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Generation
By: Niloufar Sadroddini Staff Writer

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Delectable Recipes: The Iranian Cupcake

For most people baking season starts during the winter holidays, but I usually start my baking experiments in the spring. This year I made vanilla cupcakes that were topped with strawberry frosting, pink icing, or vanilla icing. I first made these cupcakes for my friends goodbye party-and they were a hit! People were going for seconds and even thirds-so I knew I had to make these cupcakes again, which I did on two other occasions. My next experiment was Banoffee pie which is an English dessert pie made with bananas, cream, and caramel from broiled condensed milk. This didnt turn out as well as I had hoped because the condensed milk didnt turn to caramel. Ah well, better luck next time! My third project was baking a lemon yogurt cake with blueberry sauce. This was a success! I have made this on several occasions-from eide-didanis to dinner parties, and just everything else in between. However, most recently, about a few weeks ago, I decided to bake something a little more Persian. Cupcakes are really popular and so much better than cake because of its portion-so I decided to bake Iranian cupcakes aka Cake Yazdi. I found the recipe online off of http://www.aashpazi.com, and these cupcakes turned out just right-delicious, and moist. I thought Id share this recipe with you, in case youre planning to whip up something Persian for your next party or small gathering.

Ingredients

1 Cup All Purpose Flour 1/2 Cup Sugar 2 Tbsp Rose Water 1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt 2 Eggs 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil 1 Tsp Ground Cardamom 1 Tsp Baking Powder Sesame Seeds

1- Beat 2 eggs in a bowl until stiff. 2- Add 1/2 cup of sugar and mix well. 3- Add 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and continue blending until well mixed. 4- Add 2 tbsp rose water and 1 tsp ground cardamom and stir thoroughly. 5- Mix 1 tsp of baking powder with 1 cup of all purpose flour and sift it into the bowl. 6- Beat the mixture thoroughly. 7- Scoop batter into baking cups. 8- Sparkle sesame seed over the cupcakes. 9- Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C) and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. 10- Remove the cupcakes and place them on wire racks to cool completely.

Directions

Living Persian: What's It Like to Go To an Iranian Concert?

By: Andia Shamsai Staff Writer

Farsi Letters of the Month!

By: Sara Hojjatie Pardis: tng Editor Pardis, TNG give you the oppotunity every month to learn new Farsi letters and words.

I love dancing and music and have been in many American concerts, but Iranian concerts are something else. It is not just about enjoying the music or dancing with the crowd; it is time to meet your people. It is the time to see stylish dance moves by Uncle Khosrow while he is trying to charm your other uncle, Javad (also known as Uncle Joseph and Uncle Jimmy). I always had one question, why couldnt they dance with their wives who were dancing with just other ladies 100 feet apart from their husbands? I forgot to tell you how Persians are sharp on time. My mom forced us to get ready early to be on time for the concert this one time (it means that we should get there by 8:45pm; the ticket shows an 8pm show). And we got there on time (;D) and good lord, we were embarrassingly early. We were like those people who had nothing more important to do on a Saturday night than showing up on time for a Persian event. I overheard a guy from the local organizing team that the singers plane just touched down at Atlanta airport and the crew were on their way to the baggage claim to pick up their instruments (Thank God; no flight delay). My mom was on the phone with her sister. Apparently my aunt was just finishing up at the salon. I heard she was telling my mom I told you so! You never believed me; now enjoy the DJ.

Around 10:30pm, we saw some movement on the stage. A few minutes later we a heard voice test. Finally, the concert started at 11:00pm (we were supposed to be home by then according to the show time on the ticket). Can somebody please explain to me why Iranian singers always start with salaam-alaikom; how are you doing? You are good, enshallah Khob thanks God Alhamdolellah. Persian breakup songs are my favorite ones. There is a Damboli Dambo music playing in the background while the lyrics are saying that I do not love you anymore and Go to hell my honey. The singer was using his sad voice but Persians were dancing to it so hard that it was their wedding night :D. Persian parents are the best in the world. We got home that night around 3am. While we were driving home we were passing Georgia Tech neighborhood and my mom was giving me advice saying look at all these college students doing party all night; my sweet daughter will be different, studying in the library Saturday nights when she is in college!

looks like "kaf " but has another line across the top. It can attach to the letter before or after it. Gaf makes the "g" sound.

