There is no substitute for eating a dish in its place of origin, preferably made in a home kitchen by hands that hold the muscle memory of thousands of meals. For me, a close second is stumbling across a recipe, trying it out, and feeling transported to a new place by its flavors. The vastness…
It begins on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, which can fall anywhere between late November and late December in the Gregorian calendar. It will begin on November 28 this year. For eight days, the celebration is marked by some rites. Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration of lights commemorating the Maccabean insurrection…
In a skillet, sauté the onion in the oil. Add the chicken, ginger, garlic, turmeric, pepper, and salt. The chicken should be at room temperature before cooking. Add enough water to cover the chicken and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the liquid has evaporated. Combine the okra, tomatoes, lemon…
Food is exactly what characterizes the little-known Jewish Indian community—’Parsis’ as they are generally referred to in India—with a history dating back approximately 2100 years. Jews “have resided in India perhaps for millennia and at least the Middle Ages,” writes Shai Secunda of Jewish Ideas Daily, and Zoroastrians “have lived in India perhaps for millennia…
Last Tuesday, Joan Nathan’s King Solomon’s Table was released. It’s her eighth cookbook, a living historical document with 170 dishes from the Jewish diaspora, ranging from India’s Bene Israel fish curry to Libya’s spicy Arctic char cooked in tomato sauce, or Ahareimi. Nathan has been conducting archive work like King Solomon’s Table for decades. Nathan,…
She hovers over the sizzling fat, tossing in pinches of cumin, turmeric, and hot chili seeds, filling the room with spicy vapor. Miriam Daniels, 56, is making a Passover dinner that may seem like a contradiction in terms to many Jews: a glatt kosher lamb curry. She says, “I like it spicy.” “At the seder,…
According to some legends, Jews first came to India as King Solomon’s merchants in search of materials for his first temple in Jerusalem. After the collapse of the Second Temple, South Indian Christian tales confirm that Jews settled in Cochin in the first century C.E. Over the next several centuries, other societies arose, including the…
The Jewish New Year, also known as Rosh HaShanah, begins tonight, September 18th. According to the Jewish calendar, this is the 5781st year. While the community will commemorate the anniversary for three days till September 20th evening, the celebrations will be different than usual due to the pandemic. This does not, however, prevent Jews from…
If you were at the JCC/UJA Greenwich gala honoring Ellen Davis on March 6, you heard about Greenwich’s “old Jews.” The Jews of India date back far further, according to some, to the 6th century BC, with a second wave following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. JCC Greenwich will host a…
I’m just dropping by to share one of my all-time favorite recipes, which comes from India’s Baghdadi Jews. Are there Jews in India? Yes! In truth, Jewish communities have been in India since 76 CE, shortly after the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, as well as Jews who later came to India from other…