DESERT DREAMS...

Above: Jacket - Ter Et Bantine; Cardigan - Pier Antonio Gaspari; Blouse - Vivienne Westwood

Jacket - Angelos Frentzos; Blouse - Petit Bateau; Trousers - Etro; Turban - Pinko; Collar - Mr. India


Bolero - Malloni; Blouse - Chloe; Belt - A.N.G.E.L.O.; Collar and bracelet - Mr. India


Jacket and trousers - Hache; Blouse - Ghost; Scarf - Sisley; Bracelet - Goti


Blouse - Erreuno; Jacket - Ter Et Bantine; Trousers - Hache I like the way it's suggested to spice up the European wardrobe with some Bedouin fashion elements - massive jewelry, scarves (twisting, wrapping, folding and draping!), natural fabrics with ethnic patterns and the colors of earth and gold...

Source: Mondadori Press/East News. Apriori magazine (2005 edition;doesn't exist nowadays)

SUMMER DREAMS...

Dress - Amen

Vest - Podium; Skirt - Manish Arora;

Dress - Jenny Packham

Images from Apriori magazine

AZERBAIJANI CUISINE: QUBA TIKHMASI

I was recently given a postcard where this lovely recipe was written on back and found it good enough to share with the world! I don't know what exactly tıkhması means, but the first part of it is named after a geographical place in Azerbaijan - Guba, also spelt as Quba and Kuba.Making it for the first time and especially considering that I am not a baking person (I try my best), I feel even more proud that I could manage these buns so well: crunchy crust, tender inside and wow... not even a slight burning!

Makes about 11 buns

Total time of cooking: 1h 40m

Ingredients:

• 325g flour
• 100g ghee for the dough + 25g ghee for the filling (you can buy ghee or make it yourself, for this please refer to my previous post)
• 100ml milk
• 1 egg
• 80g sugar (cane sugar would be healthier)
• half tsp yeast
• half tsp saffron strands
• nutmeg and salt to taste

 Method of cooking:

1. For the filling, mix well flour(65g), sugar(80g) and ghee(25g), add some nutmeg and set aside. You may want to increase a bit the above mentioned quantity to fill all the buns equally generously.
2. For the dough, pour milk with 100ml of water into a deep saucepan and warm it up a bit.
3. Then yeast, egg, ghee and salt should be dissolved in warmed milk.
4. Stirring constantly, pour the flour and mix and work everything into a uniform mass. Leave covered in a warm place for 40 min.
5. ... Roll out the dough to 1,5-2mm thick, make a roll and cut into pieces.
6. Roll out each piece of dough and put a filling in the midst of it. Now shape buns.
7. Lay out the buns onto a baking sheet.
8. Coat each bun with a slightly beaten egg and a saffron infusion*  and set aside in a warm place for 20-25 min.
9. Bake in the oven under 160-180C for 35-40 min.

* infuse a pinch of saffron strands in a necessary amount of warm\hot water and leave for 20-30min.

INDIAN CUISINE: USLI GHEE (Clarified Butter)

‘Ghee is sweet in taste and cooling in energy, rejuvenating, good for the eyes and vision, enkindles digestion, bestows lustre and beauty, enhances memory and stamina, increases the intellect, promotes longevity, is an aphrodisiac and protects the body from various diseases’ Bhavaprakasha (16th Century Ayurvedic text)

Usli ghee literally meaning 'pure butter' is a basics in Indian cuisine since the Vedic times. It is widely used in Middle-Eastern cooking too. Ghee is a nourishing and very healthy as it  doesn't elevate (even lowers!) the cholesterol levels and helps the body to maintain a low state of oxidation.

It can easily be prepared at home by boiling unsalted butter on a slow fire. The heating process removes lactose content and in the outcome, you get a pure 'liquid gold' - a transparent, amber like color ghee possessing wonderful walnut aroma.

Method of preparation:

Measurement: from 500g of unsalted butter you'll get about 400g ghee. Time of preparation: 30 min. Increase the quantity of ingredients proportionally as per your needs.

