Walking through the food stalls at Chowpatti Beach, there are signs everywhere for Faloodah – a dessert beverage of ice cream, rice noodles, rose syrup and saffron. It didn’t take any explanation (although I already knew some history) to know that this was the Indian adaptation of what some Persians call Faloodeh, but we in my friend Mazyar’s family call Paloodeh.
Paloodeh in Iran and among the culinarily skilled members of Maz’s family is a frozen ice-based mixture of rosewater, saffron, rice noodles, and probably some secret ingredient – served with lime juice as an optional condiment. In short, Paloodeh is Persian for Delicious.
Walking around Mumbai, just blocks from The Gateway to India and the Taj Palace Hotel are shops with Parsi writing on them. Persian food, some Persian merchandise and most importantly real Paloodeh done the correct frozen way.
The people behind all the rosewater magic are known here as Parsis. Parsi is simply a Persian. You may ask yourself, “How are they Parsi? Don’t Persians speak Farsi?”
Not here, and not in Maz’s family.
Until Arab invasions of Persia, the Persian language was known as Parsi. There was no “F” sound used – “F’s” were a gift of the Arabs and eventually – among far too many Persians – turned Parsi into Farsi and Paloodeh into Faloodeh. In short, the Arab influence sort of pucked it up.
However, the educated classes of Shiraz held firm and refused to allow insidious “F”s into their language – thus retaining the ancient linguistic traditions. Shirazis such as Maz’s family are the proud speakers of Parsi Proper – the Parsi I grew up hearing.
Here in Mumbai, Parsis refer to everyone of Persian origin. The first and main wave were the Parsis who immigrated in the 8th Century fleeing from persecution. These were Zoroastrians who – despite Persia having been entirely Zoroastrian held firm to their beliefs during the rise of Islam. They went first to Gugarat and then later – especially during the years when the British East India Company set up shop in Bombay – migrated to what is now Mumbai.
The British offered the Parsis education and found them to be intelligent, capable and trustworthy. Parsis quickly rose in ranks and became trusted to high posts under the British. Later, they rose to prominence as landowners, merchants and businesspeople.
One man told us yesterday that the Parsis are very clever because they introduced the concept of a lease. He doesn’t mean a simple rental contract. People buy rights to the use of Parsi land. They can buy and sell the land-use rights. But because the deeds link back to the Parsi owners, Parsis get 30 percent of all land sales. This is in part, what keeps them a financially successful group.
The Zoroastrian Parsis have a language that’s a creole of Gujarati, Parsi Proper and perhaps a mélange of other influences they have experienced. However, they have widely adopted Hindi and English and function as Indian citizens, being part of the modern Indian community.
The other group of Parsis are the Parsis I know. Persian traders came down to India in previous centuries for business and during the British Empire. A few came from fleeing the Iranian Revolution. These Parsis have much stronger identification with Persian culture and language. They have businesses and restaurants with modern Persian writing. One restaurant recently recommended to us does an Indian-Persian fusion cuisine that’s wildly popular. The family does regular trips to Iran to get certain ingredients.
While the Parsi Parsis that I know have increased in numbers in the past two centuries, the original Zoroastrian Parsis are on the decline. They have begun to meld with the local populations and like Jews (who the Portugese in Goa mistook them for), both the lineage and the faith have dwindled.
Still, for a minority group, they have had a huge impact on their communities – particularly in and around Mumbai. Even though I have yet to learn the background behind the bastardized Faloodah dessert drinks and just what makes them think that sugary rose-flavored syrup is an acceptable substitute for real rosewater…I am amazed to see Paloodeh in any form in India.
Now if we can just correct that “F”….
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