Parsi Food at Kala Ghoda Festival 2014

It’s always been my long term vision to evangelise and bring back Parsi Food to its former glory and in Feb 2014, I completed eight months of my journey into learning, cooking and dishing out Parsi food.

These past few months, I’ve been trying various different things  from blogging to catering to teaching Parsi food once a month at the newest kitchen studio in town, Studio Fifteen.  Not only had all these experiments made me love our cuisine even more but its also taught me the importance of putting myself out there.

It’s for this reason that when Roxanne Bamboat a.k.a The Tiny Taster and curator for the food workshops at Kala Ghoda 2014 called to ask if I’d like to do a workshop, I jumped at the opportunity. Being invited to be a part of the 2014 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and showcase Parsi Food was like a dream come true – especially only eight months into my quest!

The scale of the opportunity didn’t quite sink in however, until a week ago when Roxanne called to say that there may in fact not be the 30 – 40 people that was initially expected but rather a crowd of 60 – 70 food enthusiasts. Suddenly, the butterflies in my tummy had turned into giant elephants stomping around. Too late to do anything about the elephants I decided to just focus on the food and wing it!

After an intense week of shopping, the tasting portions of 100 Lagan nu Custard, Grandpa’s Kheema Kebabs and Dhansak shots were ready, the recipes were printed and the workshop ingredients were all packed. Kala Ghoda here I come.

The nerves settled down a bit once we reached the venue and I was all setup. The Tiny Taster, #BawaGroom and my cousin Meherzad had already gobbled down a few kebabs and given them their seal of approval.

We also had a mini photo-taking session which always manages to calm down my nerves so I was a happy little Bawi Bride by the time my audience got settled.

We started with marinating the mixture for the kebabs and then moved onto the Dhansak. Only, instead of the cooker whistling, the wires of the induction stove sizzled and the fuse blew off.

With my heart beating at full speed, I  looked at the Tiny Taster who mouthed that I should just wing it somehow. This is where my skills at talking incessantly come in handy and by some miracle I came up with some anecdotes until we got a new switchboard in place.

Crisis averted, we continued with making the rice and frying the kebabs post which floor was opened to the audience to ask questions.

Nothing makes me happier than eating and talking about food so the next half hour answering questions (and chomping on the 1 leftover kebab) was the best part of the workshop. The sample portions were dished out and the elephants in my tummy finally settled upon hearing “mmmm” and “yummm” in the crowd.

The two hours I spent teaching Parsi food at KGAF 2014 will forever stay in my heart and mind. Thank you Tiny Taster, #BawaGroom, Meherzad and to all of those that attended. I hope that I get to return next year with even more bhonu to showcase.