting feature - and the great photos!

Our Gujarati neighbour in Delhi used to send us freshly made patra every few weeks -- which we would wolf down with tea on cold winter afternoons. Bliss it was.  Is this version very different from the Gujju one? I've now taken to buying frozen patra which is not too bad, but nothing like the real thing.

Must try making it at home soon.

[nuxindica]

arnab, on Jan 9 2008, 03:26 AM, said:

another subcontinent presents as our first feature of 2008, a review by sue darlow of niloufer ichaporia king's book on parsi home-cooking, "my bombay kitchen", a conversation between sue and niloufer, and 6 recipes from the book, tested, photographed and annotated by sue.

this will be our featured presentation till februrary 5, 2008, after which it will be archived in the "written" section of the home site. we invite your comments and questions here for niloufer and sue, who will join the discussion.

I

Edited by nuxindica, 09 January 2008 - 11:23 PM.

[nuxindica]

bague25, on Jan 9 2008, 02:23 PM, said:

Wonderful feature Sue!

I have this book since a few months. I've tried a few recipes from this book and remember that they were quite good.

I love the chatty tone of the book, the wonderful anecdotes and the recipes that do not seem daunting. I relate to Ms Ichaporia King's cuisine that is sometimes experimental, original, using ingredients easily available.

Could we do a group project or something like that? I'm planning on fish patio (I've had too much shellfish/seafood over the holiday time)...

First question for Ms Ichaporia King when she joins in: What are your favorite foods?

Fruits and vegetables, exploring them in markets, gardens and kitchens, mine or others'. Although,the other day when I made dahi vadas and ate most of what I made, it seemed as thought here could be nothing better in the world .

Edited by nuxindica, 09 January 2008 - 11:22 PM.

[nuxindica]

Ammini, on Jan 9 2008, 08:26 PM, said:

Sue; Wonderful review. My Bombay Kitchen is a great book. I was fortunate to meet Niloufer Ichaporia King at the recent Worlds of Flavor conference at CIA and taste some of her food. I also got my copy of My Bombay Kitchen signed by her. It is one of my prized possessions. She is such a great lady.

Thank you, Ammini.  You know that your sentiments are abundantly reciprocated.  Congratulations on the Cordon d'Or award and being featured in Saveur.

[Sue Darlow]

I forgot to ask you the further question after your last answer, what exactly is Gâteau Succès?  A Google search yields precious little.

Also, with all this love of vegetables and salad, are you sure you're Parsi?

Edited by Sue Darlow, 09 January 2008 - 11:52 PM.

[arnab]

welcome, niloufer.

following on from sue's question: after reading the 6 recipes, and having my mouth water and stomach lurch in the process, i was shocked to see a green salad listed as your choice of final meal! what gives?

[loislane]

What a feature, thanks to everyone involved in it! I have been meaning to buy the book for quite sometime, but finally it is the food pyramid of potato chips that is going to make me really buy it now. :-) Great interview questions, and wonderful responses.

For example, I loved Niloufer's response about opening a restaurant:

Quote

..People one likes coming to eat when one is struck with the urge to cook this or that; a place to sprawl and chat after a meal; the sense of being in someone’s house. Guess what? This is what I do all the time. It’s called having people to dinner ( or breakfast or lunch or tea).

Some questions for Niloufer - Could you tell us a little bit about the Parsi New Year feast that you oversee at Chez Panisse?
Is a recipe for the endangered 'topli nu panir' included in the book?


Sue, the pictures are simply amazing. I have never seen nankhatais sold wrapped like that - was that your idea? If so, kudos to you!

[loislane]

This might be a good place to stick in another review of the book by a blogger friend.

[armagod]

Sue Darlow, on Jan 9 2008, 11:51 PM, said:

I forgot to ask you the further question after your last answer, what exactly is Gâteau Succès?  A Google search yields precious little.

Something like this?


From yr review:

Quote

The text is studded with nuggets of information - for instance I learnt about the difference between dark and light tamarind, that Sweden is the second largest market for cardamom after India

Is the latter true?

Quote

Current cardamom production in Guatemala, which accounts for 90 per cent of world trade in the produce, is estimated at 25,000 tonnes. Around 60 per cent of its exports are to Saudi Arabia, while 10 per cent are to the UAE. The main market for Indian cardamom is also Saudi Arabia, other Gulf countries and Japan. India's share in the world exports is only 10 per cent.

[nuxindica]

arnab, on Jan 9 2008, 11:59 PM, said:

welcome, niloufer.

following on from sue's question: after reading the 6 recipes, and having my mouth water and stomach lurch in the process, i was shocked to see a green salad listed as your choice of final meal! what gives?

Whattodo?  It's what I crave the most when separated from it.  Furthermore, since dead Parsis have the immediate task of making a perilous crossing over Chinvat Pul, it would be prudent to travel light, don't you agree?

