As many of you know I love travelling, especially culinary based travel. The idea of exploring a new place through its food sends butterflies buzzing in my tummy.
But, after a few weeks of said gluttony the Bawi me starts craving for her plate of Dhandar – plain yellow toor dal served in a simple tadka of ghee, garlic and jeera. The thought of this creamy dal served on a bed of steamed white rice alongside some E.F. Kolah’s spicy Methiu (mango) Achaar generally has me salivating for most of my return journey home.
However, there are days when you want something a bit fancy with your Dhandar. For those days we have Patio.
The Parsi Patio at its very basic is a sweet, sour and slightly spicy seafood accompaniment featuring coriander seeds, jeera, garlic, jaggery and cane vinegar. Why is the dish called Patio and not a curry or masala? Well, that’s because this dish was historically made in the ‘patio tapeli’ – a unique utensil that is wide and flat at the bottom with bulging round sides.
There are heaps of different Patio dishes like this Lagan no Patio I’ve written about before. We also have a Pumpkin Patio for the vegetarians as well as a Tarapori Patio for the fish lovers. But, the Tatrelo Kolmi (Prawn) Patio is the easiest to make of all and can be ready to serve in under 10 minutes. Here’s how you can make it – ingredients at the bottom as always.
Marinate the prawns in turmeric, red chilli powder and salt; keep aside. While this marinates, finely chop the onion.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic paste and chopped onion; let it brown
Add the chopped chilles and dhana-jeera powder and mix until well combined
Tip in the pureed tomatoes and jaggery mixing everything well. Don’t add any water to the pan, and let it cook uncovered so that the moisture released from the tomatoes dries out. After about 3 – 4 minutes, add in the chopped tomatoes as well and let everything cook.
When the tomato has reduced – you want a thick consistency with very little gravy – add in half the coriander, vinegar and the prawns. Cover the pot and let it cook for five minutes.
Take off the heat and add in the rest of the coriander as garnish. Serve hot with Dhandar or by itself with some yellow Khichdi and Far-Far Sariya or if you’re not a rice lover then just atop a bowl full of the dar.
To make enough for four you will need:
500 gm prawns (about 20) shelled and de-veined but with the tail on
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp dhana jeera powder
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp oil
2 green chillies finely chopped
6 tomatoes (4 pureed and 2 finely chopped)
1 inch knob of jaggery
2 tbsp cane vinegar (can replace with white vinegar if unavailable)
Big handful of chopped coriander
Thank you for this yummy recipe , I have tried this and I got lot of appreciation. All credit goes to you (y)
I used your blog to make prawn patio which turned out well. However while browsing your other recipe I noticed your comment about attending weddings only to be disappointed that they are serving “some Indian buffet style” food. As an Indian and non Parsi I find it disappointing to see such an expression. You dismiss Indian food in one sentence. As you would like people to be proud of your heritage and as you are obviously a lover of food, you should be embracing other cultures and their food.
Hi Nandita,
Glad your patio turned out well. In regards to your comment, I do enjoy Indian food from other cuisines quite a lot but ask any Parsi person and they will tell you that they would love a Parsi Patru style catering as this is something we all look forward to the whole year. The disappointment is with one’s expectation not being met and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the Indian food. I would be equally disappointed if I went to a Parsi wedding and they were serving pizza or sushi (both of which I love dearly). Perhaps I’ve not expressed myself properly but the context here is not about embracing other cultures – which I happily do – its about not getting something that you were hoping to get 🙂
Nandita also to add … at Parsi weddings we like to stick to the traditional Parsi food … Parsis are always appreciated for embracing all cultures and infact celebrating all festivals. Sticking to one’s own traditions is a very normal expectation and desire of all Parsis who attend Parsi weddings and it has nothing to do with not wanting to embrace other cultures and their food.
Perzen thanks for the recipe. I love your blogs and website.
A Parsi Wedding is complete only with Parsi food served in the traditional way on a ‘patra’ or banana leaves , else it does not have the spark it is famous for. It has a charm all its own and everybody, Parsi or otherwise, no matter how much they enjoy other cuisines, at a Parsi wedding dinner this is what they look most forward to.
Thank you Perzen for this yummy recepie. I tried this today and it turned out very well. Looking forward to trying more recepies of yours.
Love and Gratitude,
Delphie
Tried out your prawn patio recepie and it turned out great. However am very confused about something, please do help…what is the difference between
– Dhansak masala
– Parsi garam masala
– Dhana-jeera masala
– Parsi sambar masala, are they the same?
Checked other patio recepies and many mention sambar masala & garam masala and dhana jeera masala, so not sure what exactly needs to be added.