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THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL | 1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Paul Oliver
Director of Marketing & Publicity
[email protected] | (212) 260-1900

W
t he

OF
IDOWS

M AL ABAR
HILL
Z
SUJATA M A SSE Y
January 9, 2018
5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Hardcover
400 pages | Price: US $26.95 | CAN $33.95
ISBN 978-1-61695-778-0
eISBN 978-1-61695-779-7
 853 BROADWAY | NEW YORK, NY 10003 | SOHOCRIME.COM

SOHO CRIME PRIORITY TITLE

Sujata Massey (Agatha and Macavity Award–winning author of the Rei Shimura series)
brings us a delightful new mystery set in 1920s India: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s first
female lawyer, is investigating a suspicious will on behalf of three Muslim widows liv-
ing in full purdah when the case takes a turn toward the murderous.

Explore 1920s Bombay alongside crime fiction’s most appealing new heroine, the plucky
and determined Perveen Mistry. At the opening of The Widows of Malabar Hill (Soho
Crime| January 9th, 2018) we find Perveen working in the office of her father, a wealthy
and respected Parsi barrister. Perveen, Oxford-educated and multilingual, is Bombay’s
only female solicitor. She has a passion for the law and for helping people, but she also
has a dark secret in her past that makes her uniquely suited to her career—an abusive
marriage that ended in violent tragedy. As a member of India’s Zoroastrian minority, she
can never divorce or remarry—but she can devote her life to helping other women in
trouble.

One day when she is executing the otherwise normal will of a client, Perveen discovers
something strange. The late Mr. Omar Farid, a very wealthy Muslim businessman, has left
behind three widows, all of whom have signed away their inheritance to a charity. The
three women live in full purdah—in strict seclusion, veiled and never leaving the women’s
quarters or speaking with men—and Perveen can tell from the “X” signature that at least
one of these women probably could not read the contract she signed. Perveen suspects
something sinister is happening. These women would be defenseless against any ill-
intentioned “guardian” working on their behalf.

Perveen encounters hostility as soon as she starts investigating her suspicions, and she
hasn’t gotten very far before the sticky situation escalates to murder. Not everyone in
Bombay is willing to respect a female lawyer—some would rather see her dead than
succeed. But Perveen will not give up until her clients are safe from further harm. The
melting pot of Bombay in the 1920s, with its changing politics and religious and cultural
diversity, provides a fascinating backdrop for Perveen Mistry’s first investigation, which
sparkles with rich setting detail and is redolent with the fragrances of Parsi cooking. The
Widows of Malabar Hill is sure to delight fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs
books and more than a few discerning Masterpiece Mystery fans.
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THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL | 3
Getting to know SUJATA M A SSE Y

S ujata Massey was born in Eng-

land to parents from India and
Germany. She immigrated with
her family to the United States in the
late 1960s, ultimately settling in Saint
Paul, Minnesota. She graduated with a
bachelor’s degree in the Writing Semi-
nars from the Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore, Maryland.

After college, Sujata spent five years

as a features reporter for The Balti-
more Evening Sun. She then moved
to Japan with her husband, who was
serving as a medical officer with the
US Navy. Sujata took up the study of
Japanese, ikebana and cooking, all the
while teaching English and traveling
throughout Japan. In her home in the
Photo by: Chris Hartlove Yokohama suburbs, she began writing
her first mystery novel about Rei Shimura, a young Japanese-American woman
in Tokyo. That book, The Salaryman’s Wife, won the Agatha Award for Best
First Mystery of 1997 and was followed by ten more books that mixed the
Japanese cultural arts with murder.

A decade ago, Sujata put Japan on pause to write about India, a country that
she has visited with her family since the time she was nine. Her interest espe-
cially grew after the adoption of her two children, who were born in Kerala.
Sujata decided to write fiction set in Calcutta during the late colonial period
because she was intrigued by the untold stories of the Indians and Europeans
who’d once inhabited landmark buildings that were being knocked down so
shopping malls and mega apartment towers could go up.

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4 | G E T T I N G T O K N O W S U J ATA M A S S E Y
The Sleeping Dictionary, Sujata’s first India novel, explores a young Indian wom-
an’s struggle for happiness against the backdrop of the independence movement
and World War II in Calcutta, the city that was both the cradle of the British
Empire and the fount of Indian political rebellion.

