Gastronomic delight

"Herein are 481 delightful recipes over a wide range of Indian and western cuisines. The recipes have been selected with care, keeping in mind that cooking should not become time-consuming, nor the recipes prove expensive to prepare. Each recipe has been edited, keeping it simple,” notes a foreword from Gool R. Plumber, president of the Zoroastrian Stree Mandal (ZSM), Hyderabad-Secunderabad in the fifth and enlarged edition of the ZSM Cook Book.

While the maximum number of pages, 74, are devoted to the 93 recipes listed under the "Meat and Poultry” section, the least number of pages, five, cover the eight dishes listed in the "Eggs” section. That eggs and akoori are popular breakfast items among Parsis is known, but featured here are baked eggs and baked akoori for the adventurous who would like to try a new variation. The regular akoori and eggs on potato straw recipes find a place among the "Traditional Parsi Dishes.” Similarly the mutton dhansak dal, baghara rice and kababs are featured in the "Traditional Parsi Dishes” and not in the section on "Rice, Curries and Dals” nor "Meat and Poultry.”

Since the recipes are contributed by different individuals, certain favorites like Bake­well Tart have been listed twice, enabling the reader to try the versions of two different cooks. It makes sense to list these two recipes one below the other.