Navroz: A Movable Feast

At Niloufer Ichaporia’s house on a steep hillside in the Noe Valley District of this city, preparations are under way to celebrate Navroz, as the ancient Persian New Year is called by the Parsi community of India.

The fragrance of ginger, garlic and aromatic spices--cardamom, cumin and cinnamon--drifts from the top-floor kitchen down the narrow stairs and right out the front door. There, at the door, visitors are also greeted by a delicate trace-work of stylized good-luck designs: elephants, fish, a comical pair of feet, a sun rising over a pyramid. The decorations cover the sidewalk, the steps leading up to the door, the very lintel of the door itself. The stenciled rice-flour good-luck patterns last until they are obliterated by rain, wind or scuffling feet.

Ichaporia celebrates Navroz in March, even though in recent centuries midsummer has become the season of the Parsi New Year. “Traditionally it was a spring festival,” she explains, “but Parsis in India celebrate it in August, at the end of the monsoon and the beginning of a new growing season.”

To understand how a New Year’s Day could jump from March to August, you have to know something about Parsis and their history. In the upstairs kitchen, Ichaporia fills in the gaps about her Parsi ancestors as she prepares a fragrant green biryani --lamb and rice colored with mint and green coriander--for that evening’s New Year feast.

There are fewer than 100,000 modern Parsis, Ichaporia explains, all descended from a small band of followers of the old Zoroastrian religion who fled Persia in the 7th Century at the time of the Muslim conquest. They settled in India, calling themselves “Parsi” after the ancient name of Persia. A thousand years later, because they were not bound by the caste system, they became intermediaries between the British and their Hindu and Muslim subjects, rising into the educated business and professional class.

The Parsis had spent the intervening centuries as farmers, and Navroz had gone from being a spring festival (as it is still celebrated by modern Iranians, under the name Nouruz) to a midsummer planting festival, reflecting the different agricultural seasons of the Indian subcontinent. But in California, Ichaporia has determined, March is still an appropriate time to begin a new season.

Parsi food, she says, shows all these historical influences--the foods that were brought from Iran (lots of meat); the local cuisine of Gujarat (lots of lentils), where the Parsis eventually congregated; and Western influences beginning in the 19th Century, such as “Italian eggs,” a recipe in an old Parsi cookbook for hard-boiled eggs stuffed with butter, lime juice, a touch of honey, green chiles and coriander. “Completely delicious,” says Ichaporia, somewhat mystified, “but where did Italy come into it?”

Ichaporia, who has lived in this country since she arrived in Baltimore as a young bride in 1965, studied anthropology and art history at the University of Wisconsin before discovering California in the early ‘70s. “I looked around me and I thought, ‘This is the place,’ ” she says. “The bread was solid, the apples were hard; there were mountains, there was the sea.”

Her studies sparked an interest in food anthropology--the things people eat and the reasons why they eat them--and she has become a first-class cook and a cooking teacher whose classes, though rare, are greatly in demand.

Meanwhile, her interests and those of her husband, David King, a research scientist at Berkeley, have carried the couple throughout the world, from Hong Kong to the Caribbean to East Africa. Still, her preference in the kitchen is clearly the food of India and especially that of the Parsis.

The recipe for the festive green biryani came from one of a series of notebooks she keeps with menus from dinner parties and restaurants, recipes, notes about markets, new ideas, and copious information about street food, a subject she is passionate about. The green biryani , according to the notebook, was served at a dinner in Delhi in 1978, along with a rose wine from Goa.

She learned to cook “here and there,” Ichaporia says: “I always loved fiddling with food even when it wasn’t the thing to do. The cooks at home never liked people coming into the kitchen.” Her family lived all over India but she was most deeply impressed by the experience of South India, where she went to boarding school. South Indians, she says, are “remarkably versatile, amazingly subtle cooks who make wonderful meals in what people here would regard as no kitchen at all.”

“My mother has taught me more in recent years,” she says. “I sat her down and made her recite stuff. She’s so diffident about her cooking, yet she makes fine and considered judgments. She remembers things from her own mother’s cooking even when she didn’t actually cook herself.”

Parsi preparations, she says, often begin with a paste made of ginger and garlic--an inch of ginger to four medium cloves of garlic. (Traditionally it’s pounded on a flat granite grindstone, but Ichaporia makes hers in a food processor.) The paste, called adu-lasan , is smeared over meat and left for an hour or so before cooking. Its purpose, Ichaporia says, is to take away the “meatiness of it--the lambiness of lamb and the beefiness of beef,” which are considered undesirable qualities.

