Baghdadi Jews from India, mostly Bombay and Calcutta, began arriving in Australia in the late 1940s. Many settled in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, especially Bondi.
The book Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi by Elana Benjamin captures the spectacular—but little-known—cuisine of India’s Baghdadi Jews who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s and 60s.
By incorporating Indian spices into traditional Iraqi dishes and following the Jewish dietary laws—which prohibit the mixing of meat and dairy—India’s Baghdadi Jews created a delicious cuisine that isn’t quite typical Indian.
The collection of recipes in this book is in five sections: Sides, Vegetarian, Fish & Chicken, Meat, and Sweet. Recipes include chakla bakla (pickled vegetables), cheese samoosas (cheese-filled pastries), chittarnee (tomato-based chicken curry) and chatpatay (chickpeas and potatoes in tamarind sauce).
The book also tells the story of Eze Moses’ legendary Bondi spice shop. Eze Moses was a Baghdadi Jew from India, and for many years, his shop was a magnet for all Indian immigrants—Jewish and otherwise.
Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said that Waverley Council was delighted to support the creation of Elana’s book through its Small Grants program. “Our heritage is fundamental to who we are as a community. This story illustrates and celebrates our multicultural past and present, and gives us a resource for the future.”
Award-winning author and food literacy advocate, Alice Zaslavsky, said the book “is full of robustly researched and beautifully written memories and explorations of Jewish cuisine in the subcontinent.” Zaslavsky added that “this vibrantly photographed and designed book will help to expand our understanding of regional differences and similarities—and I’ve already bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try!”
Elana Benjamin is a Jewish-Australian writer of Indian-Iraqi heritage and a home cook. Her writing has been published widely, including in Good Weekend, Sunday Life, the Sydney Morning Herald, SBS Voices, The Jewish Independent and Tablet Magazine.
Elana is a contributor to the Growing Up Indian in Australia anthology (2024, Black Inc.). She is also the author of My Mother’s Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi (2012, Hybrid Publishers). Indian-Jewish Food was recently a dual finalist in the (international) Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2025—in two categories: best cookbook, and best overall design.
ISBN: 9780645977011 › Publisher: Sydney Jewish Museum › RRP: $39.99
This project was made possible with support from the Sydney Jewish Museum & Waverley Council
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