In 2015, Sujata published India Gray: Historical Fiction, a collection of sus-

pense stories and novellas set in England, India and Pakistan. This work
celebrates the strength of young South Asian women of different religious and
economic backgrounds at time periods spanning the 1920s through the early
2000s. Within this book is a mystery novella, Outnumbered at Oxford, featur-
ing Perveen Mistry, a young Zoroastrian Indian woman studying law, and her
mathematics whiz friend, Alice Hobson-Jones. The Perveen Mistry series has
provided a chance for Sujata to expand her long-held fascination with charac-
ters who move between cultures, and the profound impact of colonialism on
both Asian people and the colonialists themselves.

Sujata lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family, but travels often to India
to research her books. Samples of her books, media reviews and interviews, and
much more can be found at her author website, http://sujatamassey.com.

For interview, review copy, and all other media requests contact:

Paul Oliver
Director of Marketing & Publicity
[email protected] | (212) 260-1900

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G E T T I N G T O K N O W S U J ATA M A S S E Y | 5
THE REAL LIFE BEHIND THE NOVEL

The story of Perveen Mistry, a

Parsi woman who is the only
female lawyer in 1920s Bombay,
was partially inspired by a real
historical figure, Cornelia Sorabji.

C ornelia Sorabji was born in 1866 in Nasik, India. Her career path was heavily
influenced by her parents, who advocated for her and her seven siblings to
become leaders in education and social welfare. Her mother, Franscina Santya
Ford, was born Hindu and after being orphaned was adopted and raised by a British
military couple. Franscina established several schools for Parsi, Hindu and Muslim chil-
dren in Pune. Her children were raised with British customs and grew up surrounded
by diverse cultures. Cornelia’s mother was often consulted by local women about social
problems, an experience that would later influence Cornelia’s career.

Cornelia’s father, Sorabji Kharsedji, was a Parsi (Indian-born Zoroastrian) but con-
verted to Christianity in his teens and served as a missionary, educator, and translator
for the Bishop of Bombay. Cornelia’s family dressed in the Parsi fashion, spoke Guja-
rati, and continued to identify culturally as Parsis, although their faith was Christian.
While the Sorabjis encouraged all of their daughters to attend Bombay University,
female applications were rejected until Cornelia, the fifth daughter, finally broke
through the barrier to entry. She read literature and completed a five-year Latin course
in one year. She was the top-ranked student in her class at Deccan College in Pune;
but because she was female, she wasn’t awarded the Oxford scholarship that automati-
cally went with that achievement. Ultimately, a group of prominent Englishwomen
raised funds to support her education at Oxford, and Cornelia enrolled at Somerville
College in 1889.
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6 | THE REAL LIFE BEHIND THE NOVEL
Initially attracted to medicine, Cornelia was steered by her mentors at Oxford toward
the study of law. In 1892, Cornelia became the first woman to pass the Bachelor of
Civil Laws examination, although Oxford would not grant her a degree until three
decades later.

After returning from Oxford, Cornelia began a ten-year search for a legal post in In-
dia. As a solicitor, she prepared cases for women clients, especially in the princely state
of Kathiawar, where she was not barred from presenting cases in court. In 1897 she
joined her younger brother Dick in a brother-sister law practice in Allahabad.

Cornelia wrote articles for newspapers and magazines in her campaign to persuade
India’s government that women living in seclusion—purdahnashins—were suffering
from lack of access to legal representation. She was elated when the Indian Civil Ser-
vice finally appointed her as their legal adviser for purdahnashins. During her twenty
years as Lady Assistant to the Court of Wards, she was based in Calcutta but traveled
throughout rural Bengal province, visiting hundreds of women and orphans in jeop-
ardy. For her service, she was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal in 1909. Cornelia
wrote several books about purdahnashins and established a plan to train secluded
women as nurses in Calcutta.

After 1920, Oxford began awarding degrees to women, and the London Bar agreed
to let women with law degrees plead cases in court. In 1923, Cornelia traveled to
England to collect her degrees to begin the second phase of her work life. She then
returned to Calcutta, where she enrolled as a barrister in the Calcutta High Court.
She became embroiled in a controversy by agreeing with the American writer Kather-
ine Mayo’s defense of British rule of India. Cornelia’s rejection of Mahatma Gandhi’s
freedom movement created a permanent loss of her reputation among Indians.