Another essential ingredient to Parsi cooking, as it is for much of India, is ghee . Unsalted butter is cooked in a saucepan over very low heat until the solids begin to turn golden brown. Then it is strained and stored, if necessary, in a cool, dark place. Ghee has a rich, nutty flavor, quite different from clarified butter.

Although many of the vegetables and seasonings Ichaporia uses are unusual, they are increasingly available in Indian markets. And Ichaporia has recently discovered a perfect source for the banana leaves she uses to wrap her fish: Her neighbor has a fine banana tree with leaves fully five feet long. For those without banana-growing neighbors, she recommends parchment paper as an alternative wrap for the fish.

MASALA CASHEWS

1 pound raw cashews

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon ground chile or cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Spread cashews in single layer in roasting pan and place in 325-degree oven. Roast, stirring occasionally, until cashews are toasted, 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook or burn. When cashews are nicely colored, remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Melt butter. In separate bowl combine chile and salt. When cashews are slightly cool, pour butter over and sprinkle with chile-salt mixture. Toss to thoroughly coat cashews. Makes 1 pound cashews. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

352 calories; 481 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 29 grams fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 0.5 grams fiber; 75% calories from fat.

SRI LANKAN CUCUMBER PICKLES (Adapted from “The Gunasena Cookery Book” (Colombo, Ceylon, 1970))

3 plump green cucumbers, peeled and halved lengthwise

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon white peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

1 medium carrot, peeled and julienne sliced

4 fresh serrano chiles, seeds and membranes removed, julienne sliced

1 medium red onion, peeled and julienne sliced

2 cups rice wine vinegar

Salt

Using wooden spoon handle or chopstick, carefully remove seeds from cucumber and set aside.

Crush cumin seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and peppercorns in coffee grinder or with mortar and pestle. Add turmeric to spice mixture.

In separate bowl, combine sliced carrot, chile and red onion. Add spice mixture and toss vegetables to coat. Add about 1/2 cup vinegar and toss again to mix thoroughly. Add 2 teaspoons salt or to taste.

Stuff cucumbers with vegetable mixture. Lay stuffed cucumbers in glass baking dish or stand upright in non-reactive saucepan. Scatter any extra stuffing over cucumbers. Pour remaining vinegar over cucumbers, being sure to cover thoroughly. Leave to ripen 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, slice cucumbers like sushi rolls. Makes 24 to 32 slices of pickle, 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

40 calories; 48 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 0 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 1.4 grams fiber; 10% calories from fat.

MORA DAR (Plain Dal in the Parsi Manner)

1 cup masoor dal (orange lentils)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 onion, peeled and quartered

1 fresh serrano chile, cut in half, seeds and membrane removed

Salt

Water

2 tablespoons Ghee

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon finely minced onion

Pick over masoor dal, removing stones and chaff. Rinse in colander under running water.

Place masoor dal, turmeric, quartered onion, chile and salt to taste in saucepan. Add about 4 cups water. Bring to boil over medium heat, lower heat, cover and simmer until dal is soft, about 2O to 40 minutes depending on age of lentils.

Put dal through food mill or process briefly in food processor. If necessary, add little boiling water to thin to desired consistency. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Place Ghee in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, cumin seeds and minced onion and sizzle until garlic starts to brown around edges and seeds crackle. Pour into hot dal and serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.

Note: Dal soup is excellent cold, served with a spoonful of yogurt and snipped chives to replace the flavored Ghee.

Each serving contains about:

118 calories; 41 mg sodium; 8 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 1.4 grams fiber; 24% calories from fat.

Ghee

1/4 cup unsalted butter

Melt butter over very low heat until sediment sinks and starts to turn brown, 10 minutes or longer. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth, discarding sediment.

PATRA NI MACHHI (Fish in Banana Leaves)

Coconut-Mint Chutney

2 pounds boneless, firm-textured, white-fleshed fish such as halibut, pompano, flounder or turbot, cut into 6 servings

1 large banana leaf

Coat each piece fish with Coconut-Mint Chutney and set aside 5 to 10 minutes while preparing wrappers.

