Shocks and Shoes

Lust List - September

7:01:00 pm

My lust list for this month features mainly A/W trends for 2011. I’m not really one for sticking to predetermined trends for a particular season, too restrictive for me. But apparently, the styles for this fall/winter are timeless, classy pieces that need not go out the window the minute the next season begins and which will suit most women regardless of age, shape or size. Now, that’s fashion! And of course, it is always fun to have a glimpse into what all the designers and stores have got lined up for us :-).

1. Pleated Midi Dress

Pleats, Midi lengths and Jewel tones – three trends in one dress! I especially love the color, beautiful!!!

Image Courtesy: asos

2. Polka Dot Blouse

Polkas are all over the place now and I particularly liked this blouse – smart, yet feminine. Can easily be dressed up or down.

Image Courtesy: shopbop

3. Color Block Bag

Yup, color blocking again. Nope, they’re not leaving any time now. They’ve invaded every part of our wardrobe; next we’ll have the likes of Lady Gaga color blocking their hair. Wait? Has she done it already?! This Marc Jacobs bag is cute and functional.

Image Courtesy: pursepage

4. Yellow Tunic

‘Tunics with trousers’ was a trend that dominated the runways, but haven’t we been wearing the Jeans w/Kurta combo wayyy before that?? Anyway, I love how happy this color is :-)

Image Courtesy: Polyvore

5. Red Mary Janes

Another prominent color on the runway was Red, and a popular shoe trend – Mary Janes. I like how girly and sexy they are at the same time :-)

Image Courtesy: rupertsanderson

6. Black Tux Jacket

When I first heard that tuxedoes were one of the fall trends, I went, “What???” But after seeing it actually being worn, I think women actually look better in them than men!!

Image Courtesy: thisnext

7. Golden Saree

Gold was seen in various avatars on the runway and on several celebrities as well. This is something that’s sooo easy to go OTT with, but I think it would be a million times better on a saree than on a dress, like this Manish Malhotra net saree (Wills India Fashion Week 2011)

Image Courtesy: sareetimes

Also lust worthy is this black saree with the gold border – simple yet very elegant. Manish Malhotra again.

Image Courtesy: bollywood.celebden

While on the whole trend thing, here’s the Pantone fashion color report fall 2011 – women’s colors:

Image Courtesy: pantone

So which trend are you sure to include in your wardrobe this season? Comment away!

Celebration, Food

A Fine Celebration!

12:35:00 pm

Fashion

A Black Skirt

6:34:00 pm

Fashion

A Little Shopping and a Little DIY

7:57:00 pm

Food, Malabar

Eid Recipe - Biryani

4:40:00 pm

Since Eid is coming up next week, I thought I’d post the recipe of the biryani that my family makes nearly every Eid. It’s basically my maternal grandmother’s recipe, and no one can beat her biryani till date!!

Disclaimer: This might appear to be a complicated recipe, but its not really that complicated, and hey, it is a biryani after all!!

What you’ll need (for 6 servings):

1 kg chicken – washed and drained of excess water
½ kg onions –thinly sliced
½ kg tomatoes – chopped
50 g green chillies – ground to a paste
2 whole garlic pods – ground to a paste
25 g ginger – ground to a paste
1 large bunch coriander leaves –coarsely chopped
2 limes - halved
4 cups short grain white rice - washed and drained completely
8 cups of boiling water (for the rice)
¼ cup curd – whisked, so that it's smooth
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp Coconut oil (any other vegetable oil may be used, coconut oil would give it a more authentic taste)
1 tsp garam masala + little extra for sprinkling
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1” pc cinnamon stick
5 green cardamoms
5 cloves

What you’re going to do:

Part I – The Rice:

1. Heat a large thick bottomed pot, and pour in the ghee and 2 tbsp oil.

2. Fry the cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves for a few seconds.

3. Fry the rice in it till the grains begin to stick to one another.

4. Add the boiling water and salt. Stir well, and check the seasoning. It should be just a little bit salty.

5. Squeeze half a lime over the pot and cover and cook over low heat.

6. After 10 minutes, lift the lid and check to see if all the water has been absorbed by the rice. If yes, turn off the flame. If not, cover and cook for another 5 minutes and check again.

Part II – The Masala:

1. Heat a thick bottomed pot and add 2 tbsp of oil.

2. Fry the sliced onion on low heat till golden brown. (This could take some time; you can add a pinch of salt to speed up the process).

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till completely mashed.

4. Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies pastes and fry till the raw smell disappears.

5. Add the garam masala, turmeric powder and salt to taste and stir well.

6. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Cover and cook till the chicken is just done. There is no need to add extra water. (Do not overcook the chicken; it will turn all mushy in the end).

