When we decided to start our review in Mumbai too, Parsi food hunt was on top of my list. The day I landed in Mumbai,I called up Sameer Malkani founder of FBAI(https://www.facebook.com/foodbloggersindia) and fixed our date for Parsi food trail. I have been a big fan of parsi food and during my Mumbai stay I frequented these places often. We decided to meet and try out couple of parsi places in fort area. Here is a quick review on all the places I visited.
Sameer Malkani of FBAI
Parsi cuisine has influences from Iran, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Their food has a bold flavor; however not very spicy……The food would remind one of ancient Persia (ancient Iran) from where they hailed and they settled on the west coast of Gujarat years ago. Ancient Persia use nut, dry fruit and sweet flavors and Indian influence uses onions, garlic and ginger which make the food delicious but not too spicy.
Mutton cutlet at ideal corner
Jumva Chalo Ji - “come, let’s eat”
chicken salli with pao at ideal corner
Ideal Corner, Fort, Mumbai – Our first halt was at Idea Corner, a small tiny place with minimal interior, packed house; always difficult to find a seat during lunch and they close at 4PM. We ordered mutton cutlet and chicken salli with pao and raspberry drink.
raspberry drink
Mutton cutlet was soft, succulent and perfectly cooked. It was not finely grounded and one could feel the chunks of mutton that was delicious. Chicken salli too was perfectly cooked and I prefer when the meat is cooked in a way that it is almost falling off the bones. I wish if we can get such authentic Parsi food in Delhi too. Having this with Pao doubled the craving. I haven’t tasted such Paos in Delhi. We didn’t order more as we wanted to hop to another place.
mutton dhansak at jimmy boy
lagan nu custard at jimmy boy
Jimmy Boy, Fort, Mumbai - is again a parsi joint but little upscale in terms of interior and sitting places. And here we had salli or edu, mutton dhansak, Lagan nu Custard and masala drink. Egg on the bed of potato sticks. Mutton dhansak - It is a blend of mutton and dal in a delicious mix of vegetables and aromatic masalas. Very delicious!! I simply loved it. Masala drink complimented our dishes. We finished our meal at Jimmy Boy with Lagan nu custard - Parsi Wedding Custard (or Lagan Nu Custard). This delicious sweet dish is traditionally served at Parsi weddings as a sign of good luck & prosperity for the newly married couple. But I can have this lovely desert on any occasion, all year round. We couldn’t have stuffed ourselves more and decided to walk down to our next destination.
salli or edu
Yazdani Bakery – as the name Suggests - its typical Parsi bakery. The moment we entered in the lane, I was mesmerized by the smell of fresh bake. A very old place and they are still in the same place from last 60 odd years. They still bake in the wood oven unlike other bakeries, where they use gas/electric oven.
We ordered bun and brun maska and chai. Bun maska was soft freshly baked bun while the brun maska was hard bread (hard buttered croissants), which is baked twice. With dollops of butter on the bun and brun and along with Parsi chai – I just felt like humming – “Ilahi mera jee aaye aaye”
bun maska
The typical parsi chai is a blend of tea leaves, sugar and thick milk but brewed with a touch that is exclusive to the Iranis. I wanted to eat the famous mava cake; however it was over by then.The creamy chai and some great chit chat with Sameer – A perfect end to an amazing foodie experience, I came back home fully stuffed, satisfied, and of course good memory of Parsi food. Hoping to visit Mumbai soon to try some more Parsi joints.
