Parsi Food

The Parsis (Parsees) of W. india are descendants of pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian, migrants from the region of afghanistan and iran. The main migration took place after the forces of Islam conquered Iran in the 7th century, and one of the most pleasing of all food-related legends explains how they arrived in India. Bhicoo Manekshaw (1996) describes what happened when a storm drove the refugees to Sanjan in Gujarat, and three Parsi dasturs (priests) approached the Rana (ruler) of Sanjan:

When he saw these tall, fair, well built men, the Rana tried to turn them away. Using typical inborn Indian politeness, he did not do so directly, but showed them a bowl full to the brim with milk, to indicate there was no space in the land. The senior dastur is said to have sprinkled some sugar into the milk and replied that the milk had been sweetened, but it had not overflowed. Thus the Parsis were allowed to land.