7. Turn off the flame and add the juice of half a lime, curd and 2 tbsp coriander leaves. Mix everything together.

Part III – The Finale:

1. Divide the cooked rice into 3 equal parts, and the chicken masala into 2 equal parts.

2. If you have a really big pressure cooker, very good. If not, find a big pot which can hold all the rice and chicken together. This is your biryani pot.

3. In the biryani pot, arrange one part of rice in a layer at the bottom.

4. Sprinkle a little garam masala, a tbsp of coriander leaves and then squeeze the juice of half a lime all over it.

5. On top of this, add one part of chicken masala in a layer.

6. Place the second part of rice in a layer above the masala layer.

7. Now repeat Step 4, followed by step 5 with the second part of chicken masala.

8. Now finally, arrange the last layer with the third part of rice, and again follow the same instructions as in step 4.

9. Cover with the pressure cooker lid with the gasket but WITHOUT the weight. If you are using a pot, cover with a tight lid, or seal a loose lid with dough made of flour and water.

10. Now comes the special equipment part – we use a flame distributor for the dum. It is basically a wire mesh which is placed on the flame, and the cooking pot on top of it. It helps the flame to be evenly distributed across the bottom of the vessel instead of concentrating at the middle.

We place the Biryani Pot on top of the flame distributor and leave it on low flame till steam starts coming out of the cooker lid (for about 30 minutes).

11. Turn off the flame, remove the lid and serve.

You’ll notice a few major differences between other biryanis and this one:

The use of coconut oil
No mint leaves
No basmati rice
No garnishing (we let the biryani speak for itself!)
Not accompanied by raitha

The traditional accompaniment to this biryani is green coconut chutney. The ingredients are listed below:

3-4 green chillies
25 g ginger paste
juice of half a lime
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 coconut grated

Grind these to a fine paste and serve.

Usually the end of the feast is signaled by a small cup of lime tea – it is said to relax your tummy after such a heavy meal!!

For two servings:

Boil two cups of water
Put ½ tsp tea dust/leaves and boil for a minute. Turn off the flame.
Add the juice of a quarter of a lemon and 4 tsp sugar and stir well.Strain and pour into little cups.

Whew!!! That was one lengthy post!! 3 recipes in one! I hope I haven’t scared you off with the numerous steps; it’s just that I wanted to be quite thorough especially for novices – everyone deserves to cook and relish a mouth watering biryani! Enjoy!!

This recipe is a participant for the ‘Eid Potluck Party’ event at Sadaf’s blog, ‘My Culinary Adventures’.

Humor

Candid Camera!

4:24:00 pm

Self Love

Beautiful

8:49:00 pm

Can you count the number of times that someone has told you that you are beautiful? Quite a few, right? Now how many times have you told yourself that? Hmm, not that many, I’m guessing.

For most of us women, it really takes an effort to actually admit that we are beautiful. How can we, when we have those thunder thighs, or that huge butt right? It is so much easier to find stuff to hate about ourselves.

Image Courtesy: cct300-f08.wikispaces

My sister and I look very different – I’m short and she’s tall; she’s skinny and while I’m within a healthy weight for my height, I’m tipping towards the upper limit :-). Sometimes we joke that it would be great if we had some kind of a machine where I could transfer some weight to her!! But when you think about it, if we really had a machine like that, we would all look like clones of each other (our celebrities are already beginning to look like that). Scary thought, right?

In India, the obsession with being skinny is not as much as it is in the west, but it does exist and affects a lot of young girls with impressionable minds. The media, of course is everyone’s favorite punching bag when it comes to this issue, and it is true that it plays an important role. Movies, ads, magazines - everything sends out the message that you need to be tall, thin, have lustrous straight hair, blemish free skin, a sexy pout and curves in the right places. What are these ‘right’ places? Who said they were right in the first place?

This is where blogging plays a huge positive role. We have bloggers of all shapes and sizes and colors who belong to various nationalities/ethnicities/religions and they are all, beyond doubt, beautiful. The one common characteristic all of them share is self love and a wonderful confidence that actually comes through in their pictures. I admit, I’m still a work in progress and have yet to accept parts of my ‘mommy’ body, but these wonderful people really inspire me.

Speaking of self love, I love the song ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera and believe every girl should listen to it (Of course, there are hardly any who haven’t :-)). Here’s the youtube link:

Have you ever battled body image issues in your life? How did you deal with it?

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Lust List - September

A Fine Celebration!

A Black Skirt

A Little Shopping and a Little DIY

Eid Recipe - Biryani

Candid Camera!

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