1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat until the butter melts completely, constantly stirring. Spoon out the white foam appearing on the surface. Bring to boil.

Be careful for the butter wouldn't burn (it may happen if you melt it over high fire). Don't use the ghee if it has acquired a dark color and starts smelling pungent.

2. Turn down the heat and leave the butter simmer for the rest of the required time.

3. Take the ghee off from the fire and pour it into a glass or ceramic jar. Set aside to cool for about 10-15 mins. As it cools, the ghee will harden like a butter.

Keep your ghee in a fridge, in a tightly sealed jar. Actually, the ghee stays fresh even unrefrigerated for a few months!

There is one more kind of ghee made from mixture of vegetable oils and you can buy it from any Indian grocery or at some on-line shops. It is cheaper but  there's no comparison to the real home made ghee!

This time I've made some very tasty, ghee based, light textured Ma'moul Abiad cookies, a recipe shared by Dimah from Orange Blossom Water.
Thank you, Dimah :)♥

*By the way, you can fry in the same ghee for a couple of weeks until it gets burned.

PAKISTANI MALE SHALWAR QAMEEZ - PART II

Pakistani Shalwar Kameez
 

The Pakistani male suit, often known as the Pathani Suit, consists of a long, loose fitting tunic (kameez) with collar and buttons and a very baggy shalwar (trousers) made of solid fabrics and in masculine colors. During summer lighter cotton versions of Pakistani shalwar kameez are preferred while during winter a heavier, wool apparels are worn.
 

Pakistani shalwar is often paired with matching or contrast kurta - a long, knees length, usually collarless shirt with full, loose sleeves commonly accompanied by embroidery around the collar and neck opening. Silk kurta for men once considered an attire for kings and princes is now leading the fashion. The embroidered kurta, or kurti, in a variety of colors and styles is very fashionable to wear with jeans.

I love this captivating collection in blacks and grays (who said they look dull?) varying from light gray to dark charcoal - very elegant and even mystic, isn't it?!

 

An outer vest coat is often peculiar to the whole Pakistani shalwar kameez ensemble







 
Eid (festive) clothing for men are very rich in cuts, fabrics, colors and patterns... so, the topic's gonna be unfolded in the nearest future ;)

Images from merishopping and text adapted from indianclothing.org

SHALWAR KAMEEZ MAGIC - Part I

Today I'm going to write about my most favorite wear - Shalwar Kameez (as it is pronounced in Pakistan) or Salwar Kameez (as Indians say) which is a national dress in Pakistan and a traditional suit in the Northern India, Punjab and some places of South-central Asia. Shalwar Kameez is a highly comfortable complete dress worn by both men and women. It's perfect for all occasions: simple but inevitably beautiful models as a daily wear and luxurious, richly decorated designer masterpieces for parties and special events. Today's designers offer intricately decorated shalwar kameez in an incredibly limitless variety of artistic styles and designs, fantastic colors and patterns!

Shalwar Kameez consists of the three-piece outfit:  

kameez or kurta  is a long tunic or shirt varying in length from thigh line to knee line or even lower. Traditionally, the kameez/kurta has mostly up to knee length with full length sleeves, half sleeves or sleeveless.

shalwar - loose pyjama-like trousers. Shalwars, wide at the top and narrowing towards the ankles, are pleated or gathered into a waistband with a drawstring.
The shalwar also comes in a plenty of styles: churidar and patiala shalwar {love it!}, pathani shalwar and western inspired parallel, boot cut etc.

and, completing the ensemble, there comes dupatta or chadar - a wide, long, multi-purpose scarf or shawl. A stylish accessory that can be worn in different ways - over one or both shoulders, around the chest or neck or covering the head.

Let's have a look at three basic styles of shalwar kameez suit:

Churidar shalwars are tightly fitting trousers worn by both men and women in South Asia and Central Asia. Narrow, naturally stretchy churidars have more length compared with traditional shalwar length, thus the excess material falls into folds and wrinkles come on the ankle. It looks like a set of bangles resting on the ankle (hence the term 'churidar' is compounded from two words: 'churi': bangle and 'dar': like).
When the wearer is sitting, the extra material is the "ease" that makes it possible to bend the legs and sit comfortably.

