Pure Ghee Designs

One fine day, I stumbled upon Aditi Prakash's blog/design studio, and spent a good part of the morning going through this super talented designer's vast repertoire of projects. From creating bags in beautiful fabrics, to designing painted furniture to helping design interior details - she has her hands full! The project that impressed me the most was the work that Aditi did for Samode Lodge. She worked with arts and crafts from different parts of India, and translated them beautifully into contemporary interior objects. Have a dekko at her work, and read through her inspiration, in her own words..

Key chains from fabric remnants, Birds using Gond art and patchwork pouches 

Pure Ghee Designs is a research, design and production studio working mainly with traditional crafts. It is named so after a crafts person who brought back a gift of home made ghee (clarified butter) from his village for Aditi. It was the only thing he could think of that was pure, home made and precious. It stands for all things Indian and it appeals equally to urban and rural sensibilities.

Burnt wood birdies and tribal candle stands in metal

 Different art forms on the walls of Samode Lodge. From Gond paintings to mud relief

Leather puppets from Andhra on the walls

Aditi has lived and worked in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Delhi - cities that have a rich history and synergetic culture. She loves things hand made and is constantly exploring ways to make space for crafts in our modern lives. She believes in creating products with a soul, products that are powerful antidotes to the big hollow brands of commerce.

Sketches for a fabric wall art in kalamkari

As a child she loved making things and working with her hands. She studied fine arts - sculpture and then specialized in furniture design at NID. She then worked for various NGOs and private organization in the crafts sector giving her the opportunity to explore the length and breadth of the country. She has also curated Indian crafts exhibitions for events in London, Frankfurt and Sri Lanka and was shortlisted for the Young Creative Entrepreneur award last year.

Beautiful and unique metal figurines

Textiles galore!

Gond paintings on the walls

Wood carving from Kalahasti

One of the primary product in Pure Ghee Designs range is the limited edition bag made from traditional textiles. During her travels Aditi was fascinated with the sheer variety and beauty of traditional Indian Textiles. The bags are a celebration of the Indian design aesthetic whether it is fabric from fourth and fifth generation crafts people in Bhuj or kitschy lungis from streets of Hyderabad and Cochin. Every bag has a story to tell. Pure Ghee bags focuses as much about finishing, detailing and quality as they do about aesthetics.

How gorgeous are these bags! I am in love with the indigo one!

Phew! Didn't I say she is one talented designer!?

See more of her work here

And you can reach her at this email

[All images Aditi Prakash]

She says Hello!

Para pa..

Come on join the joy ride

Join the joy ride!

[Roxette: Joy ride]

I am writing this post listening to the ipod playlist version of my 90's mix tape. Sorry for not dropping in last week...I was busy with a photo shoot at our home. And while the professional photographer set the stage with some very fancy equipment and angles and lighting, I pranced about taking shots of my own from my shiny little camera. I'll share more details about the shoot once the publication is out. In the meantime, kindly to make do with what my camera and I shot:  

And, what else is lined up for this week? A delicious post about a super talented young designer and an exciting contest! So do come back soon! And have a great week...now that the week has started, the weekend is just around the corner!

  

 

[All pics taken by me at home]

If it's a summer day

♪ With not a cloud in sight ♪

Then tell me why

It feels like it might

 Rain on me

Rain on me

Boo ba buh buh buh

Shoo sha shoo sha why

 Rain on me 

 ♪♫ Rain on me ♪♫

Today, I am fancying

 Kantha coverlets, diaphanous fabrics, books on a chair, bougainvillea sprigs, teapots, stone floors, a stone bench under the shade of a tree

And this song..

[Images from: There; Here and Over There]

Serenity..

..in the hustle bustle of a busy city

Apartment 3.

I chanced upon Apartment 3 today while looking for service apartment recommendations for a friend visiting Delhi. And as I looked through their gallery, I was completely floored by the stylistic flair and warmth with which this apartment has been put together. White couches and walls offset by rich rugs and dhurries, greenery inside out, summery bamboo chiks, beautiful furniture pieces, crisp linen, creative definition of space...I could go on and on about all that I like in the apartment..

