The elite of 19th century Bengal were bilingual in Farsi (Persian in English) and Bangla. Raja Rammohan Roy edited and wrote in a Farsi newspaper, and the favourite poet of Debendranath Tagore, Rabindranth’s father, was Hafez, a 14th century poet from Iran. So impactful was Farsi’s role that India’s largest language today, Hindi, takes its name from a Farsi word meaning “Indian.”
Recently I have grown an extreme fondness towards Persian food. Well, fondness was there, but it seemed to grow ten folds with my new Persian boyfriend.....:D and he's gorgeous.
Coming back to food (mmhmm concentrate), my first Persian try was Sabzi Polo. Sabzi Polo is basically rice cooked with herbs and chicken, sort of like a herb Biryani. It taste great, my Dad and I absolutely love it. Mine as you see below was juicy and succulent, almost melts in your mouth!!!
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| A modified version of Sabzi Polo made by me |
I got the recipe from You tube of course but this guy nailed it. He's a very good teacher and thanks to him, I nailed my Sabzi Polo. But let me tell you guys, I had to change the ingredients a bit, according to availability in the markets. For example, I didn't get Dill and Fava bean, so I replaced it with another type of leafy vegetable. A few here and there, but it turned out tasty! Thank God!
My boyfriend sometimes shares pictures of the dishes that are cooked in his home, the simple homely Persian food and I found many similarities with Bengali culture. The first and foremost being the usage of rice. Both Bengalis and Persians consume a lot of rice. I mean lets face it we cant live without rice! Whenever I tell anymore I didn't have rice today, they are like, "how can you survive?". So you can imagine the obsession.
Few days back I was very surprised to see Murgir Jhol or Chicken curry with potatoes, on my partner's plate. I mean which Persian cooks Murgir Jhol! Later he told me, this is something that is commonly cooked in his home. That was like a simple home cooked food. 95% Bengalis love their Murgir Jhol AND IF IT IS DESI MURGI......you can just forget everything else!
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| This is from my bf's place.:D Mommy is a very good cook definitely. Every time I see this I yearn for MURGIR JHOL |
Have you noticed how many types of Polau we have. We have Mishti Polau, Kaju Kishmish Polau, Peas Polau, Basanti Polau, not to forget our very own khichuri, Ilish Polau, Murgh Polau.
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| Mishti Polau with vegetables |
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| Peas Polau |
Those of you who are not Persian, just google how many types of Polau Persians have, its endless! Here are a few.
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| Adas Polo |
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| This is very similar to Basanti Polau |
The one thing that I really appreciate about Persian cuisine is the presentation. Not one home cooked meal goes with it. We Bengalis are lazy in this case. We are like...........I have cooked it, now you eat it, end of story.
Coming to rice puddings. Bengalis have payesh and kheer. Persians have Sholeh Zard.
Talking about sweets, how many of you had Milk Cake Sandesh, or Kacha Gola or Kalakand ? If you had these, let me tell you there is again a similar version of them in Persian cuisine. Its a very popular home made Afghan sweet called Sheer Pira. Take a look:
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| Sheer Pira |
Take a look at Afghan Food Safari Part 3 for the Sheer Pira recipe.
Before I proceed any further please know that all these are making me very hungry. Who else feels the same? Please let me know.
Another common ingredient guys is Yogurt. Bengalis love their Mishti Doi. I am not sure if there is a Mishti Doi version in Persian food, but they use yogurt as a dip, with cucumber, in salads and many more. Personally I like the sour yogurt than the sweet one.
Ahhh, I almost forgot, the very very delicious succulent sweetest love for both cuisines is Jalebi or Jilipi (how we bongs say it!). This is what strengthens the bond between us and I hope we have the sweetest bond to last forever.
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| Home made Persian Jalebi.............:D |
I hope you all like my post, if you any other item that you think is common or similar please drop a comment............... Have fun and stay hungry!.:D
