Food, fun and funds

"The sixth edition contains more than 290 recipes…and the proceeds of the book will go to charity,” said Rashna Mistry, fund-raising convener of the Zoroastrian Stree Mandal (ZSM) of Secunderabad and Hyderabad at the launch of The ZSM Cookbook at the Secunderabad Parsi Dharamsala on February 8, 2015. The Dharamsala, a well maintained heritage building in Secunderabad, was beautifully decorated with banners and lights for the occasion. The table decorations were made not of flowers but vegetables, in keeping with the culinary theme. A cookery competition was held, followed by a lavish Parsi dinner that evening.

ZSM committee members; chef Vikram Sinha

Function at the Secunderabad Parsi Dharamsala

"The book is a treasure trove of recipes, including some regional, some popular Continental as well as an entire section on traditional Parsi cuisine, which are simple to make and understand, and readers should be delighted to have it in their collection,” mentioned Perviz Nalladaru, ZSM president. "This book will be a guide and friend to any new entrant to the kitchen and one can confidently embark on the journey from awful cook to master chef,” assured Shazneen Wadia.
The ZSM is a charitable trust, affiliated to the Indian Council of Social Welfare, focusing on helping needy Zoroastrians and contributing to national causes and charitable organizations in India. For over five decades this voluntary women’s organization has been providing financial, medical and educational aid for the less privileged, ensuring that no deserving or needy person in the community is left wanting.
As stated the Mandal’s secretary Armin Wadia: "We can only give aid if we have the funds to do so. Our charitable activities are made possible through regular fund-raising functions like jumble sales, charity premieres, fetes, dramas and above all through the sale of The ZSM Cookbook.”
Although ZSM’s activities are concentrated in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, they do contribute to relief funds during national emergencies such as floods, droughts, tsunamis and earthquakes. ZSM extends help to old age homes, orphanages, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) like HelpAge India and the Spastics Society of India. "The ZSM’s corpus fund needs to be replenished regularly in order to continue its activities in today’s age of rising cost and inflation,” explains Nalladaru who has worked for ZSM for 25 years and been its president for the last six.
In addition to the above mentioned committee members, Pinky Katrak, Zarin Pestonji, Danesh Mistry and others worked tirelessly to bring out the book and make the launch and dinner a success.

Beyniaz Edulji

At Rs 350 (plus courier charges as applicable) this hardbound volume is a real bargain as it contains traditional Parsi dishes as well as a very large range of recipes, Indian and international, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. It has a useful glossary of Indian terms and ingredients, oven temperature scales, tables of weights and measures and explanations for basic steps in cooking.
The section on traditional Parsi dishes contains old favorites like kolmi no patio, dhansak, kharia, crisp fried taaja boomlas, jardaloo ma gosh as well as the not so commonly found Persian cake, kumas. The savories and snacks section has some very interesting tarts and shrimp on toast recipes. In the soup section can be found the old British favorite mulligatawny soup as well as Chinese soups from Canton and some refreshing cold ones. Indian variants like the green chutney salad, paneer and cucumber salad and sprouted moong salad stand cheek by jowl with cheese and pineapple, tuna and crunchy prawn noodles in the salads section. Cooked as well as eggless mayonnaise, hummus, yogurt and tahini, tart tarragon dressing, béchamel, Bolognese and cheese sauces feature in the section on dressings and sauces.
For those who like to eat healthy and enjoy a wider choice of vegetables along with the main course, there are no less than 32 vegetarian recipes. Egg lovers have an excellent choice of dishes such as baked ham eggs and rice egg bhurji. A large number of recipes — Indian (Bengali, Goan and South Indian), Chinese and Continental — are available in the fish section. The reader is spoilt for choice in the meat and poultry section with options like crispy lamb, honey sesame chicken wings, chops in mint chutney, Mangalore chicken curry and mutton do piaza.
Among the rice, curries and dals there are the more unusual green mango lentils, prawn pulao, Hyderabadi mutton biryani and Sindhi kadhi.
One can experiment with easy to make frozen biscuit cake, apple crumble, strawberry pudding as well as the more exotic Indian dessert Ande ke Lauz and tortes, in the area of desserts.
Whilst some recipes are easy to follow, others are more challenging, but with this book in one’s collection one is guaranteed a daily feast fit for the Nizams, the former rulers of Hyderabad.
To order the book one should contact Rashna Mistry, mobile: +91 9849770066; email: rashna@youdan.net or Pinky Katrak, mobile: +91 9912914345; email: pinkykatrak@rediffmail.com

B. E.