Cornelia gave up legal practice to focus on social work after 1929. She continued writ-
ing and moved back to England for good in 1931. She never married, although dur-
ing her working years in India, she had two secret romantic relationships with British
men that caused her much heartache.

Cornelia continued her life of writing and social work, and during World War II, she
was a war volunteer in London. Her health declined after the war and she died in
1954 at the age of 88.
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THE REAL LIFE BEHIND THE NOVEL | 7
 ABOUT THE PARSIS

T he Parsi people are so named because they are Zoroastrians originally from
Persia. Once the ruling community of Persia, Zoroastrians began migrating
to India between the 8th and 10th centuries to escape religious persecution
after Arab Muslims conquered Persia. Parsis devoutly follow the Zoroastrian religion,
which emphasizes purity—good thoughts, good words, and good deeds—and wor-
ships one God, Ahura Mazda. Another migration of Zoroastrians from Persia (now
named Iran) took place in the 1800s. This subgroup of Parsis is called “Irani.”

Many Parsis settled in farming communities in the western province of Gujarat and
took on Gujarati as their new language. They adopted Indian dress and used spices
from Persia in Indian cooking. Admiring their work ethic, the British encouraged
Gujarat’s Parsis to come with them to help build the settlement of Bombay in the
1600s. The Parsi migration to Bombay led many of them to become business part-
ners with the British in ventures ranging from ship building to opium export and
banking. In turn, the British perceived the Parsi people as being more like them than
like the Marathi Indians from the surrounding area, and awarded them advantages
in education and work. Thus, Parsis quickly became trusted in government jobs and
public works and their offspring were accepted into British schools. The Parsis built
many schools for both girls and boys, and these graduates branched out to work in
medicine, law, education and banking. They also established a number of charities
including hospitals and libraries, leading to their reputation as dedicated philanthro-
pists helping the greater community. Parsis were also the foundation of Bombay’s
theater and movie industry.

India’s Zoroastrian priests do not allow conversion, nor do they accept the children
of a mixed marriage as belonging to the religion. Marrying out, combined with fewer
Parsi marriages resulting in children, has led to a decline in population from a high of
111,000 in 1951 to an estimated 57,000 today. Currently, Parsis make up less than
.0069% of Indian’s population. The Indian government’s Ministry of Minority Affairs
created a social campaign, “Jiyo Parsi” (Go Parsi!) that promotes marriage and funds
fertility treatment.

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8 | ABOUT THE PARSIS
 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1) Perveen Mistry is in a historically groundbreaking role: she is representing

the rights of female clients, some of whom have never before had any access
to legal protection because of religious law, limited education, or patriarchal
restrictions that greatly disadvantage them. Perveen is the perfect female lawyer
to represent women’s rights, since she herself has had terrible legal problems
and has seen how frustrating it is to have no power under the law. How much
more difficult is Perveen’s job than a contemporary female lawer’s? Did any
of her encounters particularly frustrate or anger you as a reader? Did she face
problems that you couldn’t imagine a lawyer today facing? On the other hand,
have things not changed as much as we think?

2) What do you make of Perveen’s last meeting with Cyrus? How would you
have felt in her position?

3) The difference between “modern” and “orthodox” religiosity is an important

one in this book. Perveen’s parents, the Mistrys, are depicted as modern Parsis
who educate their daughter and hope she will have a career. The Sodawallas,
meanwhile, are orthodox Parsis who still obey ancient purity laws that are
now thought to be unhealthy and who expect their new daughter-in-law to
leave her education behind and be a traditional housewife. The gap in the two
families’ beliefs becomes violent and heartbreaking. How has this conversation
about religious orthodoxy changed since the 1920s? How does it still relate to
our 21st-century societies?

4) Why do you think Behnoush Sodawalla is so insistent that Perveen isolate

herself? What do you think are the real reasons behind her strict Parsi tradi-
tionalism?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS | 9
5) Meanwhile, in the Farid house in Bombay, the Muslim widows live in pur-
dah, another form of religious orthodoxy. How do the Muslim and Parsi re-
strictions on women differ? How do they overlap? From each of the Farid wid-
ows’ points of view, what would you say are the advantages and disadvantages
of living in purdah? Were you surprised by their decision to leave purdah at the
end of the book?

