SAFFRON!!

Quite some time has elapsed since we last played True Colour Thursday. Mummy wasn't up to hunting around for colours with her camera and we humoured her.
But we couldn’t let this week pass by because the colour this week is special for us. You will understand in a minute why.
The colour for this week is SAFFRON!

Saffron is one of our NATIONAL colours.
And how nice that this colour was chosen for NOW, because on the 15th of this month we shall celebrate our INDEPENDENCE DAY.

The colour SAFFRON on our National Flag along with Green and White had been chosen after much deliberation to depict and embody the essence of our large and beautiful country-INDIA.

Saffron signifies Patrotism, Sacrifice and Piety. Green is meant to symbolize Prosperity while White Peace, Purity and Simplicity.

The colour Saffron also has a religious connotation to it as it has been embraced by Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism to portray their diverse aspects.

(A Saffron gateway to a temple)

(We found this old man selling Saffron coloured Flowers used for religious rites, in one of our road trips)

Saffron actually is a very illustrious SPICE considered indispensable by an array of cultures since ancient days.
The culinary delight it provides is not only due to its bright, vibrant colour but also due to the accompanying exotic aroma.
Indian Sweets would lose their allure without Saffron colouring and flavour.

(Mummy's favourite: 'Besan ladoo' or Gram flour sweets)

 

(Daddy-made 'Paneer Khatta Meetha': Cottage cheese preparation with saffron colouring)

Arabic Coffee is considered deficient without saffron and cardamom in it.

It is an indispensible ingredient in the famous Risotto in Italy and Switzerland.

(Mummy has the recipe downloaded and promised to make some soon. Paws crossed!)

Saffron is derived from the stigma of the Crocus sativus flower. The plant blooms only for about three to four weeks and the stigma is harvested by hand to derive Saffron.

It is the bright red colour of the stigma which has made it so popular as a source of organic dye apart from its use as a spice.

We enjoyed sniffing around for Saffron. (But not many items were to be found which made us turn to GOOGLE, the surest store of ready images, for some of our illustrations as you might have guessed earlier in our post)
Here are some items we found at home.

(National Colours in Mummy's bookshelf)

(Old and faded but Saffron nontheless!)

(Mummy loves this cup-bowl)

(New cups in the cupboard!)

In case any of you wants to play this colour game just drop in HERE.

We are glad to have made acquaintance of  DOYLE and MOLLIE, our new furry friends who are keeping this meme going in BLUE’s absence. They are adorable and you must go meet them!

Hope our colours will help brighten up your weekend, Friends.
Wags,
,