Berry Pulav for Pateti

At 11.30 in the morning, I entered my kitchen absent mindedly, half thinking of cooking something. Breakfast was early and not quite what is called sumptuous. Lunch time was approaching and something needed to be done.

And suddenly, I remembered two things: that today’s holiday was because of Pateti and there were some juicy, succulent mulberries in the fridge. The decision was made: shall make Berry Pulav to celebrate the Parsi New Year. Now, I have never been to Britannia which is famous for this particular dish and therefore had no idea how it looked or tasted let alone how it’s cooked. Minor matters indeed. I also had a vague idea that it contained meat. Really minor a matter in my opinion. It’s called Berry Pulav and I had Basmati and berries. Enough to start. In went some mutter, butter, cloves, elaichi, sauted mushrooms and onion in pepper, fresh basil, salt.

Lo and behold- my first berry pulav was ready. Refer to the picture below.

To contrast with its mild sweetness, I made tangy and salty cucumber salad with celery in which were added last drops of olive oil from the Eiffel Tower look- alike bottle. This is a story by itself… I was determined to purchase my own version of a hideous Eiffel Tower souvenir so that everyone who came to my house would know, you know, that I have been there. Also, it had to be unique. Run of the mill plastic replicas or key-chains would just not do. In moments of desperation, I came close to buying tower shaped pasta but wisely decided against it. Finally, I found this bottle at one of the airport shops just before boarding our flight back home.

So…how was the pulav? Quite delicious, if you ask me. Husband can vouch for it.