#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak #cottonsilk 

#SS 53/100/2020

Social media.
Defined as “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking”.
My girls are wizards at social networking.
On Instagram , Tik Tok, WhatsApp, and What Not (no that is not a social media platform, but will probably soon be).
In the days of yore, they were hooked on Facebook.
My girls post memes, blurbs, videos, photos with some really clever witty tags, (one wonders how this intelligence and wit elude them at all other times).
I have been and still am part of the focus of their videography.
No.
Not me in an exquisite saree or saying something deep and meaningful.
No, nothing like that.
But, me singing while loading the dishwasher and doing a little jig.
And what song may you ask?
Am not going to tell you, just a hint though, a song of The Pussycat Dolls.
And me chiding them about something or the other, and they asking me to repeat while listening intently and here I am, thinking my girls are actually taking on what I have to say, but no, my “nagging videos” are making the rounds in family and friend WhatsApp groups.
Then, there’s the “Her mum is so sporting” line.
And this is not about extending the curfew or getting takeaways.
No.
This is about me doing a dance with them on Tik Tok.
I get shown videos of an Indian mum dancing along with her child.
Then, to make it worse, they show me videos of their “cool” Chinnamma, my sister, Thaya, dancing with her daughters.
I do know that if I were to try some of those gravity defying moves, I would need hip replacement surgery.
I am also featured in Tik Tok challenges.
Which I did not realise until my sister told me she loved my batik housecoats.
Yes, it was all of me, and I mean All Wholesome Me, featured in the ‘Hogwarts Houses as Outfits’ challenge on Tik Tok.
In various batik housecoats, doing chores and nagging.
Each house a housecoat, no pun intended.
And so, there I was, a few days ago, draped in a cotton silk deep greenish blue, with yellow, gold pallu and yellow, pink, green, gold borders. Saree is actually a deep green which seems to appear blue. Purchased this many years ago in Chennai, along with a similar one in purple for a lovely musician friend in Auckland. Hope to see her drape it here on SS one day, Thulasi.
Attempting a social media barter with my photographer daughter #2 – A Tik Tok with her in exchange for some decent Saree Speak clicks.
Sigh, the things we do for Decent SS shots. Right, I have a new hashtag now, #decentSSclicks
Blessed crazy happy day Sakhis.

And yes,
The Mixture too.
Cornflakes, rice krispies, cashews, peanuts, sultanas, curry leaves, chilli flakes, dried chillies, hing. I think that’s it.

#diwali #Deepavali #therapy #foodtherapy #healing

#onepotmeal #lockdownsimplemeal #minimalisticmeals #recyclefood #leftovers #NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag? #servelovegive #cookwithlove #cooknoairs #vegetarian #vegan #eggless #mykitchen #simplefood #kitchendiaries #comfortfood #bitesbybavani #bluffsbybavani #inmykitchen #kitchendiaries

A PreDeepavali dinner old post..
A final last minute cook in the midst of prepping for evening’s pre Deepavali dinner. Made just a small batch with husband.
Mathematical skills came into play here. Original recipes divided by 4 or 3 and these included fractions too.
No one can say cooking does not need mathematical, financial, project management skills apart from culinary and artistic talents.

Featured here are
The irresistible melt in the mouth savoury ribbon muruku. 
Dark rust tendrils of deep fried crunchy yet soft goodness, created from a humble mix of rice flour, besan flour, hing, red chilli powder, butter.
And
The muruku.
Urad flour, rice flour, butter, sesame seeds, cummin seeds.
Deep fried, yes, apologies, just a once in a way treat, light, crunchy and oh so highly addictive.

#deepavali #diwali #therapy #foodtherapy #healing

#onepotmeal #lockdownsimplemeal #minimalisticmeals #recyclefood #leftovers #NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag? #servelovegive #cookwithlove #cooknoairs #vegetarian #vegan #eggless #mykitchen #simplefood #kitchendiaries #comfortfood #bitesbybavani #bluffsbybavani #inmykitchen #kitchendiaries

#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak #cottonsilk #paalumpazhamum #SS 51/100/2020

The Day After.
After a hectic Deepavali weekend
and
Pre Deepavali week.
A work from home day, Monday.
A relief to sit at my desk, and catchup on funding reports, assessments, salesforce, client calls, troubleshooting and professional development.
While munching some crunchy muruku.
Draped a cotton silk paalum pazhamum fluorescent green, purple, blue, gold saree for an evening temple visit.
May have looked better if I had worn a plain blouse.
Opinions on home front were divided.
One group leant towards a kanjivaram, the other a tussar silk.
Anyway the outdoor photo shoot turned out fun, if only for the photographer. Kindly ignore the state of the garden, a work in progress..
I had 16 photos in all, with some very creative art gallery worthy shots of my behind, half my face, my nose enlarged, a video thrown in..need I say more?
Whittled it down to 4.
And here they are..