Apartment 3 is in Hauz Khas, an arty bohemian urban village in the heart of New Delhi. And as the apartment's site tells us, Apartment 3 was created by an artist who has been painting at Studio Maya at the Village for a number of years. It took months and years for the artist to collect things for the apartment, things that had soul and things that gave comfort. The artist, Usha Hooda, whose art work lines the walls, has indeed created an oasis of comfort and style with an old world charm in the city.

Studio Maya

Bougainvillea in full bloom in the adjacent deer park..

You can write to Apartment 3 at this email ID, and connect with them via their facebook group

[All images: Apartment 3]

Happy Birthday!

Mr. Blog turns four today!

Four serendipitous years, where

I found you, and you found me

And we have been together since :)

Over the course of the next one month

I have some very exciting announcements to make

And I am pretty sure that

They will be as exciting for you, as they are for me

But, all that is next month..

Today,

A dear new friend 

Celebrates An Indian Summer's birthday

By sharing a sumptuous breakfast laid out

On the sunny terrace of Dar Kawa

In the far away land of Morocco

Do come and join our breakfast shindig!

Over to Valerie Barkowski!

 

"Breakfast time is that time in the morning that wakes you up from yesterday's slumber, to a beautiful, fresh life in the morning. I especially like the breakfasts in Morocco because all the ingredients are fresh. Nothing is better than a fresh squeezed orange juice, especially when you know that these oranges grow on trees just a few kilometers away. Homemade jams, breads, pancakes and all of them with a lot of variations. And the jams change with the changing seasons...

This breakfast today, is set in the orange and strawberry season, and later in the year, we will have cherries, apricots and figs. We cook without preservatives, which means that once the production is over you need to wait until the next year for the next delicious round. I like that; the idea of waiting...savouring what nature offers you and enjoying every part of it in that season. Not just fruits, but the bread and pancake varieties in Morocco are also so many that each day you can eat something different. During the winter and Ramadan, there are many street food breakfast dishes that you learn to appreciate when staying in the country for a while. My favorites  are bessara and amlou, two special blends, which traditionally are eaten with black bread and a sweet mint tea.

And some recipes now, straight from my breakfast table:

Marmalade
1kg of oranges
1/2kg sugar
Cinnamon pieces

Squeeze the oranges and cut the zest
Add the sugar, and

A small piece of cinnamon (just
for taste) with oranges and zest
Cook the mixture over high heat for + -1 hours
Cool and put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

Strawberry jam
1kg of strawberries
1/2kg sugar
Cinnamon pieces

Cut the strawberries into small pieces
Mix strawberries with sugar, And

Add a small piece of cinnamon (just for the taste)
Cook over high heat for + -1 hour and remove foam regularly.

 

'Raif' Moroccan crepe square
Serves Four:
1 / 2 kg flour
10g salt

Put the flour into a bowl, add salt and
water gradually until a ball of dough.
On an oiled surface make small individual balls of dough
Roll out each ball on an oiled surface

to obtain a very thin circle of dough.
Fold the sides to form a square.
Bake in a preheated skillet with a little butter.
Serve with jam.

 

'Baghrir' Moroccan crêpe 

(also known as sponge crêpe)
For Four:

150g semolina
50g flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 packet of vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt

Dissolve yeast in water, mix with flour, salt and semolina.
Add water gradually until
obtaining a slurry but velvety texture.
Cover and let ferment at room temperature for 2h-1h30
In order to double the initial volume.
In a preheated skillet with a little
butter cook the pancakes on one side. 

When small holes are formed on the surface the crepe is cooked.
Mix melted butter with honey on a plate put them in the pancakes, turning so that the honey spread everywhere.

 Amlou
1/2 kg almonds
Peanut oil
1/2 kg liquid honey
1/2 litre argan oil
2 pinches of cinnamon

Fry the almonds in peanut oil before
chop finely in a blender and mix with honey and cinnamon.
Pour argan oil gradually until a homogeneous mixture.

Amlou is eaten with black bread. It is a rich food
which is consumed more in winter.

Bessara bean
300g of dried beans
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
8 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Place the beans to cook in a large pot of
salted water for about 35 minutes.
After cooking, drain the beans then pass through blender with the garlic.
Put everything in a saucepan with the cumin, pepper, olive oil 

And simmer for 15 minutes.
Season to taste

 Merci beaucoup Valérie!

And Thank you,

My fabulouso readers

Here's to another great year of inspiration

And exciting new ventures!