Sattva : Issue 16
Chopping therapy, current favourite condiment, clean bathrooms and a conscious Diwali gifting guide
Sattva (सत्त्व) is a beautiful Sanskrit word that has many meanings—spirit, true essence, good sense, wisdom, quality of purity, energy, consciousness and mind, among other things.
Through this fortnightly newsletter, I want to bring to you all things good, which will make your life better. My focus will be on topics such as mindfulness, productivity, slow living and sustainability, accompanied by genuinely useful recommendations of products, books, music, links to read, and of course food and recipes. Through these, I hope to instil some Sattva in your life.
Chopping therapy
I won’t call myself a very patient person. I often speed chop the ingredients after I have kept the pan on the stove. Off late, I’ve been making a lot of chopped salads where I take my time to finely chop a whole bunch of vegetables and greens in the morning. During lunchtime, I toss all of it in extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and salt and enjoy a colourful bowl of salad for lunch.
The fine chopping process is a slow and precise one, needing focus and mindfulness. You want all the vegetables to have a uniform tiny dice. Using vegetables of different colours further adds to the beauty of the experience.
If you are someone who has a dozen thoughts running in your mind simultaneously, the process of chopping is like a mind cleanser, emptying the mind of the thoughts one by one. No more analysing the happenings of the day or what you should and should not have said.
The rhythm, synchrony, the art of being present during this chopping process are meditative and therapeutic. A simple and repetitive task like this is grounding and calming, not different from knitting or crochet when it comes to its healing effects. The single-pointed focus of getting this task done magically makes you forget all your worries, putting you in ‘the flow’ - happy, satisfied, focussed and worry-free.
It is one of my favourite activities in the pursuit of mindfulness these days. Have you experienced this too?
Recipe for my current favourite chopped salad
Take a mix of vegetables of different colours - carrots, European cucumbers (small-sized, can be used with skin), onion, mixed bell peppers, purple cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, cooked beet, zucchini, raw mango, garlic, spring onion greens, olives, pickled veggies (see recipe below) - almost anything that you can find in your fridge.
Wash and finely chop all of it, adding them to a big bowl.
Just before eating, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Squeeze lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Toss everything together and serve immediately.
Make it heartier by adding one or more of these ingredients - cooked quinoa, cooked chickpeas, cooked beans, sautéed tempeh or tofu (finely diced), cooked brown rice, cooked pasta (use small shapes like orzo)
The beauty of a chopped salad lies in its spectacular colours and how you can relish a dozen flavours in a single bite. Try this out and let me know how you like it.
One condiment that will jazz up everything you eat
Purple cabbage is in season and the pickled purple cabbage is one condiment to try. I guarantee you will be hooked.
You need:
2-3 cups finely shredded purple cabbage
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
8-10 black peppercorns, crushed
4-5 bay leaves
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
Take 2 x 500 ml bottles and pack the shredded cabbage tightly into the bottles.
In a saucepan, combine all remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a simmer. Covering makes sure your whole kitchen does not smell of vinegar. Pour this over the packed cabbage in the bottles. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 1-2 days before using.
My pickled purple cabbage is on its third week and it stays well on the countertop. It is excellent in all salads, or as a condiment along with any meal. It adds a pop of colour and mouthwatering tangy flavour to anything, even a cup of plain dal.
Tips for squeaky clean bathrooms
Diwali or not, these cleaning tips are always useful to make sure your bathrooms are super clean and smelling good.
The shower cubicle glass when covered with white scales is often an eyesore. There is an easy way to deal with this. Rub the glass with a cut lemon. You can use up the less than fresh, cut lemons languishing in the fridge, for this purpose. Make a thick paste of baking soda and vinegar. Apply all over the glass using a sponge and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. Wash off with water and use a squeegee (water wiper). Very tough residues will be much reduced with this process and mild residues will be as good as gone.
My neighbour recommends this product for wiping down taps and other fittings to make them shine as good as new. You can also use diluted bio enzyme for this purpose and it works well to shine the taps and cut out the scaling.
This is a good time to declutter all old toiletries and makeup items from your bathroom cabinets and organise the good ones in neat compartments.
To descale the shower head, remove it from the top and immerse it in vinegar. You can either put this in a plastic bag with vinegar or an old bin with a lid. Let it soak overnight and wash it the following morning, scrubbing using an old toothbrush.
Using either incense sticks or diffusers or dhoop in the corner of your bathroom or on the window sill makes it smell naturally fresh without the cloying smell of artificial bathroom fresheners. I also love the camphor cones that you can hang from rods or rings in the bathroom.
The Conscious Diwali Gifting Guide
This festive season, do consider buying products that are gentler on the planet while supporting small local businesses. Most of these products have been used by me personally or come highly recommended by people I trust.
Wild Ideas / an all-women rural enterprise from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu- I love their body wash powder, vetiver soap and sun-dried vadams
Krya sustainable goodies - for their all-natural hair care products
Praacheen Vidhaan - all-natural cleaning supplies, plant care based out of Bengaluru. Check out their scrubbers and home care products.
(Im)Perfectly Zero Waste: A No-Nonsense Guide to Living Sustainably in India / A new book with a focus on zero-waste and living sustainably, co-authored by a friend Srini Swaminathan, who has been waking the talk, well before the terms zero waste and sustainability became mainstream.
Phool - the best incense sticks and dhoop cones I have ever used. Their products are made from 100% essential oils and temple flowers. My favourites are the Vetiver incense sticks and Tulsi dhoop.
Satvyk Siddhagiri - love their gulkand and dhoop cones; quality groceries
Krumb Kraft - an artisanal bake shop in Bengaluru, they have a selection of delicious Diwali hampers
Macrame pieces are a great blend of beauty and function. Find these on Okhai.
The Happy Turtle - mandala lanterns, plastic-free cleaning kits, plastic-free cutlery kit, cloth buntings
Brick Brown for beautiful wooden chopping boards
Bombay Greens - DIY microgreens kits
Brown Living- Eco-Friendly Personal Care & Stationery Diwali Gift Box, DIY Microgreens kit , Coconut Shell Candles
Zishta - authentic traditional products handcrafted by rural artisans
Also, check out the responses to the tweet below for eco-friendly and sustainable products and brands.
If you know of an eco friendly / sustainable product/brand for use in everyday life, please share your recommendations below.This is by no means to nudge you towards buying more stuff, but just recommendations in case you do plan on buying stuff for yourself or for gifting.
✨ I wish you and your family a very happy Diwali! ✨
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Books: Everyday Superfoods | The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian
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None of the product mentions are sponsored unless explicitly mentioned.
See you in two weeks!
Credit: Bathroom image Phil Hearing on Unsplash
Just Beautiful...!
If you are exicted to make your diwali more special then,
Traditional Kurta For Men are the great choice:
https://www.tistabene.com/collections/kurta