Cut away center rib of banana leaf and set aside to use as tie. Warm leaf gently over gas flame to soften. Cut 6 squares large enough to wrap each piece fish in secure package that overlaps enough to hold juices in. Wrap each piece fish as if wrapping parcel to be mailed. Peel strips away from central rib and tie securely.

Bring 1 1/2 inches water to rolling boil in large kettle. Set steaming rack in kettle and place wrapped fish on rack, being sure packages are above water line. Cover and steam fish about 10 minutes for each inch of thickness.

Serve immediately, letting guests open parcels at table. Makes 6 servings.

Note : Banana leaves contribute subtle flavor. Frozen banana leaves can be found in Latin American food stores. If no banana leaves are available, parchment paper is good substitute. Foil may also be used.

Each serving contains about:

257 calories; 483 mg sodium; 48 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 33 grams protein; 1.3 grams fiber; 36% calories from fat.

Coconut-Mint Chutney

1/2 coconut, white meat only, grated

2 or more serrano chiles, cut in half and seeded

2 cups mint leaves

2 cups cilantro leaves

1 inch ginger root, peeled

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground

2 to 3 teaspoons sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons salt

Juice of 1 lime

Place coconut, chiles, mint, cilantro, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, sugar, salt and lime juice in food processor and process to form thick, dense paste. Taste to adjust seasonings. There should be balance of sweet, sour, hot and salt flavors. Correct by adding more sugar, salt or lime juice. Makes 6 servings.

GREEN BIRYANI (Rice and Lamb)

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 inch ginger, peeled

2 pounds boneless lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups yogurt

1 teaspoon saffron strands

1/4 cup warm milk

3 onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 tablespoons Ghee or vegetable oil

Masala

Water

1 1/2 pounds basmati rice

2 to 3 teaspoons salt

6 cardamom pods

4 or 5 leaves edible silver foil, optional

Garnishes, optional

Pound garlic and ginger in mortar to make paste. Remove all fat and gristle from lamb and smear paste over meat. Set aside to marinate for 1 hour.

Place yogurt in bowl and set aside to sour slightly while meat marinates.

In dry pan over medium heat, lightly toast saffron threads. Crush and set in warm milk to steep.

Cook chopped onions in Ghee over medium heat until onions start to brown. Add Masala and stir to mix well. Add marinated meat and toss and cook over medium heat just until meat changes color. Add yogurt and about 1 cup water. Stew should be quite liquid. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and cook until meat is tender, about 50 minutes.

Place rice in saucepan with salt and cardamom pods. Add water to cover rice. Set over medium heat and boil until water evaporates, about 10 minutes. Immediately remove rice from heat and spread rice on baking sheet to cool quickly.

When ready to assemble, place meat on bottom of large deep casserole. Cover with rice. Make holes about 1 inch deep all over surface of rice with wooden spoon handle. Pour little saffron-milk mixture into each hole. Cover pot and fold strip of foil around edge to seal tightly. (Parsi cooks seal lid with flour-and-water paste.) Bake 1 1/2 hours at 250 degrees.

Tip contents of pot onto large platter. Arrange 4 or 5 leaves edible silver foil over top of rice, if desired. If using Garnishes arrange on top in any combination. Makes 8 servings.

Note: Edible silver foil is sold at most Indian markets.

Each serving, without garnish, contains about:

593 calories; 758 mg sodium; 85 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 88 grams carbohydrates; 35 grams protein; 2.3 grams fiber; 17% calories from fat.

Masala

2 teaspoons kala zira (black cumin)

10 black peppercorns

2 sticks cinnamon

6 cardamom pods

10 cloves

12 green chiles, cut in half

1 inch ginger root, peeled

12 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup fresh mint leaves, rinsed and coarsely chopped

1 cup cilantro leaves, rinsed and coarsely chopped

Water

Roast kala zira, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom pods and cloves in dry pan over medium heat until they give off perfume. Transfer to mortar or electric coffee grinder and grind to powder.

Put spices in food processor with chiles, ginger, garlic, mint and cilantro and process briefly. Add little water and process again. Continue processing until smooth, liquid paste forms, adding little more water if necessary.

Garnishes

1 cup Ghee or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 cup blanched whole almonds

1/3 cup golden raisins

1 hard-cooked egg

Heat Ghee in medium saucepan and fry onion in small batches until brown and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside to drain on paper towels.

Fry almonds briefly in fat left in pan just until brown. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

In remaining fat, fry raisins just until plump. Set aside on paper towels to drain. Cut egg into crescent slices.

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