My first tryst with Parsi food happened on my trip to Mumbai prior to the pandemic. We stopped by at a cute Parsi café in Colaba after a tiring day at the Elephanta caves. While my friends were tempted to eat Chinese, I wanted to try some authentic Parsi fare. We ordered two things: Keema Pao and Mutton Berry Pulao since the name of the latter sounded interesting. As soon as it arrived, I digged into the aromatic pulao first which was filled with dried fruits and nuts. Next target was keema pao and well, how can you not like pao when you’re in Bambai. They serve literally everything with pao, from eggs to vegetables and meat. The juicy keema or minced meat was dry and moist at the same time and damn, the spices were hot.
Although I haven’t been able to find good Parsi food in Delhi yet, I still wander in search of traditional delicacies. The flavours, as history suggests, are a clear reflection of a plethora of influences. From the Persians and Iranians to Portuguese, Parsis have managed to shape their distinctive cuisine by amalgamating the diverse flavours on a plate. A very niche community residing within India, the love Parsis share for tasty food is something that is quite evident from their oh-so-good fare.
Since a lot of them are settled in Mumbai, their inclination towards seafood and coastal dishes is pretty natural. Patra ni Macchi (banana leaf fish) and Kolmino Patia (prawn curry) are proof. From hot and spicy to sweet and tangy, the Parsi cuisine offers a great mix of Gujarati and Maharastrian flavours too. This western coast fare is quite meat-intensive and rich in taste. The affinity for extravagant feasts and spreads can be seen in the vast array of meat, lentils, vegetables dishes as well as jellies, custards and puddings for dessert. Out of these, one thing which is quite intrinsic to the Parsi fare is salli.
The Tale Of Salli
Salli chicken, salli boti, jardaloo salli boti, salli par eeda are just a few names which pop up in mind when we think of the Parsi salli. Salli, for the unversed, are potatoes that have been finely sliced, as thin as shoestrings and deep-fried to be used as a garnish for several dishes. They are also called matchstick potatoes. Now you may wonder how did Salli land up in the Parsi fare? All thanks to the Portuguese.
While most of the Parsi fare has deep influences of Persian cooking and flavours, salli finds no mention or use in any of the Iranian dishes with their emphasis being on meat and dry fruits. The Portuguese have played a major role in the creation of several iconic street foods of Mumbai like the vada pav, pav bhaji and more as they brought paos along with potatoes with them. Apart from this, the inclusive Parsi community also adapted to the use of vinegar (sarka) of these Spanish explorers in the 16th century.
The potatoes were just the first step in the direction. The creation of these deep-fried thin potato sticks can be attributed to Parsis as an original creation. The idea of placing these julienne-sized potatoes on gravy dishes was quite unique and innovative. Some food experts might think of salli as a substitute for caramelized silver onions called birista which are most often used as a garnish for biryanis and pulaos in the Middle-eastern region.
Not only is the salli a delicious treat that provides diverse textures to the dish, the crunchiness of these potatoes are helpful in preventing the gravy from spreading all over the banana leaf (patra) on which the meal is served. Although we have cutting machines these days which have made the task easier, in the olden times, people would manually slice the potatoes to a fine size and deep fry them till they attain a pale cream colour. The same salli that is dunked onto a gravy dish in Parsi kitchens, is a crispy salted snack for the Sindhis and a sweet and spicy chiwda mix for the Maharashtrians.
Now, if you’re tempted to try some salli, there are a plethora of dishes to devour from salli chicken to salli boti and keema salli.