#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak #cotton #handloom

$SS 52/100/2020

Choosing a saree to wear is a ritual, for me.
Step one, I mull over the choices in my mind,
Step two, I make a beeline for the chest in which I would have stored it in.
Theoretically, this would be sorted in a few minutes,
If and only if,
I hit upon the correct chest.
Now, with all good intentions,
as with all of us,
some time ago,
I got myself,
was gifted
2 beautifully carved camphor wood chests,
some storage containers, plastic, woven;
Into which I painstakingly placed
Rich kanjivarams,
Light kanjivarams,
Soft silks,
Cotton silks,
Cotton,
And others-or-of-uncertain-type.
The containers and small camphor wood chest are relatively easy to manoeuvre, I dig in, find the saree I want and try to leave the contents as neat as it had been earlier.
The large beautiful silk saree camphor chest, however, is another matter.
It sits under an antique glass mirror that has a shelf below it.
The chest had been strategically placed under the mirror to ensure that my bedroom looks like a comfy place of rest.
I know now that retrieving a saree from this chest, is anything but restful.
I have to

1. Lift the glass piece from atop the chest and gingerly place it on my bed.
2. Drag the chest a few feet out from under the shelf.
3. Lift the lid.
4. If it hits the shelf and doesn’t open in full,
5. I repeat steps 2-3 until lid opens fully.
6. I try digging through each of the three deep piles, then decide to be mature and conquer each pile.
7. I start with pile no 1 on the left, lift each saree, place it on the carpet, and keep at it, until I have found the saree I want.
8. If not, I place all sarees on carpet back into chest onto pile on the left, and repeat steps 7-8 with middle pile and pile on the left.
9. The best case scenario is that I locate my mind’s saree.
10. Now, for the reverse process of shutting lid, ensuring that no tassels or saree bits are caught in between, then pushing chest back into place under mirror and shelf, and finally placing glass cover on top of chest.
    Phew! One would think that’s sorted, but sometimes, either the blouse does not fit or worse still, the niggling thought at the back of my mind is that there is a particular saree I’m looking for and am unable to find it.
    This is exactly what happened when I went looking for a bottle green kanjivaram, and couldn’t find it,
    And ended up, settling on a plastic container of simple cotton sarees, an easier tackle :
    From bottle green silk to an ash-purple handloom with maroon and gold borders and pallu.
    Mismatched with a floral pink, red blouse.
    Looking a little drained because of the Saree Search Process.
    Now, would you like to be enlightened on how sarees are returned to the chest?
    A quick fix – Lift lid sufficiently widely, just a little, with one hand, then slide saree through with the other
    Or
    Let me leave you to imagine the long winded process.
    As I rest..

#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak #silk #kanjivaram #SS 50/100/2020

Phew.
Have finally hit the half century mark.
Even though I have 1.5 months to the end of 2020.
I will then discreetly remove the 2020 from the hashtag.
I meant Saree Count, not age.
Alright then, age is past the mid half century mark, only just..

Deepavali.
Quiet.
Brief prayer.
Spent the morning putting away everything. Great actually, the Navarathri items cluttering the guest room were also put away.
After yesterday’s feast, all we could manage for lunch was our infamous thayir satham/curd rice with chips and mango pickle.
Also spoke to friends in the US. A lovely catchup.
Temple in the evening.
Being the start of Kandashashti.
The girls also draped sarees. I will be unfriended on social media should I post unvetted photos of them. The vetting process is far more rigorous than getting any country’s permanent residence visa.
So, I will resort to being my usual narcissistic past mid fifty self and post two almost identical photos of myself, clicked by Daughter#1.
Please excuse the poor lighting.
Draped a
Soft silk Kanjivaram,
With gold lines and small bottle green and black pixel checks throughout the saree,
And silver and gold jari/zari, huge flower buttis along the body, borders and pallu.
I wouldn’t normally combine silver and gold, but this saree held me transfixed when I chanced upon it at a friend’s local boutique. Purchased it along with the Happy Sunny Madhyamani featured in my last post.
Once again, blessed beautiful Deepavali and Kandashashti, dear Sakhis.
Remember,
Dear Ladies, You are the Light.