[nuxindica]

loislane, on Jan 10 2008, 12:35 AM, said:

What a feature, thanks to everyone involved in it! I have been meaning to buy the book for quite sometime, but finally it is the food pyramid of potato chips that is going to make me really buy it now. :-) Great interview questions, and wonderful responses.

For example, I loved Niloufer's response about opening a restaurant:

Quote

..People one likes coming to eat when one is struck with the urge to cook this or that; a place to sprawl and chat after a meal; the sense of being in someone’s house. Guess what? This is what I do all the time. It’s called having people to dinner ( or breakfast or lunch or tea).

Some questions for Niloufer - Could you tell us a little bit about the Parsi New Year feast that you oversee at Chez Panisse?
Is a recipe for the endangered 'topli nu panir' included in the book?


Sue, the pictures are simply amazing. I have never seen nankhatais sold wrapped like that - was that your idea? If so, kudos to you!

Alas, the recipe for topli nu panir lies on the cutting room floor, but not forever.

The Chez Panisse dinner began in 1989.   The first menu was enormous and complex.  All others after that have been shorter and more streamlined.  What we do is to follow the general prix-fixe format for the downstairs which is a bit more formal than the cafe upstairs with its  a la carte menu.  The elements of a Parsi festive meal  are there--dal,fish, meat or poultry, sweets, but articulated in a Franco-Parsi style.  You're supposed to drink Falooda at Navroz, so we offer it in very small glasses, unlike our giant Bombay ones, and as part of the petits fours plate, we do miniature versions of nankhatai and khajur ni ghari.  My husband designs the menu covers and does each one by hand, and he's in charge of the chalk stencils (chalk na dabbas) in the courtyard.  the flower people festoon the room with scented garlands and if you shut your eyes,you're transported to a wedding or navjot enclosure  in Bombay.  That kind of thing.

[bague25]

Sue Darlow, on Jan 9 2008, 07:21 PM, said:

I forgot to ask you the further question after your last answer, what exactly is Gâteau Succès?  A Google search yields precious little.

Also, with all this love of vegetables and salad, are you sure you're Parsi?

Sue - a succès is an almond cake stuffed with a chocolate mousse (sometimes nutella) and covered with chocolate icing - I love it (when are we going to get a drool icon???)

[bague25]

nuxindica, on Jan 9 2008, 06:48 PM, said:

Fruits and vegetables, exploring them in markets, gardens and kitchens, mine or others'. Although,the other day when I made dahi vadas and ate most of what I made, it seemed as thought here could be nothing better in the world .

What would an ideal Parsi menu consist of - when entertaining casually? and formally?

[Sue Darlow]

bague25, on Jan 10 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

What would an ideal Parsi menu consist of - when entertaining casually? and formally?

The book contains many pages of menu suggestions for all occasions.

[bague25]

Sue Darlow, on Jan 10 2008, 08:27 AM, said:

bague25, on Jan 10 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

What would an ideal Parsi menu consist of - when entertaining casually? and formally?

The book contains many pages of menu suggestions for all occasions.

Sorry, I was not clear - I meant what were NIK's choice menus...

[Rushina]

Niloufer,
I have already written to you about how much I loved your book but I wanted to congratulate you again on it.

Sue,
Congratulations to you as well this is a lovely feature - very well thought out and put together!

Arnab,
Kudos, you now have two great food features on the homesite. It was a pleasant surprise to log in and find My Bombay Kitchen here. I had the good fortune of meeting Niloufer on her last trip to Mumbai and I was so glad to see this feature on AS. There couldnt be a more apropriate place to showcase it.

Rushina

[nuxindica]

bague25, on Jan 10 2008, 02:23 PM, said:

Sue Darlow, on Jan 10 2008, 08:27 AM, said:

bague25, on Jan 10 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

What would an ideal Parsi menu consist of - when entertaining casually? and formally?

The book contains many pages of menu suggestions for all occasions.

Sorry, I was not clear - I meant what were NIK's choice menus...

That's a hard one to answer.  An ideal Parsi menu for which meal, where and for whom and at what time of the year?  As Sue says, the menus in the book really do represent my own ideas of how to put  meals together.  Other Parsis have rather different ideas. Our navjot and wedding banquets with chapatis, potato wafers,achar, panir, fish, eggs, sometimes both chicken and kid, custard( yes, right in the middle), pulao , masala dal, all offered twice and followed by kulfi, nuts and pan represent the cmmunity's traditional ideal of hospitality.  This overwhelming lavishness is offset by the simplicity of dal, rice and fish, the required lunch on  auspicious days like birthdays or any the time the family feels like it.  

As far as entertaining goes, what's possible ( and ideal) in an Indian household with a kitchen and serving staff far exceeds what generally solo cooks in Western kitchens can produce without going crazy. Indian friends' ideas of casual can be quite elaborate, I've found.  Hence those pages of menu suggestions for various occasions  from the point of view of a generally solo cook in the US.

Edited by nuxindica, 10 January 2008 - 10:03 PM.