Gaf: This letter

Ze: This letter

looks like "reh" but has a dot on the top. It can attach to the letter before it but not the letter after it. Ze makes the "z" sound.

or:

HEY YOU! Are you interested in being a contributing

writer for Pardis: TNG? Email pardismag@gmail.com and you could be in next months issue!

which means round

it spells: gerd

it spells: zan which means woman

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www.Facebook.com/ PardisTheNewGeneration

Pardis:The New
Memes to Help you Get Through Final Exams
By: Sara Hojjatie Pardis: TNG Editor May marks the conclution of a school year for grade school and college students alike; however, in order to get to the long-awaited and well-deserved (with Persian parents, we worked our butts off this year!) summer vacation the daunting final exams must be conquered. As a college student, final exams not only hold much more influence over final grades than in high school, but they are also 100% more difficult. Naturally, in my flood of flashcard-reading, textbook-cramming, and practice test-working I have spent many hours taking a break, or in other words, procrastinating, by humoring myself with the numerous memes present on the Internet. Thus, I found it appropriate to share my delight with Persian-themed memes for our Pardis: TNG readers as they look for ways to "take a break" in the midst of studing for their final exams. Enjoy, but remember to return back to your estudies soon.

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Pardis: The New Generation Staff

Sara Hojjatie Editor Kamran Partovi Staff Writer Andia Shamsai Staff Writer Niloufar Sadroddini Staff Writer Roxana Hojjatie Staff Writer Kameron Akbar Staff Writer

How I Was Pulled into Becoming a Part of an Iranian Dance Group--and Loved It
By: Roxana Hojjatie Staff Writer Growing up as an Iranian-American teenager living in the U.S., I never thought I was truly Iranian, mostly because of one reason: dancing. I always felt uncomfortable going to mehmoonis, or parties and being forced to Persian dance because I knew that it was something I simply was not capable of doing, or rather, doing well. I usually would just do a little shuffle back and forth, try to twist my wrists a certain way, and fake a smile, hoping the song would end anytime soon. However, that all changed when my sister, Sara, decided to form a dance group of Persian girls in Atlanta to dance at the Georgia Tech Nowruz celebration. Sara explicitly asked me whether I wanted to do the dance or not, and that it was 100% my choice. At first, I declined, thinking of how embarrassing it would be when people realized I could not dance like a true Persian. However, when Sara started choosing out modern Iranian songs that I absolutely loved and picking out costumes, I knew it was something I had to do. I was putting off the dancing for too long and it was time I just go for it. Besides, I didnt want my kids to end up not learning how to dance Irooni just because I made a mistake of never learning. So I joined the group and hoped for the best. Being five foot two, I knew Id have to be in the front of the group for the majority of the dance, which added to my anxiety. However, the girls in the group were really what made me able to branch out and just dance. The majority of them were in the same situation as me, being an Iranian-American and dancing Persian only once and a while. So, we were all learning together, critiquing each other, and helping one another look the best we could. After a countless amount of practicing, with the group or on my own, I realized my problem: I never actually tried to Persian dance. I was always too embarrassed of what I was looking like that I thought it was best just to pretend like I didnt care. But during our last few practices, I realized just how much my dancing improved when I actually decided to try. It was incredible it was to be able to connect with my culture and finally become familiar with all types of dancingtraditional, Rashti, modern, and bandari. And plus, while practicing in front of the mirror and watching the video, I realized I wasnt too bad after all. The best part was hearing that I was amazing at Persian dancing from not only my group, but my parents and their friends. After all, they were the ones that were (photo courtesy of "S. Hojjatie") full Iranian inside and out. If I hadnt taken the chance, I would have been someone sitting in the audience, wishing I were good enough to be on that stage. But I took the shot, and it was such an incredible experience Ill never forget. So if youre like I used to be and think youll never be capable of dancing like a true Persian, just go for it and try. Odds are, youre better than you think you are. Besides, YOLO