An innovative invite from SBOW to attend their launch party has flashed lot of memories of my stay in Mumbai and also reminded me how quickly times fly. No one would have ever imagined that 11 month old parsi/irani café which is new for people of Delhi will take NCR people by storm.
SOW which opened last year in oct/nov at cyber hub Gurgaon is doing exceptionally well and is popular amongst people despite being the fact that they serve typical Irani or I would say Mumbaiya style food. Their famous berry pulao, mutton dhansak and bun maska and irani chai is for people like me who have spent considerable amount of time in Mumbai and it is hard to forget the aroma and taste. The opening of second outlet at khan market was an obvious choice for them as it is centrally located and considered to be one of the posh market in Delhi and it currently is way ahead on the saturated upmarket of Greater kailash. Parsee/Parsi are members of Zoroastrian community that is found throughout south Asia . They are different ethnically from iranis even though they come from same Zoroastrian community. Parsees came to South East Asia (Gujrat) around 8th or 10thcentury, while iranis came little later during 16th to 18thcentury. Predominately iranis settled in west coast of India and Parsees too were present in the same region.Irani cuisine is more about rice, different types of kebabs and they also have wide range of desserts while Parsis have more variety in terms of dishes. Parsees also eat lot of vegetables and hence their meat dishes include veggies too. Dr Rashna Writer shared: “Though both are originally Persian, Iranis and Parsis speak different languages, eat different food, look different and have a different sense of humor. Both groups seek the ‘true’ Zoroastrian vision.” “Persians fleeing persecution, who entered the country a thousand years ago, were christened Parsi, after the Pars region, their original turf. Iranis followed much later in a mass migration through the 19th century's second half. They answered to a generic surname, “Irani”, though true family names were Kermani, Yezdani, Khosravi, Faroodi, Jafrabadi, depending on their hometown.” (Source DNA http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-irani-or-parsi-what-s-the-difference-1240797).
My Mumbai journey is never complete without saali boti with pao and mutton cutlet at ideal corner, edu ne salu, mutton dhansak and lagnu custard at jimmy boy and then mutton bery pulao at Britannia finally bun/brun maska and irani chai at Yazdani bakery. Well, now back to SOW at Khan Market where they have opened their new branch after successfully running their restaurant at Cyberhub for almost over an year. SOW which has chick and look of modern irani café is conceptualized by Sabina Singh, an efficient designer herself and wife of AD Singh. A brilliant team lead by india’s star street food champion Chowder Singh AKA Mohit balachandran and supported by ever enthusiast Nikhil Alagh and by very talented and probably one of the youngest chef who also won the youngest chef award earlier this year, Anahita Dhody.Food here is typical parsi/rani style. Over here, they have introduced both veg/non-veg dhansak and kejriwal sandwich is now replaced by Sabina sandwich which is another classic. Chicken farcha, bhindi bazar sheek paratha has the original flavor, however, tareli macchi didn’t quite do well because of the fish. Mutton roast masala, chicken baida roti and mutton bery pulao stole my heart. Vada pao and maska pav were equally good. Their LTTE version baba ji ka thullu was excellent and raspberry was sweeter for my taste.
The concept, on which this café started, has already created lots of curiosity amongst Delhlites. Opening at Khan Market surely is going to do great and people can now enjoy true irani/parsi cuisine at Soda Bottle Opener Wala - right here in Delhi!