[Sue Darlow]

armagod, on Jan 9 2008, 10:41 PM, said:

From yr review:

Quote

The text is studded with nuggets of information - for instance I learnt about the difference between dark and light tamarind, that Sweden is the second largest market for cardamom after India

Is the latter true?

Quote

Current cardamom production in Guatemala, which accounts for 90 per cent of world trade in the produce, is estimated at 25,000 tonnes. Around 60 per cent of its exports are to Saudi Arabia, while 10 per cent are to the UAE. The main market for Indian cardamom is also Saudi Arabia, other Gulf countries and Japan. India's share in the world exports is only 10 per cent.

According to this site

Quote

The countries in the western Asian region like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India etc have maximum consumption and these countries share around 60% of the world’s consumption. The Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland have around 16% share in the world consumption. Rest of the European countries have a 14% share, Japan has a 3% share and USA has a 2.5% share in the world consumption.

So, it seems it's more the case that Scandinavia is the second biggest consumer after West Asia, than Sweden is the second biggest consumer after India.

Still, interesting.

Edited by Sue Darlow, 11 January 2008 - 05:23 AM.

[shanta]

wonderful review, interview and pics, sue and niloufer! putting this ckbk at the top of my wishlist! hopefully will get to meet niloufer and get it signed someday

what a coincidence, my mom had the same (bronze) grater minus it's head(coconut grater)!

re. the patra recipe, is banana used traditionally? i have to try this recipe as soon as i get some taro leaves!

[Rushina]

shanta, on Jan 11 2008, 07:56 AM, said:

what a coincidence, my mom had the same (bronze) grater minus it's head(coconut grater)!

I have that grater too! I stole it from my grandma! (Actually I found it languishing in the bacl of a bottom drawer in the old Lonavally home). Brought it home cleaned it up and now it graces my kitchen wall. I think it is beautiful design. I have over the years acumalated a few nice pieces like this... but that is for another thread.

Rushina

[Sue Darlow]

I should add that the reason Niloufer mentions the consumption of cardamom in Sweden is that she includes a recipe for an outstanding cardamom cake that came to her from a Swedish woman, and was surprised to find it was a spice much used there.

There is a Parsi cake known as Kumas which includes semolina (suji) and cardamom.

Edited by Sue Darlow, 11 January 2008 - 11:56 AM.

[Sue Darlow]

Thanks for all the kind words.  The reason I chose to review this book is because I am so enthusiastic about it!  It's my idea of an ideal cookbook in so many ways.

bague25, on Jan 9 2008, 11:53 AM, said:

Could we do a group project or something like that? I'm planning on fish patio (I've had too much shellfish/seafood over the holiday time)...

I intend to cook my way through much of the book, taking my time.  Perhaps we could continue to post here as we make things, or start a new thread for the purpose?

loislane, on Jan 9 2008, 10:05 PM, said:

Sue, the pictures are simply amazing. I have never seen nankhatais sold wrapped like that - was that your idea? If so, kudos to you!

Niloufer mentions that during Ramadan, the street stalls in Muslim areas of Bombay are piled high with tissue wrapped nankhatai, wrapped back to back just like amaretti.  I can't remember if I have seen nankhatai like that or not, but I am of course very familiar with amaretti, so thought I would wrap them for the photo.  It dresses them up a bit, and also protects them during travel.

nuxindica, on Jan 10 2008, 01:18 AM, said:

loislane, on Jan 10 2008, 12:35 AM, said:

Is a recipe for the endangered 'topli nu panir' included in the book?

Alas, the recipe for topli nu panir lies on the cutting room floor, but not forever.

Does this mean that there's a sequel in the pipeline?

[nuxindica]

shanta, on Jan 11 2008, 07:56 AM, said:

wonderful review, interview and pics, sue and niloufer! putting this ckbk at the top of my wishlist! hopefully will get to meet niloufer and get it signed someday

what a coincidence, my mom had the same (bronze) grater minus it's head(coconut grater)!

re. the patra recipe, is banana used traditionally? i have to try this recipe as soon as i get some taro leaves!

I got the grater in Bombay in the 1960s in Tamba Bazaar, Bhuleshwar. They still sell them there but in stainless stell, heads and all; the brass ones are now a Chor Bazaar item.  

As for banana in patrel, as the book acknowledges,the recipe is based on the Time and Talents Cookboook. The results were patrel as I remembered it, so I've never made it any other way. I've seen recipes without, but the banana gives you a pleasing added dimension.  If you can't fnd taro leaves ( where do you live?) please try chard. You'll be as delighted as I was the first time.

[shanta]

thanks, niloufer! i live in bay area.

my mom's grater's head was removed, it was so old i did not know that it had a head for a long time! do you use the head to grate coconut? is it comfortable? i can't imagine grating coconut on such a small grater... will try to get a bronze one from chor bazaar.

i guess the tangy tamarind and sweet banana compliment each other well. growing up i've always had patras (konkani) with coconut+rice+dal masala filling.