A Bandra family café celebrates the longest night of the year with a Persian Yalda celebration of traditional verse, pomegranates, and shared tables
A view of Shab-e Yalda festive decor at the Bandra café
Night of Pomegranates and Memories
In the silence of the longest night of the year,
we open the ruby seeds of memory.
Each one is a promise kept,
and each sweetness a whisper of hope.
Come sit close…
let the stories warm the winter air.
For even in the deepest breath of cold,
light gathers in small moments,
shining within us —
like the stars of Yalda.
The verses of 14th-century Persian poet Hafez Shirazi are treasured for their seamless weaving of love, mysticism, and wisdom, offering quiet guidance on the winter solstice, when darkness reaches its deepest point. This is when Persians gather to celebrate Yalda Night (Shab-e Yalda), a centuries-old ritual that transforms the longest night into an act of togetherness and joy. Through Faal-e-Hafez (reading Hafez’s poetry for guidance) and the ritual offering of pomegranates, watermelon and nuts — symbols of life, fertility and abundance — Yalda becomes a gentle reminder that hope, endurance and light ultimately prevail.
Strawberry Tres Leches
Head chef Seema Sadequian, co-founder of Café Mommy Joon in Bandra, who has Persian roots, elaborates, “At its heart, Yalda Night is a quiet yet powerful reminder that no matter how long or dark the night may feel, the sun will rise again. For many Persian families, this belief is more than a metaphor. It is tradition, memory and reassurance passed down through generations. On the longest and darkest night of the year, celebrating the triumph of light over darkness and hope over hardship, reminds us not to fear difficulties, because everything eventually finds its way back to brightness.”
Anar (pomegranate) Juice. PICS COURTESY/CAFE MOMMY JOON
Yalda, she adds, is never celebrated in isolation but always together, with family, friends and extended circles gathering under one roof. “Much like Christmas, it is about presence as much as it is about ritual. Families often come together at the home of the eldest member, usually grandparents, where stories are shared, food is prepared collectively, and the night stretches lazily into conversation and laughter.”
One of the most cherished customs of the evening is Faal-e-Hafez, the ritual of opening the poetry book of Hafez at random. “A wish is made, a page is turned, and the elder of the family reads the verse aloud, interpreting its meaning as a response to that unspoken hope. Poetry, on this night, becomes guidance,” she adds. Food, too, carries deep symbolism. Tables are traditionally marked by the colour red. Drawing on this ritual, Café Mommy Joon’s Yalda Night menu has been carefully curated to reflect what is traditionally eaten on this night. Beetroot appears in comforting, slow-cooked dishes, pomegranate features in multiple forms, and walnuts and nuts lend warmth and richness throughout.
Koofteh Tabrizi
“Pomegranate, in particular, is the soul of Yalda. It symbolises life, and when transformed into pomegranate molasses, it gives Persian cuisine one of its most distinctive flavour profiles — sweet, sour and deeply complex,” Sadequian explains. This balance resonates in dishes like Fesenjoon, where the molasses melds with walnuts to create a flavour that is neither cloying nor sharp, but quietly layered. That sweet-sour tension, we learn, defines both the cuisine and the night.
The menu features fresh pomegranate juice (Rs 350), Shoolie (Rs 380) — a comforting Yazd-style beetroot, chickpea and lentil soup with spinach, dill, fenugreek and mint — Labu ba Kashk Bademjan (Rs 350), beetroot and fried brinjal with kashk, served with roti, and Koofteh Tabrizi (Rs 350), herbed mutton meatballs stuffed with zereshk, caramelised onions, aloo bukhara and walnuts in tomato sauce. The spread includes Chicken Fesenjoon (Rs 500) and Lamb Fesenjoon (Rs 550), both slow-cooked with pomegranate molasses and walnuts, and Shirin Polow (Rs 600), a fragrant boneless chicken dum pukht rice with orange rind, carrots, almonds and pistachios. The meal concludes on a sweet note with Strawberry Tres Leches (Rs 350).
Beyond the meal, poetry and entertainment, Sadequian hopes the guests celebrating Yalda Night at Café Mommy Joon leave feeling happy, hopeful and connected. That the evening feels valuable, not just enjoyable and that it becomes something they want to return to again next year. Like in another of Hafez’s poems, Where the Night Is Gentle, the poet says, ‘Tonight, darkness is no burden — it is a velvet curtain for our gathering. Within the quiet arms of night, we share the flame, the fruit, the laughter. And in this soft pause of the year, we remember: the night is long, so our togetherness may be longer.’
ON December 19 and 20
AT Café Mommy Joon, Sunrise Building, Ground floor, 24th Road, near Patwardhan Park, off Linking Road, Bandra West.
CALL 8928638522
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