6) What role does class play in the novel? How different would Perveen’s choic-
es have been if she had not been from such a wealthy family? Do you think she
would have been more or less likely to marry Cyrus, or more or less likely to
leave him? What other choices of hers would have been impossible if she had
come from a poor or middle-class family?

7) Meanwhile, Perveen is very accepting of her best friend’s homosexuality, but

Alice’s parents are clearly not. How do you think Alice’s situation might have
been different if she had not been as wealthy? How much advantage does she
have as an expatriate? How do you think the flowering women’s rights move-
ment will affect her? Do you think she’ll end up finding more freedom and
happiness in India, as she hopes, or do you think she will eventually find gender
roles and sexuality there to be just as stifling?

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10 | D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S
 AN INTERVIEW WITH SUJATA MASSEY

Q: Where did the character of Perveen Mistry come from?

Massey: When I was working on an earlier India historical novel (The Sleep-
ing Dictionary), I collected everything I could find about the people and
places of late British colonial India. I’ve learned you never know what you
might need someday. I printed out an article I saw on the Internet about
India’s first woman lawyer, Cornelia Sorabji. When I decided to write a legal
mystery series set in 1920s India, I found the saved article and disappeared
down a rabbit hole. Not only did I have Cornelia’s caseload to serve as inspi-
ration, I realized that the regulations governing Parsi marriage and divorce
could affect a female lawyer character’s life. In the old days, it was typical for
Parsi women who separated from their husbands to go back to live with their
parents, as Perveen does. Her close ties to England—her education at Oxford
and her friendship with Englishwoman Alice Hobson-Jones—also would
have been natural. Many wealthy Parsis enjoyed British clothing and furni-
ture and music. If they could afford it, they sent their children to England
for education. This set up a challenge when the Indian nationalist movement
heated up. Perveen’s commitment to social justice leads her to yearn for inde-
pendence, yet she knows her family’s fortune was built on their relationship
as building contractors for the British.

Q: You obviously did an incredible amount of research in order to create this

immersive and richly textured historical setting. What kinds of sources were
you pulling from?

Massey: Mostly books. I was especially helped by two of Cornelia Sorabji’s

memoirs titled India Calling and India Recalled. These books chronicled
the lifestyle of a young woman lawyer working both with Indian clients
and the British Civil Service. I also got a picture of life within a progres-
sive, academically ambitious and socially concerned Parsi Christian family

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A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U J A T A M A S S E Y | 11
through Opening Doors: The Untold Story of Cornelia Sorabji, by Cornelia’s
nephew, Richard Sorabji. I found many more old books published in India
at the Ames Library of South Asia within the University of Minnesota.

All the Parsi cultural details came through the kind assistance of Parsis and
Iranis living both in India and abroad. A couple of blogs, Parsikhaber.net
and bawibride.com, had many helpful articles, and I received special tours
of Parsi areas with the blog authors when I went to Mumbai in 2015.

I interviewed more Parsi people, enjoying their special biscuits, curries and tea
just like Perveen’s mother makes.

It’s always best to spend time in a location one’s writing about. In Mumbai, I
spent a lot of time strolling in the Fort section, where Mistry House is located.
While the heritage buildings are well-preserved, they now contain trendy shops
and restaurants—although I’m pleased that a number of old Irani cafes are
thriving, as well as the law offices and High Court. I was able to walk through
almost all the locations in the book except for Ballard Pier, which is not open
to the public for security reasons.

The most challenging research aspect was law, since I’ve never studied it. I
learned all I could from Mitra Sharafi, a professor of law at the University of
Wisconsin in Madison who had done specialized research on the history of
law in South Asia, especially the role of Parsis in India’s legal history, as well as
Muslim women’s treatment in the Indian court system. Dr. Sharafi’s book, Law
and Identity in Colonial South Asia, helped greatly. I was also thrilled to find an
old book that Perveen and her father consulted. The Principles of Mohammedan
Law by D.F. Mulla is scanned and is a free read online.

Q: What was the most surprising revelation that came out of that research?

