Perfecting poris

"ZAC poris can stand up to competition from any corner of the world,” declares Aban Daboo, referring not to the lasses of the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago but the dar-ni-poris made by their volunteers. Having perfected the art with each passing year, in 2013 they were able to turn out approximately 325 poris and raise $ 1,800, celebrating the event with true Zarathushti "jusso — hard work, fun, food, family, friendship, community, love,” notes a detailed report from Daboo.
Saturday, March 30, 10 a.m. "saw a gang of ZAC ladies and a few brave men” trickling into the Arbab Rustam Guiv Darbe Mehr in preparation for the 28th edition of the annual Freny Mehta Dar-ni-Pori Bake-a-thon. Requiring meticulous planning, coordination and dedication, the late Freny’s daughter-in-law Nergish Mehta with the assistance of ZAC president Dinaz Weber had assigned tasks to the dar makers, bakers, grocery shoppers, account keepers, wrappers. To get a head start, a day prior Nergish Mehta and Weber readied the pastry. On D-day volunteers kept themselves busy making the dough, whipping up the maan, rolling out the rotlis, filling the dar and getting the large trays ready for the ovens.

"Once the cycle is set in motion it goes like clockwork and the poris come rolling out. Then they are cooled, packed and delivered to the anxious members. Of course, by lunch time everyone is ready for the traditional round of masoor, papeta nu saak, French bread, etc. Back to work till it is time for chai and any damaged poris that have failed the quality control panel! Fortunately or unfortunately, we do not have many damaged poris as we did in previous years. We have become such experts! Then back to the grind till all the poris are baked and packed away. By then it is past dinner time and the strong and dedicated souls who linger to the end finish off with akuri or pora or leftover masoor,” writes Daboo.
The idea of baking dar-ni-poris as a fundraising gesture had been initiated by the late Freny Mehta, mentions Daboo recalling how the "sweet, gentle Freny Aunty in her soft-spoken voice somehow convinced us it was do-able and very possible. To educate and train us in the fine art of making poris we had the guidance of a band of seniors: Jaloo Captain, the late Tehmina Billimoria, the late Putlamai Press, the late Thrity Dordi, the late Amymai Elavia and many more. The first two to three years were definitely a learning curve for the chefs. We had heaps of broken and not-so-good poris that did not pass Freny Aunty’s quality control inspection.”
After the passing away of Freny, the tradition has been kept alive by Nergish. Also acknowledged were the efforts of Zenobia Mehta Sribnick and her family "for making a special trip from New York each year” to help out with the Bake-a-thon. "It is hard to describe the feeling of community and camaraderie that happens each year at the bake-a-thon… The most heartening experience is to see the kids and young moms getting involved. Amongst the sweet and endearing youngsters were Zarina and Kaizad Sribnick, Aliza Dubash, Sanaya Dukandar, Jennifer Kavina, Rustom Icchaporia, Yazmin Rustomji, Sheroy Gonda and Kazvin Marfatia lending their shoulders to the wheel.