Indian festive look #3

      The most I miss in Indian festivities is mostly the vibe that festivity brings, the lip-smacking sweets and savory that instantly melt away your heart, with new trends emerging with the festive seasons, the sudden rush in our town and those festive breaks we waited to greet the festivity with warm and open hearts.  Here fall is emerging and clearing aways the sultry summer blues. But the truth is anywhere you go you bring your culture and color to your new abode.

       We stay in a neighborhood with people from all over the Indian subcontinent and bring their culture and celebrate with great zeal. Here I am wearing a cotton kurta, peach dupatta and peach skirt. To the whole neutral palette, I added emerald earing and oxblood red lips and nail for pop and dark kohl filled eyes. Suttle celebratory look. Hope you enjoy this festive look #2, #1. Happy festivities!

Sunday Assamese Chicken curry

      My both sets of grandparents have never eaten chicken rather they enjoyed Fish curry or fish. The chicken was almost an alien for my families past generations. In Assam, about 30/35 years back older people instead of chicken rather ate duck, mutton or fish. That says chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in Assamese cuisine. But eating chicken is a quintessential part of modern Assamese family. As a kid, I remember waiting for Sunday lunches for chicken curry. The aroma of cooking chicken-filled up our home and us picky eaters can't wait to have our lunch. While growing up we only got one day holiday in the week, Sunday. Usually, everyone is at home and my mom painstakingly cooks the best and exquisite dishes to the table. And along with other specialties, the chicken was the fulcrum attraction. And happiness was eating chicken curry on Sundays.

      As I told earlier, chicken curry is not exactly a traditional dish in assamese cuisine. However, the use of fresh ingredients and the easy and simple process of cooking chicken in every Assamese household is the same. And potatoes are usually added in Assamese chicken curry.  Here I am sharing Assamese style chicken curry.

Ingredients

1. 2 lb cut chicken
2. 1 medium-size potato
3. 2 medium-size onion
4. an inch ginger
5. a few cloves of garlic
6. 2 to 4 tablespoon oil 
7. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
8. 1teaspoon turmeric
9. Whole spices ( cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, dry red chilies, black pepper ). I put 2 of each but you can always adjust it according to your taste. For Assamese chicken curry, I love to use home ground spices for the freshness. Instead of this, you can also use garam masala powder.
10. Peel the potato's skin and fry them in the oil until golden brown and set aside.
11. Now clean the chicken and marinate it with salt and turmeric. Let it sit for 10/15 minutes. Ground the onion, ginger, and garlic don't make it too pasty otherwise it will lose the rustic appeal. Now, add it to the chicken and add 3 tablespoon oil, also add the dry ground spices. Marinate for 30 minutes.
12. Now put the pan on the stove and once it is hot, add 2 tablespoons oil and add cumin seeds. After the seeds crackle add the marinated chicken. Fry it until water dries up. Add potatoes and now cover it and let it cook. Cook, it at least 15/20 minutes and stir it in between. Add 2 cups of hot water and cook it on low flame for another 5 to 7 minutes or until done. Now serve it with steamed rice. Enjoy the Assamese style simple soulful chicken curry. 

Indian festive look # 2

      Every year festivity always agitates me to dress up. Sometimes buying new clothes is exciting and at other times working on the pieces you already own is exciting as well. Indian festivity calls for a riot of colors. In the trend of neutrals wearing something colorful yet staying in an understated look is tricky. I always believe and enjoy playing up with pieces mix and match, switch and swept. While wearing a colorful outfit, I tone it down with neutral accessories and while wearing neutrals, teaming it up with a pop of color or statement accessories is real fun.

     Indian festive celebration is associated with some quintessential colors like red, orange, pink and yellow. This time for Indian festive celebration, I chose an orange silk kurta ( tunic ) and orange salwar ( dhoti pants ). The color orange itself is a bright and bold color. If I choose the traditional route, I should have chosen gold, yellow, pink colors. In the quite contrary, I chose black; a black color dupatta and some silver jewelry. My neckpiece is a silver elephant pendant. The pendant is from Bali, Indonesia.   I wore dark red matte lips, simple hair and rest of the makeup are natural and a dark blackish Brwon juti (flat Indian pump). A casual look. Did you check  Indian festival look # 1. Hope you like this look.

Indian festive look #1

In the world of flashy machine-made products, handmade products have their own beauty. The beauty that lies in the imperfections makes it unique and one of a kind. Wearing something handmade always brings a sublime feeling to me. That elicited me to share this Indian festive season's 1st look. A handmade tunic and skirt in navy blue shades recently wore for an Indian festive celebration. I am into neutral these days. A navy blue kurta (tunic) and ghagra (long a-line skirt) and added an off-white dupatta. The motive behind creating this look is an understated and classic look. I added a multi-strand pearl necklace just to amp up a bit and my hair and makeup are natural. By the way, I was wearing Loreal X SabyasachiSabyasachi. Hope you like this look.

L'Oreal Paris X Color Riche Moist Matte Lipstick Sabyasachi review

      It's always exciting to see your favorite designer collaborate with beauty brands. What new it would offer what creativity they would add up.

      When I saw Indian pioneer designer Sabyasachi's collaboration with L'Oreal, I wanted to try it right away. But it took me a couple of months until I visited India and purchased it.

Packaging: I simply adore the paper packaging on the outer box, gold on beige is just classy and Sabyasachi's signature logo was just cherry on top.  When I opened the paper packaging, the inner packaging is just like any other L'Oreal packaging, no signature Sabyasachi in it. I wished  Sabyasachi's logo on the inner packaging as well.

Color and Texture: Lipstick is from L'Ooreal color riche matte lipstick. In spite of a matte lipstick, it's not at all dry on lips and feels moist and smooth. From Sabyasachi's many darker to lighter shades, I chose the Evening Sur Seine. It is light coral color, the one lipstick that you want to brighten up your lips but not too much either. The everyday kinda lipstick. It's not transfer-proof but definitely good for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours. One to two strokes is good to get the right color. It glides really well. Ideal for any skin tone.

Weight: 3.7 gms
Price :  10.45 Dollars (750 Indian Rupees)