Massey: My idea of what it meant to be a lawyer dramatically changed. I used

to think of it as an intellectual, somewhat dispassionate profession, and now I
see it as a job that is very creative. By putting myself in Perveen and Jamshedji’s
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12 | A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U J A T A M A S S E Y
position, I saw how they constantly stretched their imaginations to find ways
to defend clients while staying within legal boundaries. While legal training can
be tedious, practicing law to help ordinary people and improve difficult situa-
tions must be exhilarating.

Q: Perveen’s parents are depicted as loving, supportive, and endlessly com-

mitted to their daughter’s education and career prospects as well as her
happiness. In the reality of 1920s Bombay, would the Mistrys have been
unusual in these characteristics? Or were they more common than a modern
reader would expect?

Massey: Many Parsi parents were progressive when it came to women’s edu-
cation. They built hospitals and schools and pushed their daughters toward
careers in education, law and medicine. This was augmented by philanthropy
toward all Indians. The name Mistry itself means “builder,” and construction
is the root of the family’s wealth. Jamshedji and Camellia Mistry are typical of
a well-off, ambitious family, with a hand in charity as well as the law and build-
ing. Another positive aspect to Parsi families is they were very likely to welcome
home daughters wishing to leave their husbands, rather than to reject them.
The existence of such supportive Parsi families actually dissuaded judges from
awarding separated Parsi women alimony!

Q: Similarly, Perveen is very accepting of her best friend Alice’s homosexu-

ality. Would Perveen have been exceptional for this acceptance in her own
time? What did you learn from your research about lesbian rights and issues
in the 1920s British Empire?

Massey: It’s a complicated situation. Let me start by talking about Indian

mores. Physical affection between relatives and friends is more demonstrative
in India than the West. Men hold hands with each other when walking in
public, and non-sexual bed sharing can be commonplace. This makes Alice’s
comment about sleeping with another girl seem underwhelming to Perveen!
Also, while homosexuality in India is currently illegal, in the past it was tac-
itly accepted. For instance, when the famous author E.M. Forster worked as a
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A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U J A T A M A S S E Y | 13
correspondence secretary to a Maharaja in a princely kingdom, he was provided
a male servant to serve as his sexual companion.

In Britain, there was significantly greater anxiety about homosexuality. During

the novel’s time period, men were jailed for homosexual acts. Women were not
subject to such draconian laws, perhaps because the government didn’t believe it
was possible for women to want to have sex together. Alice and Perveen are also
open-minded because of their backgrounds as protestors for social change while
studying together at Oxford.

Q: Perveen Mistry is seen speaking or studying many languages during the

course of the book—English, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali. How clever she
seems to an American reader! Is Bombay society as multilingual as Perveen’s
circles are?

Massey: Actually, Perveen would also have studied Latin and French or Ger-
man for the Oxford entrance exams! Such language learning works if it begins
at a young age, as it does for most people in India. A typical person speaks the
language of the area (such as Hindi or Tamil or Telegu) and the language of her
family’s original region. And most schools teach English. When I was young I
spoke German pretty well, and it wasn’t terribly hard to learn some Japanese in
my twenties. However, when I began studying Hindi in my forties, it was very
hard for me to retain the vocabulary. And with disuse, I’ve forgotten my Japanese.
I agree that language study is difficult—but if you are young, it’s child’s play.

Q: Architecture is closely described throughout the story: Mistry House, the

Sodawalla’s bungalow, the homes of Malabar Hill and Farid’s Islamic style
bungalow. Why so much detail on buildings?

Massey: Perveen comes from a Parsi family that had first built ships, then
buildings, over hundreds of years. Therefore, noticing architectural details from
woodwork to mosaic tiles is almost a genetic trait. And the types of homes in
India are so varied that I wanted to give the reader the chance to enjoy the

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14 | A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U J A T A M A S S E Y
splendor along with me. In Bombay, there are a number of distinctive archi-
tectural styles. When the British worked with Parsis to create Bombay between
the 1700s and early 1900s, they created a form of architecture using local stone
that was a different flavor from the Anglo-Indian buildings going up in Cal-
cutta, New Delhi, and Madras. Bombay Gothic combines European Gothic
conventions such as towers and gargoyles with grand elements of Hindu and
Muslim palaces. These grand stone buildings, such as the High Court of India,
are breathtaking in their beauty and also their cool comfort.

