Nowruz, Persian New Year: The United Nations has designated 21 March as International Nowruz Day to celebrate a holiday in which millions across the globe feast, dance and furiously spring-clean the home from top to bottom. Nowruz, or ‘new day’ in Persian, is celebrated on the first day of the Persian calendar (close to the time of the Spring Equinox) and marks the end of darkness and the birth of nature. Here’s the 101 about a celebration that has survived various conquests and the passage of time.
What Is It?
Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is a 3,000-year-old spring festival based on the ancient Zoroastrian faith. It starts on the Iranian calendar’s first day, which is typically 20 March or Spring Equinox, and continues for 13 days. With profound respect for fertility, nature and rebirth, it’s observed by some 300 million persons in Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, along with Kurdish, Turkic Uyghur and Parsi communities globally.
How Is It celebrated?
Festivals normally entail mass parties with friends and relatives, street celebrations, bonfires, fireworks, poetry and folk songs. Games of nomadic origin are favourite pastimes in Afghanistan and Central Asia, whereas in Iran khane tekani (spring cleaning) serves as the beginning of celebrations. But the shared point is food — and in abundance.
While Ramadan is a month of self-reform and serving humanity, Nowruz is a time of hope for a better tomorrow and reaffirming our commitment to human values.
On Navroz, the Parsi New Year, followers of Zoroastrianism pray to Ahura Mazda, the highest deity, usually represented by fire, which is a symbol of light and purity. Fire is sacred in Zoroastrianism and is regarded as a symbol of Ahura Mazda’s divine power and a symbol of light and purity.
How’s a traditional feast?
Most spreads will have a haft-sin, a showcase of seven items that start with the letter ‘S’ in the local language. Each represents something different, such as health (garlic), patience (vinegar) and beauty (apple) in Iran. You should also look for an ornate tray with sabzeh (lentil sprouts planted specifically for Nowruz), nuts, sweets, dried fruits and painted eggs of various colours. On the final day of Nowruz, Iranians hold special picnics to celebrate the conclusion of the past year, and in Kazakhstan, people construct yurts where they spread tables of bountiful food.
What Are The Favourite Nowruz Meals Among People?
In Iran, there are usual fare such as kookoo sabzi (a herby omelette), sabzi polo ba mahi (herby rice and fried fish) and reshteh polo (noodle and herb aromatic rice). Plov, the national Uzbekistan and Azerbaijani rice dish, forms the centrepiece of most Nowruz celebrations, with infinite variations of meat, vegetables and spices. In Azerbaijan, kebabs and dolma (vine leaves stuffed with spices) are favorites, as well as sweets like baklava and shekerbura (sugar, nut and cardamom-filled moon-shaped pastry). In Uzbekistan, sumalak (sprouted wheat sweet pudding) is cooked in huge cauldrons. Afghans prepare sabzi challow (spinach and lamb curry), then for dessert, kolcheh nowrozi (rice flour biscuits) and haft mewa (dried fruit salad in syrup). For Kazakhs, Nowruz virtually always includes nauryz kozhe (soup of horse meat, milk and barley).
Recommendation for a Good Cookbook for Nowruz Food?
For Persian dishes, Feasts by Sabrina Ghayour and The Saffron Tales by Yasmin Khan are top picks. For Azerbaijani and Central Asian tastes, try Samarkand by Caroline Eden and Eleanor Ford. And for Afghan food, look at Parwana by Durkhanai Ayubi.
How Can You Get Involved With The Celebrations?
Bergamot, Plateful Cafe, Berenjak and Tehran-Berlin are some of several London restaurants with Nowruz-themed menus and supper clubs. Choices elsewhere in the UK include Edinburgh’s Konj Cafe and Cardiff’s Parisa Events.