#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak #cotton #handloom #batik #SriLanka

#SS 49/100/2020

It is an unearthly time to post this but then again, it’s all a matter of perspective. In another time zone, i would be deemed sane.
My resolutions on going light this year, flew out of the window when husband and I made a small batch of muruku and ribbon muruku this morning.
Then prepped for dinner with friends in the evening. A newly married couple celebrating their first Diwali after marriage, our new neighbours – a young couple with their boys, and some close friends.
Laboured all day in the kitchen while family scurried around getting house, garden, vilakkus/diyas, cutlery, crockery, themselves in order.
A vegan spread of Malaysian fare – Welcome drink of bandung;
Entrees satay, peanut sauce, rojak;
Mains nasi lemak, mee hoon, followed by Desserts – a beautiful tiramisu by a friend, my standard cannot go wrong mishti doi, sago santan gula melaka. Will feature these in Food speak with explanations and translations.
With barely half an hour to go,
showered, draped a simple batik cotton from Sri Lanka, worn once before, got Daughter#2 to click some shots before guests arrived. Watch this space, a new saree for tomorrow. Managed to salvage a few shots as most had my eyes closed or head down adjusting my saree which is
A soft white and peacock blue or indigo cotton, with peacock feathers on the body and a gorgeous extremely proud peacock on the pallu.
This ancient tradition of using wax-resistant dye on fabric is followed in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Philippines. The word Ba-tik originates from the Javanese words Amba, meaning to write and Tik, which means a dot.
Hubby purchased it from Sri Lanka on his trip last year.
Happy Deepavali Diwali dear Sakhis.
May this Festival of Lights enable us to light up the lives of all around us, and bring us peace, joy, good health. God bless always.
Photos have one of me looking quite normal, and the other being Blooper Bavani.

A last minute attempt to make Palaharams. Small quantities.

Mixture. Light, savoury, sweet crispness.
Mysore pak. Melt in the mouth goodness.
Candy. Massive fail. Put in fridge to set. If it doesn’t behave, all’s well that ends well. I will polish it off with my girls.
Meant to make more, too much time spent prepping for Pre Deepavali dinner.
I tell myself, go light this year, less waste.

#therapy #foodtherapy #healing

#onepotmeal #lockdownsimplemeal #minimalisticmeals #recyclefood #leftovers #NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag? #servelovegive #cookwithlove #cooknoairs #vegetarian #vegan #eggless #mykitchen #simplefood #kitchendiaries #comfortfood #bitesbybavani #bluffsbybavani #inmykitchen #kitchendiaries

Disclaimer – Many days ago. Vijayadasmi. Vidhyarambam.

Navarathri Day 9. Final Day.
Prasadam – Rice, lentils, not sweets.
Puli satham/tamarind rice. Sabudana kicchadi. Black eyes peas sundal

Puli satham.
Roasted
coriander seeds separately,
Then a little bit of fenugreek seeds,
Some whole black peppercorns and dried red chillies,
And finally sesame seeds.
Cooled and powdered.
Added gingerly oil,
Waited for Mustard seeds to splutter, added urad dhall/white lentils, bengal gram/channa dhall, groundnuts, dried chillies, turmeric powder, asafoetida/hing powder, curry leaves.
Poured tamarind pulp juice.
Added salt, and allowed it to reduce to a thick consistency.
Added powdered spices to pulikachal mix.
After oil appeared on top of mix,
Turned off stove and
Poured some gingerly oil onto freshly cooked rice.
Added paste to rice and mixed well.
Garnished with coriander leaves.
And allowed the flavours to soak into rice without letting anyone touch it until prayers were over. Which was easy as it was Prasadam.

Sabudana/sago kichdi.
Absolutely thrilled that this turned out well. Husband helped.
Soaked sago overnight, 1 cup sago to 1 cup water.
Tempered in ghee standard spices including steamed potato cubes.
Added sago, covered and cooked for 3 mins.
Finally added peanut powder and coriander leaves.

Did sundal twice.
First one, chick peas, Massive Fail.
Hubby mashed it and made savoury bondas to be served to children later when they came for Vidhyarambam.
Second one turned out a proper sundal – Black eyed peas sundal.
Boiled lentils tempered with mustard seeds, chopped ginger, cummin seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, fresh green chillies, hing/asaefotida, broken coconut pieces, raw mango bites, fresh grated coconut.

Ran out of sundal and puli satham as Suresh, Anusha and I had students to see to so after my sessions, Made fresh batches of puli satham and black channa sundal and served the children.

#Vijayadasmi #Vidhyarambam #therapy #foodtherapy #healing #onepotmeal #lockdownsimplemeal #minimalisticmeals #recyclefood #leftovers #NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag? #servelovegive #cookwithlove #cooknoairs #vegetarian #vegan #eggless #mykitchen #simplefood #kitchendiaries #comfortfood #bitesbybavani #bluffsbybavani #inmykitchen #kitchendiaries @ Auckland, New ZealandZealand

#palaharam #weddingvibes

#nichyathatham #nischyathatham

#engagement

Home made.
Mixture.
Corn flakes, rice krispies, peanuts, cashews, raisins,light spices.
Light, airy, floating bites of goodness.