About

  “People who love to eat are always the best people.” —Julia Child

I have always been fond of food. Eating food and feeding food runs in my DNA – my Mamaiji ran a Parsi dabba service before I even came into this world and later, my mom sold cutlets and pattice when we moved to New Zealand.

I remember back when I was studying for my 10th standard board exams, mom asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I told her it would be something in food. It was one of the main reasons we moved to New Zealand as back in 2000, there were barely any good hospitality colleges in India. Fast forwarding to my years in NZ and hospitality school, I came to be known as the ‘Continental Chef’ – someone that was always eager to whip up dips, pastas, bake dishes. So much so that for my wedding lunch, rather than having the traditional Dhandar Patio, my parents requested I cook them nachos – ridiculous, I know right?

Six months into getting married though, I realised that I must shed my ‘Continental Cook’ tag and get my hands dirty to learn some Parsi cooking. Continuous secret calls to mom in NZ at midnight wasn’t a good look when I was trying to impress the in-laws. Moreover, I realised that there were barely any trusted resources online to learn Parsi food and given the rate at which Irani cafes are dying out, I worried that soon the history and stories behind Parsi food would be lost if someone didn’t do something about it.

So, Bawi Bride started as an attempt to document my quest into mastering Parsi food and restoring it back to its former glory. One month into my journey, #BawaGroom and my lovely readers convinced me that simply writing about Parsi food wasn’t enough and that I should start feeding it to others too. And, that’s how the Bawi Bride Kitchen was started.

In the start, the kitchen was simply something I did for fun on the weekends. I’d learn a new dish on Monday, perfect it throughout the week and then sell it on the weekends. With your love and support, we expanded into having a full catering menu by January 2014 and hosted our first pop up later that year. The whole of 2014 was a series of adventures from being a part of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival to learning a bunch of heirloom dishes like the Dar ni Pori to publishing my first e-book. This year helped me realise that I wanted to make a career out of eating, cooking and feeding Parsi food and so in early 2015 I quit my day job and became the Chief Tasting Office at Bawi Bride Kitchen.

We now cater for events upto 80 people, provide daily Parsi tiffins, organise Parsi PopUps and run customised Parsi cooking classes.

I hope you enjoy the blog and give my Kitchen a try one of these days. Taste the Love. And, you’ll Love the Taste.