Malabar Hill was originally a settlement of large Victorian bungalows meant to

keep the British cool and free from the diseases of the crowded central Bom-
bay. But in the early 20th century, these old, mostly wooden homes were torn
down in favor of elegant stucco houses with Georgian architecture. Parsis also
had enclave neighborhoods throughout the city; Dadar Parsi Colony, which
was built in the 1920s, is probably the grandest and was built not just with fine
homes but planted with hundreds of species of trees.

In Malabar Hill, I saw the exterior of the lovely bungalow that was once home
to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was a Bombay lawyer before he became the
founder of Pakistan. This was the inspiration for the Farid Mansion, where I
tried to combine classic elements of Islamic architecture and the idea of a home
that had plenty of hiding places.

Q: Do you see yourself writing other books with Perveen as a character?

Massey: Oh, yes! I’m currently at work on another Perveen Mistry novel. In
this one, Perveen travels to the Western ghats, the hill country north of Bom-
bay. Perveen will be investigating the welfare of a young prince who lives in a
small kingdom of the ghats. She’s doing this on the payroll of the Indian Civil
Service, because the government is worried about the fatherless boy’s education.
This perfectly sets up a situation where the independence-minded Perveen has
the tricky situation of serving the government and doing what’s best for a child.
There will be battling maharanis, slithering snakes, and some romance.

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A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H S U J A T A M A S S E Y | 15
 W t he

OF
IDOWS

M AL ABAR HILL
Selected Recipes

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3 Dishes from Cyrus and Perveen’s Wedding Meal
What’s a wedding without delicious food—
and what’s a marriage without mystery?

Chicken Farcha
Malabar Spinach and Eggs
Kulfi

2 Beverages—sweet and perfect for parties

The pain killers are optional

Falooda (or Widows’ Punch)

Perveen’s Gin-Lime Drink
 CHICKEN FARCHA

Preparation Time: Less than 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 4 as appetizers or part of a larger meal
Difficulty: Moderate

This traditional Parsi fried chicken dish cooks fast and is a crowd pleaser.
Use red chili powder with caution!

Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinned • 2 cloves minced garlic
chicken breast cut in • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh
approximately 1.5-inch square cilantro
pieces. • 1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice • 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt • 1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
• 1 tsp turmeric powder • High smoke-point cooking oil such
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder, optional as: canola, grapeseed oil, extra light
(use plain chili powder, not chili extra-virgin olive oil, or peanut oil
powder with additional spices) for deep frying (enough to fill your
• 1 tsp garam masala saucepan 2-3 inches)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin seed • 2-3 eggs
powder • 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander seed • 1 tablespoon black pepper
powder • Additional lime for garnish

Method:
1. Rub the chicken in the lime juice and 1 teaspoon salt and set aside.
2. In a food processor, make a paste out of the turmeric, chili powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander,
garlic, cilantro, Worcestershire, vinegar, and oil.
3. Coat the chicken pieces in the paste and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.
4. When it’s time to cook, heat a large, high-sided saucepan with enough oil in for deep frying (at least
2-3 inches).
5. Beat the eggs with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon black pepper.
6. Dip the chicken pieces in egg and then carefully lower them in the pan. Deep fry at medium-high
heat, keeping enough room around the pieces for the egg to form a nice crust on each piece. You will
need at least two rounds of deep-frying, and you might need to add more oil.
7. Remove chicken pieces to a wire rack set over a cookie sheet with sides. This will allow the oil to drip
while maintaining a crisp crust.
8. Prepare all chicken pieces this way, and serve within 30 minutes, squeezing lime over as desired.

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18 | C H I C K E N F A R C H A
 MALABAR SPINACH AND EGGS

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 as breakfast or 4 as part of a dinner
Difficulty: Easy

Here’s a moderately spicy recipe that is a Parsi classic. Malabar spinach, also
known as water spinach or poisaag, can be found at Asian grocers and farmer’s
markets. Large leaf spinach or swiss chard is a good substitute. You’ll need a
wide frying pan with a lid to prepare this dish.

Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons canola, safflower or • ½ teaspoon turmeric
sunflower oil • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ cup chopped onion • 1 bunch of Malabar spinach, or
• 4 curry leaves (optional) substitute greens
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger • salt to taste
• 1 minced garlic clove • 4 eggs
• 5 diced Roma tomatoes, or one
large tomato
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh
cilantro

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wide, deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and optional curry leaves
and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, turmeric, and chili powder. After the tomatoes are
broken down, about two minutes, add the spinach and a few tablespoons of water. Cover
with lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes over low heat, until the spinach is soft. Add salt to
taste.
3. Use a large spoon to make 4 depressions in the soft cooked greens. Break an egg over each of
these depressions.
4. Cover the pan again. If the lid has a curve on its underside, invert the lid and pour a couple
of teaspoons of water into the curve. This addition of water heightens the steaming effect as
the eggs poach under the lid. Remember to keep the temperature very low.
5. Peek at the eggs after 3 minutes, and if they are almost set, serve.

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M A L A B A R S P I N A C H A N D E G G S | 19
 KULFI

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 6 hours (including freezing time)
Serves: 9
Difficulty: Easy

A simple but delicious recipe for Kulfi (Indian ice cream)

Ingredients:
• 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
• 1 14-ounce can full-fat sweetened
condensed milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp of ground cardamom
• ¼ cup unsalted pistachio nuts,
ground

Method:
1. Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Pour into popsicle molds or 4-ounce ceramic bowls or ramekins. Freeze until set.
3. Remove from ramekins or popsicle holders, running a little water over the ramekin base
or popsicle holder if needed. Serve sliced on plates with a spoon.
 FALOODA (OR WIDOWS’ PUNCH)

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 1
Difficulty: Moderate, as it takes some time to make the ingredients

The Parsis who migrated from Iran introduced this sweet concoction, although
it’s very popular in Muslim homes and restaurants, too. There are many recipes
for falooda using different fruits, and some modern ones use flavored Jell-o
cubes as an addition! Another good idea is fresh or frozen strawberries or
raspberries. Make sure you have tall, wide glasses to best fit this sweet treat that
is a combination of sundae and milkshake.

Ingredients:
• ¾ cup milk, whole or 2% • 2 tablespoons broken-up
• 2 tablespoons rose syrup (or falooda sev noodles (cornflower
substitute Rose’s Grenadine) vermicelli—you can substitute
• 1 teaspoon tukmaria seeds - (also super-fine semolina or wheat
known as sabja or basil seeds, sold vermicelli)
in South Asian groceries) soaked • 1 teaspoon chopped pistachios
in ¼ cup water for 20-30 minutes • 1 teaspoon sliced almonds
in the refrigerator. They will • Vanilla ice cream – 1-2 scoops
expand and bloom. • 1 Maraschino cherry for garnish
(optional)

Method:
1. Chill tall glass (about 24 ounce capacity) in the refrigerator at least half an hour.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of the rose syrup to the milk and mix together. Refrigerate.
3. Add the broken vermicelli to a saucepan with boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes or according
to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water; set aside.
4. Begin to assemble the drink. At bottom of glass, pour in a generous tablespoon of rose
syrup.
5. Add the bloomed tukmaria seeds.
6. Layer the cooked cold vermicelli on top.
7. Pour in the milk, and then add 1 or 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream.
8. Drizzle more rose syrup on top of ice cream.
9. Top with chopped nuts and a maraschino cherry.
10. Serve immediately or the ice cream will melt and overflow.

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F A L O O D A ( O R W I D O W S ’ P U N C H ) | 21
 PERVEEN’S GIN-LIME DRINK

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Serves 2
Difficulty: easy

The British drank tonic water to fight malaria infection, so gin and tonic
was a very popular drink. Most Indians don’t drink alcohol, but they enjoy
nimbu-pani, a fresh limeade, either salty or sweet, made with bubbly or still
water. Spiking a glass of sweet nimbu-pani with gin creates an Anglo-Indian
drink that is refreshing on the veranda.

Ingredients:
• 2 ounces freshly squeezed lime
juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup or maple
syrup
• 2 ounces good-quality dry gin
• club soda or seltzer

Method:
1. Mix lime juice, syrup, and gin inside a highball glass.
2. Slowly pour in club soda to fill glass a few inches from top.
3. Add an ice cube or two and a slice of lime.
 Paul Oliver
[email protected]
(212) 260-1900

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F: 212-572-4961 | [email protected]
www.randomhouse.biz/specialmarkets
 Media Contact:
Paul Oliver
Director of
Marketing & Publicity
[email protected]
(212) 260-1900

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