Today the AIP #MondayMusings series takes us back to a post from 2017, reflecting on a visit in 2016 to the Irani Cafés in Bombay (Mumbai). This post contains delicious food and an introduction to the 95-year-old proprietor, Boman Kohinoor, of Britannia and Co. Parsi (Persian/Iranian) café. There are also letters from Queen Elizabeth II and Hilary Clinton, and photographs of Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge, William and Kate.
- Paneer berry pulao
Photo by Mike Tinnion on Unsplash adapted by AIP
Coming Soon: In Search of Ancestors in British India: Where to Start – Sign up here
If you are interested in being involved, finding out more, or just curious, we welcome your communication using our Get in Touch page or join our mailing list here.
During the trip to Bombay (Mumbai) in 2016 we explored (and consumed) an abundance of food – and India (specifically Bombay (Mumbai)) provides the best food i’ve ever tasted (feel free to suggest any other great places).
Irani Cafés / restaurants emerged in Bombay following the great famine of Persia (modern day Iran). Millions died of starvation and many fled their homeland, walking across the Hindukush mountain range in the 1890s to India – a journey which could take eight months. Surviving appears the sole purpose of the mass migration, due – as some speculate – to the culmination of the longer term problem of Iranian agriculture, notably the failure to invest in the expansion and maintenance of irrigation works combined with the switch from food into cash crop production.
Read more about this post at: Irani Cafés in Bombay (Mumbai)
Cover picture credit: iranichaimumbai