 Absolutely love this churidar suit, the colors, gorgeous embroidery, a fancy headband and yes... these sweet red shoes!

The name for Anarkali shalwar kameez, being very much in fashion nowadays, came from the Mughal period. Anarkali (pomegranate blossom) was a court dancer in Emperor Akbar era when Akbar’s Son Saleem fell in love with Anarkali and this became a reason for a big revolt.
The dances (mujra or mujara) performed at palace of Mughal kings were extremely famous entertainment that times. Initially, the dresses in which mujra dances were performed were called as mujra dresses. Later they got famous by the name of Anarkali dresses or Anarkali shalwar kameez in the remembrance of the great dancer and a passionate lover Anarkali.

Below, you can see the Anarkali Churidar Suit worn by a legendary Indian film actress Madhubala in a famous, classical feature film Mughal–e-azam (1960) where she played the role of Anarkali. Enjoy a beautiful song too...

The top of the Anarkali churidar suit is highly embellished with traditional hand embroidery of Zari, Dabka, Gotta-patti, stones and sequins. 

The Top is till slightly below the knee and has got a skirt like flair called as Ghera starting from the waist till below the knee. The top has a belt shape made of similar hand embroidery starting from the top of the waist just below the bust area. 

The fabric used for Anarkali suits varies as it could be Georgette, Chiffon, Crepe, Silk, Chanderi, Banarsi and Brocade. Although Brocade, Silk and Chanderi are the most preferred fabric for Anarkali churidar suit due to the shine in the cloth.

The Anarkali top is perfect with Churidars which are tightly gripped to the body like stockings and  very narrow around the ankle area.

While a normal Shalwar Kameez can be made 3 piece in 6 mtrs., Anarkali churidar suit can easily take 8mtrs. or above depending on the ghera or flair of the Top.

Anarkali is a magnificent blend of style and comfort, providing a super feminine, refined look.

Patiala Shalwar has tiny fan pleats falling from the waist till the ankle.  This gives the shalwar a draping effect and imparts a very attractive look to the wearer. The fluid like lines of the Patiala suit makes it suitable for wear by women of all ages, sizes and shapes. The shalwar is worn with a short and well fitted kameez or kurta. 
 

There is some special historical background for the style's name. Patiala is a city in the North Indian state of Punjab. In ancient times, the Maharaja of Patiala found it to be one of the most comfortable dresses. His dress was a pleated and baggy type shalwar with long loose kameez with full sleeves. 

The Patiala suits made during those times were even more voluminous than the ones available today and required a lot of fabric to be made. They were extremely heavy with innumerable folds around the waist. The patialas were worn with full sleeved kameez and since it was men who wore them, the dupatta was not worn.
It was therefore known as the dress of the rich and privileged. With time however, the design changed to suit common needs. The outfit began to be worn by women as well until men stopped wearing patialas and it became an outfit solely for women.

A traditional Punjabi Patiala suit usually has phulkari work in satin or silk. The delicate and intricate phulkari embroidery is usually on the dupatta rather than the kameez or the shalwar. Any fabric can be used to make a Patiala shalwar suit. While cotton, linen or polyester work well for daily use, silk, satin or other fabrics can be used to make fancy Patiala shalwar suits.

As shalwar kameez has variety of designs semi patiala shalwar is one the beautiful designs which looks extremely graceful on any woman who wears it.

And some gorgeous designer shalwar qameez..!




I am a HUGE fan of Pakistani and Indian fashion, and always get excited and highly inspired when watching unique creations a designers' unlimited fantasy offers us!

I know this is quite difficult as all these look so alluring, but did you detect your favorite style from here and what model do you like the most? 

I hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoyed making it! Part II coming soon! ;)

Text and images prepared on the basis of wikipedia and other multiple google searches.
There are many on-line shops offering shalwar kameez like for example this one at utsavsarees