The Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Singapore
|
The Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Singapore
|
|
|
Letter from the President
24th August, 2003
My sincere thanks to you all. Yesterday's function was a big success, due to your dedicated support. The food and atmosphere was just perfect. Our Non Zoroastrian friends were delighted with the food. Firdaus did a great job. Shernaz and Roshan a special thanks to you for coordinating with the club etc. for both functions. Daisy, Armaity, Armin, Kharmayne, Piloo, Putli, Roshan and Shernaz, the sari show and the skit was a big success, Thanks to you and your children, for going that extra mile and repeating the show. You all deserve a few days rest, before I write to you about the 3000th year Zoroastrian Anniversary celebration in November 2003.
Thanks,
once again. |
Tanglin Club members had an opportunity to discover a distinctive cuisine when the Parsi community celebrates New Year this month. A Parsi food promotion was held for five days, from 22 to 26 August, at all three Club restaurants. A noted chef from India prepared traditional and festive fare. One of Singapore’s smallest ethnic communities of about 180 members, Parsis celebrate two major festivals. The spring festival of Jamshedi Navroze is on 21st March and New Year, the start of the calendar year, around August. The Churchill Room, a favoured venue for the group’s events, will yet again be a scene of revelry as the ladies don traditional and treasured Chinese-embroidered saris (garas) for the New Year on 21st August. Parsi cuisine is shaped by history. The cuisine of the followers of the Zoroastrian faith, one of the oldest religions in the world, is culled from two ancient cultures: Persia (ancient Iran) from where they hailed and India where they settled on the coast of Gujarat 1,300 years ago. The unusual historical background gives Parsi food a unique flavour. Dishes reveal traces of the past in the fondness for nuts, dry fruit and sweet flavours while the Indian influence is the addition of onions, garlic and ginger which make the food savoury but not too spicy.
|
Parsis, like the Chinese, consider fish a symbol of good luck and a famous dish is fish steamed in banana leaves, patra ni macchi, in which fish is coated with green, coriander-coconut chutney, wrapped in leaves and steamed. Pulav is an exotic rice preparation, similar to biryani, laden with chunks of spiced mutton or chicken and served with a rich lentil curry. A popular dish is sali murghi, a lightly spiced, simmered chicken preparation served with straw potatoes.
A Parsi classic is dhansak, a favourite Sunday meal of brown rice served with dhal, a lentil curry, accompanied by meatballs or kebabs. Parsis have a voracious appetite for eggs, generally served atop a vegetable or as akuri, deliciously scrambled with onions and tomatoes.
Sweet dishes sev or ravo are a must on special occasions. Sev, fine vermicelli cooked in sugar syrup and ravo, a semolina dish of milk and sugar, are garnished with slivers of fried almonds and raisins. Egg custard and kulfi are rich, satisfying desserts.
So as Parsis say, Jumva Chalo Jee or “come, let’s eat” and celebrate together.
|
Send mail to
secretary@pza.org.sg with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
