The Parsis are a religious and ethnic group with roots in Persia but who have lived in India for more than a thousand years. They have a unique and long-standing food tradition. But do these followers of the ancient Zoroastrian religion eat beef, which is a controversial meat in the country where they now live?
To understand Parsi cuisine, we must first understand the Parsis themselves.
Who Are the Parsis?
The Parsis are descended from Zoroastrians who left Iran because of religious persecution around the year 800 AD. These people were called “Parsis,” which means “people from Pars” or Persia, after they arrived on the west coast of India in the state of Gujarat.
Integrating into Indian society, Parsis adopted local languages like Gujarati while maintaining their Iranian roots. They also follow the Zoroastrian religion, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic faiths that centers on the battle between good and evil.
Today, India’s Parsi population has dwindled to around 57,000. But their impact has been outsized, with leading roles in business, philanthropy, and culture. The Parsis’ delicious fusion cuisine also endures.
Flavors from Persia and India
With Iranian ancestry but Indian upbringing Parsi food synthesizes influences from both culinary traditions.
People from Persia love nuts, dried fruits, and flowery scents like rose water. Some dishes, like sev (fried chickpea noodles sprinkled with sugar and cardamom), have a lot of sweet and savory elements working together.
India contributed spicy chili heat coconut milk and an abundance of vegetables and legumes. Local Gujarati tastes shine through in Parsi signatures like dhansak – a hearty lentil stew with meat or vegetables.
But Parsis parted ways with their Hindu neighbors on one key food custom – beef consumption.
Parsi Beef-Eating Customs
Unlike Hindus, Parsis have no religious restrictions on beef or any other meats. In fact, Parsis are traditionally eager meat-eaters, especially of mutton and chicken but also beef.
In her 1973 cookbook “101 Parsi Recipes,” author Jeroo Mehta casually includes beef dishes like stewed beef tongue. Many older Parsis fondly remember enjoying beef patties from iconic Irani cafes in Mumbai.
But why the affinity for beef in particular? Historical factors are at play.
Historical Beef Consumption
Beef holds a symbolic significance for Parsis tied to their outsider status in India. As immigrants, maintaining their identity from the Hindu mainstream was paramount early on. Eating beef – taboo for Hindus – became one way of asserting their distinct customs.
Consuming beef, pork, and other non-kosher meats also underscored the Parsis’ separation from the Muslims who came to rule medieval India. While avoiding pork, Muslims also eschew beef to respect Hindu sentiments against harming cows.
Thus, eating beef represented a defiant expression of Parsi identity when they found themselves sandwiched between two dominant groups. They flaunted their Irani roots by continuing the meat-centric diet of their ancestral land.
Decline of Beef Consumption
But the days of beef patties and cow meat curries at Parsi functions appear to be fading. In recent decades, their beef consumption has plummeted.
Some credit growing health concerns about red meat. There is also rising pressure to accommodate vegetarians, as more Parsi youth adopt these diets.
Wealthy Parsis still enjoy beef dishes like spiced beef tongue or paya stew at community get-togethers. For middle-class families though, chicken and mutton have superseded beef as the proteins of choice for festive meals and weddings.
Special Occasions for Beef
Nowadays beef occupies a smaller niche in the Parsi diet compared to other meats. But it still makes limited appearances at special meals.
In well-off Parsi homes, beef entrees may show up for Navroze, the Zoroastrian new year celebration in August. Or for lavish weddings, the multi-day feasts can include bone marrow dishes or ox tongue stewed in a rich gravy.
For devout older Parsis, abstaining from beef during holy periods remains an exception rather than the norm. Even then, seafood often substitutes to satisfy their hearty meat appetites.
Beef in Parsi Cuisine Today
While no longer an everyday staple, beef retains an esteemed position in the Parsi culinary canon. Cookbooks aimed at preserving Parsi heritage boast recipes for braised beef, spicy beef curries, and slow-roasted beef tongue.
Youth are also rediscovering their roots, with young chefs putting modern spins on old beef-centric classics. One example is the Gurugram eatery The Spot’s take on salli boti – beef done sous vide and paired with crispy matchstick potatoes.
So beef still graces the tables of many Parsis for milestone events, carrying generations of cultural meaning in each tender bite. Its diminished role reflects both health trends and adaptation to modern India’s complex social mosaic.
While their population declines, the unique blend of Indian and Persian flavors survives in Parsi cuisine. This includes a small but significant beef-eating tradition unseen in the dominant faiths.
Beef occupies a storied but contested place in India. For Parsis, it represents their ancestral ties to Iran and resistance to being subsumed by Hindu and Muslim norms. Despite its downsized role today, beef remains a distinctive marker of Parsi identity expressed through food.
So do Parsis eat beef? While no longer devoured daily, beef continues to grace Parsi plates for momentous occasions. Each morsel connects them to their roots and reminds them of the flavors once enjoyed openly by their forebears. Its lingering presence in recipes symbolizes resilience and pride in a cherished culinary heritage.
Who Are The Parsis| What Is Parsi Food | Parsi Community In India | Parsi Cuisine
What is Parsi cuisine?
Parsi cuisine refers to the traditional cuisine of the Parsi people who had migrated into the Indian subcontinent from Persia, and currently spread across the modern-day South Asian republics of India and Pakistan. The basic feature of a Parsi lunch is rice, eaten with lentils or a curry.
Do Parsi eat meat?
Animal protein is so fundamental to the Parsi diet that even during the holy month of Bahman, when Zoroastrians are supposed to abstain from meat, they’re permitted fish and eggs. Vegetables, on the other hand, are almost never eaten in isolation.
What to eat in Parsi?
The basic feature of a Parsi lunch is rice, eaten with lentils or a curry. Curry is made with coconut and ras without, with curry usually being thicker than ras. Dinner would be a meat dish, often accompanied by potatoes or other vegetable curry. Kachumbar (a sharp onion-cucumber salad) accompanies most meals. Popular Parsi dishes include:
What do Parsis eat?
The Parsis also have a habit of putting meat into pretty much everything, creating unique dishes such as bottle gourd cooked with meat; meat cooked with spinach, fenugreek leaves and peas; okra with meat; keema (mincemeat) with peas and potatoes, and many other strange and wondrous concoctions.