Eid-E-Pehnava

Hello lovelies, how are you all? All set for the most awaited festival of the year? Well, not just Muslims but I guess all others like me wait for Eid the whole year eagerly, because hey its all about sweets and greets! Also, about sharing clarity of thoughts, warmth and love!

Last year, if you remember, I posted a quick recipe giving a twist to the regular dates eaten during iftaar everyday during Ramadan for Eid (if you haven't seen that yet, check it out HERE); so this year I thought of doing an outfit post since so many of you'd been requesting me to do an Indian wear since long!

To be honest, I'm a not a fan of Indian attires that much because I feel a simple tee and jeans are more comfortable and if you know me well, you know I always put comfort over fashion! But, when it comes to special occasions like any Indian festival, I make sure to make my parents happy as they see me dressed up in an Indian apparel from head to toe. Likewise, as we talk of Eid today, I got a set of Indian jewelry for myself recently from THE TRINKET SHOP and went ahead to match my attire with that (quite rare because it goes the other way round for usual, right?), but I just fell in love with the pieces and thought of wearing it on the special day; so checkout all pictures and outfit details below..

kurta, salwar : Sewa Chikan (Lucknow) | dupatta : Local Market | heels : Steve Madden

All Jewelry : The Trinket Shop

As you know Lucknow being a traditional Indian city, is known for its Awadhi culture that has a great number of Muslims settled since forever. Eid in Lucknow is really different and majestic, celebrated with so much of enthusiasm that where else would you see the same vivacity I'm not sure! Being a Lucknowite, I've grown up seeing the warmest atmosphere with Eid celebrations happening all over the town and I love to celebrate the zeal along! 

Every year my friends and I get dressed in our new Indian clothes and hop onto greet others at their place. This year I decided to go all white since I believe its the color of true elegance, purity and simplicity. I got myself a chikan embroidered kurta and salwar from the expert chikankaari shop in the town named Sewa Chikan. Lucknow also has the distinction of being today, the cusp of a very beautiful, very aesthetic form of white floral embroidery. The art of Chikankaari has been practiced in Lucknow for almost more than two hundred years, and I've been wearing it since always and have truly loved it so! I really like the embroidery work as done all over my kurta and its sleeves and also on the edges of my salwar, quite beautifully intricate it appears! PS : Choosing white for the top and bottom doesn't mean I don't like colors, and to break the monotony, I simply added a multi colored dupatta that couldn't have made the attire look more chic anyways!

I am not overly obsessed with jewelry but I like adding it to my attire often. So, this time I went ahead and wore it all in my neck, ears, and hands! All that you see in the pictures above, is handcrafted jewelry by a Chennai girl Bhagya Suresh, who happens to be a friend and runs an online shopping portal by the name The Trinket Shop. She exclusively designed this entire set of silver metallic jewelry for me for Eid and sent it across at the earliest so that I do not have to search for stuff all over the place! Silver metal, crafted along the colorful threads makes it look so graceful and magnificent. The necklace, earrings, bangles and rings, I am already in awe of TTS that showered so much of love upon me! ---- Must must check out this store for some really cool and affordable jewelry and accessories!

Shot at : Saadat Ali ka Maqbara (a historic monument in Lucknow)

I hope you liked reading this post. If you did do tell me in the comments below. Also, don't forget to celebrate Eid in the most awesome way you could. Eat lots of sewaiyyan and biryani and do lots of duas, for they shall be granted if your soul be true. Have a great time guys! Eid Mubarak!

Photographed by : Exposure Imageries

~xoxo~

Chocolatey Date Bites

Since Eid is round the corners, I thought of preparing something really yummy but not what every woman makes at her place on the special day! Of course you can't match the 'sivayyain' (though I'm not very fond of it). But, if you have Muslim friends, you surely know that dates are an important part of the everyday 'iftar' in every family after they break the full-day fast! Don't you think, just a plain date is quite monotonous? So, here's a chocolately twist to it! If you follow me on instagram, you would surely know how much I love chocolates. Well, Eid is just two days away (I know I should have put up this post earlier), and 'rozas' (fasting) are almost over, but you can still prepare these sweet little bites on the big day and serve it to your family and friends. Scroll down to see, how...

THINGS YOU NEED

1. Dates (khajoor)

2. Almonds (soak in water for 2 hours and peel off the skin)

3. White sesame seeds

4. Chocolate Bar (I've used AMUL chocolate, but you can use any brand)

DIRECTIONS TO PREPARE

1. Slit cut a date from one side.

2. Open it from the side and put a full almond inside (like a filling).

3. Close the date, cover it with extra mashed dates and tighten it with your fist.

Once you've rolled back the date into its original shape, it will look like this.

5. Break the chocolate bar into pieces and put it into the double boiler to melt.

(Check the consistency with a spoon, it should be thick & smooth)

6. Roast the sesame seeds on a pan or tava.

7. Take a cling film roll & cut 5' x 5' square pieces out of it.

(Use your own discretion while cutting the pieces, if you need a bigger size, cut that much)

8. Pour chocolate on the rolled dates. Cover only half of the date.

(If you want to cover the whole date with chocolate, you can simply dip it into the bowl)

9. Dip the date, covered with chocolate on half side, into a bowl of roasted sesame seeds.

(Simply sprinkle some seeds with your hands if you want lesser crunch)

10. Once the dates are covered with chocolate and topped with sesame, wrap them into a cling film plastic each.

(cling film will help the chocolate to stay in place without letting the dates stick to each other)

11. its now time to put the dates inside the freezer to set, for about an hour or two.

Your mouth will water while you look at the wrapped dates, but control yourself!

12. Once the dates are set, unwrap them from the cling film.

Arrange the dates on a silver plate (or any plate) and sprinkle some more sesame seeds on the top!

Your yummy chocolatey date bites are ready to serve!

They smell nice & it tastes yum..Are yours looking the same? Beautiful and tempting!

Eid Mubarak! To all of you reading this post, have a nice one!

(I'm sorry the plate is not full, since I couldn't control my cravings :P)

Note :  These beautiful earrings are by Aetee Designs, an online store & I'm totally in love with them!

Photographed by : Rhea Ghosh (Exposure Imageries)

~xoxo~