If we ask a Parsi non-vegetarian about the worst month of the year, the answer will be Bahman. Why? Because Parsis aren’t allowed to eat nonveg in the entire month of Bahman. Also, Parsis and vegetarian food can never go together. Quite a few people know about the vegetarian Parsi dishes that are popular in the limelight. It must have been quite hard to give up on the irresistibly delicious nonvegetarian dishes in the month of Bahman. Hence, to make their life easier, some Parsi preachers and forebearers allowed the consumption of eggs and fish during the veg-eating month. This allowance made eggs an inexorable part of the Parsi culture. Eggs to the Parsi community is what coconut is to Hindus, a quintessential part of almost every religious ceremony. And the meat-eating community tweaked and packed-in flavours even in the most common egg dishes, making them even more tempting and appealing.
Starting with the humble scrambled eggs, the Parsi version of this dish is enriched with milk and butter. Known as Charvelu Eedu, Parsi scrambled eggs are cooked with milk and green chillies, served with a dollop of butter. Moving on, a fancy variant of Charvelu Eedu exists by the name of Akuri which is made by tweaking the scrambled eggs dish by adding masala, spring onions and tomatoes. This spicy variant again has two more variants- Bharuchi Akuri and Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri. Bharuchi Akuri is a richer version as it is made in ghee, dry fruits, raisins and crispy fried onions. Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri is made with boiled eggs that are elevated by mixing a tangy, spicy and flavourful chutney, potatoes and tomatoes. The Parsis even have their version of omelette which they call ‘Pora’. The eggs are beaten with fried onions, tomatoes, green chillies and coriander and then deep-fried till golden brown.
Do you think this is it? Well, you won’t believe that even the famous meat dishes like Margi Na Farcha and Mutton Cutlets are fried by dipping in eggs. The eggs are beaten with cold water which then makes a crispy coating. If you look into Parsi cuisine closely, you must have come across the term ‘per-eeda’ which means ‘on eggs’. There are a variety of dishes that fall in this category starting from Malai per-eeda (eggs on clotted cream), Bhaji-per-eeda (eggs on fenugreek leaves) and Salli-per-eeda (eggs on potato straws.
We hope by now you must be knowing the strange yet delicious affair of Parsis with eggs. The Parsi egg dishes certainly prove that there is no end to possibilities with an egg. Give a Parsi an egg and watch him/her turn it into a million dishes.
