Primer of Different Branches of Vedic Astrology

Astrology is an ocean and there are so many different dimensions of viewing a chart. What caught my attention is that different branches of it focus more on a selective area going deep only in that particular zone to help predict pointed results. Let's take a birds eye view of these sub branches of Astrology.

- 'Jaimini' is study of 'sign' based astrology
This form of astrology largely depends on the degrees in a sign. The basis of classification of the rasis as Movable (Cardinal), Fixed (Static) and Dual (Mutable) form a major role in delving in further. Even the aspects work on this placement with the movable signs aspecting all the fixed signs except the one placed next to it and the fixed signs aspecting all the movable signs except the one next to it. The dual signs however aspect each other in the same dual category.

- 'Nadi' is study of 'planet' based astrology
Nadi Astrology is a huge branch by itself within the realm of astrology but one defining feature of it happens to be that it largely works on the significations of planets and how they influence one another. Each planet has certain characteristics associated with it and based on the planets it touches results tends to get formed. In most versions of Nadi Astrology, the Ascendant or Lagna doesn't even have a say. It works purely on planetary relationship.

- 'Lal Kitab' is study of 'house' based astrology
Lal Kitab extensively touches on the Houses and the scope is seen extensively from the Natural or what you call the Kala Purusha Horoscope which adopts Aries as the Ascendant. The Ascendant is done away with and the houses are mapped always with Aries as the Lagna. The results are all based on planets in different houses and the yearly chart movement of planets into different houses forms a major say in delivering results. The aspects also works on a house to house basis.

- 'KP' is study of 'star' based astrology
Krishnamurthy Paddathi or KP system as it's called placed much importance on the stellar constellation in which the planets are situated. It is a hybrid version of western and Indian modes of astrology as it adopts the Placidus system for casting charts. The signifying feature of KP is that as per this methodology adopted, the owner of the star in which the planet sits is said to have the major say and direct the results accordingly.

- 'Vedic Astrology' is a study of combination of planets, signs, houses, stars and lot more.
Vedic Astrology however is an amalgamation of all the above methods and considered to be the most supreme of all systems. Thus no individual method can ever supersede the ocean that is traditional vedic astrology though they help in supplementing by providing useful information but on a holistic point of view none surpasses Vedic Astrology.

Note: There are also other techniques such as Prasna, Palmistry, Muhurthas etc which can be said to be an off shoot and helpful for astrological pursuits.

Savya Rasa - Curated cuisine captured from the southern regional belt!

In a nutshell, Savya Rasa proved to be a wonderful experience. The ambiance with touches of yellow indicating an old world flavour was surely on point. The cuisine is largely South Indian and more of heirloom with authentic curated food from the down south belt of India comprising of 7 different regions. Lots of research had been performed and it was pretty evident during our recent visit.

This is sure to be a connoisseurs delight especially for those who've lived and tasted the sensory pleasures of the special food that the regions such as Nellai, Chettinadu are known to whip up. I began the evening with a vetrilai soup. It was a classic rasam soup with the betel leaves and spices combining to give the tongue an exquisite flavour. It surely sounded the bells in the right direction for more brilliance to be hurled at.

Then up in the starters, Urulai Podi Varuval was delightfully done up. The whiff of fresh podi coated over these burly sized potatoes had such a smoky lingering taste. The traditional green leaf gave it that extra punch. The other appetiser namely the pallipalayam kalaan was as superlative as it got. The mild hint of coconut over drool worthy mushrooms spiced up with ground masala and turmeric was indeed quite something. The panniyaram stuffed with chutney inside was also really good and so were the flavour filled vazhapoo vada.

For the main course, we tried the vetrilai poondu saadham. Being a quintessential lover of garlic, I lapped this one up instantly. In the mould of a biryani, the flavour was vehemently strong and possessed a rich taste. To go along tried the Avicha Muttai kuzhambu. This was quite nice too but would have ideally liked it to be a bit more spicier. More in the kurma texture, this contained three big fat pieces of boiled egg. Also happened to try the tamatar pappu which was a lovely Dal creation. Lastly I also wanted to try their egg hopper which wad so fluffy and an absolute tongue twirler. One word I need to mention about their gravies which were super succulent and amazingly rich in taste. You could feel the inherent presence of coconut cream tail gating on to the mouth.

And towards the end of the meal, we tried a number of refreshers ranging from Sharbath, rose milk, vasantha neer, neer moru and kokum mojito. There were all lovely in their own way carrying the necessary essence of flavours. And for desserts, we had a lovely slurp at the elaneer payasam along with the kavuni arisi halwa. It was a super sweet way to end a wholeseome delicious meal. The service was onstead and it's always a good thing when the servers know the menu in and out as their suggestions came in really handy. The rates as expected are a little pricey but since it is guaranteed to give a good fine dining experience, it ain't something really slouching over.

On the whole, a tremendous restaurant serving authentic flavour filled cuisine from down south of India.

Thaligai - Traditional Brahmin Heirloom Cuisine

Thaligai thrives on heirloom cuisine, the kind of food that has passed on from traditions down the ages. There is a lot of nostalgia involved with the kind of recipes and spread which is sure to inkle a memory especially for the age old brahmin households. The food here is predominantly from down south and more so of the kind which is dished up in yesteryear Iyengar homes.

The food is sans garlic and onion and looks to go the healthy route. Thaligai as such refers to a wholesome meal fit for a feast. They have a stack of tiffin based items which you usually wouldn't eat much except on those rare festival days. Their motto is to preserve the vintage cuisine made famous by grandmothers of bygone generation in a renewed slightly tweaked format to cater to the younger crowd.

I'm not sure how exactly it'll be lapped up but the effort to bring in authentic brahmin cuisine deserves the plaudits. My feeling is that they will be more popular during seasons such as the music festival in Dec and also for the US based return folks who would be longing to consume this kind of food.

We were here on an invite to savour some of their specialities. Apart from the dining space at the ground, they have a private dining area which is well done up and seems peaceful. We had a plethora of items ranging mostly from short eat snacks to evergreen favourites and a few rice items and ended up with sweet and degree coffee.

I wouldn't go into specifics of each of the items but some of the stuff i really liked was the Morkazhi, diamond dosa, neer Kozhukattai, bhajji and bonda. The Morkazhi had a delectable taste to it as it was smudged with a flavour which was really hitting the senses. Their Mor Kulambu was also absolutely lovely. The sandwich idli was pretty different with a dash of tomato chutney spread in between the layers for it to resemble a sandwich. This was a very interesting innovation. The Neer Kozhukattai was in fact a soup, i couldn't figure this out at all. It had a lilting aroma with pieces of kozhukatta floating inside and gave a slight avial kind of taste. A real different soup which was like never before. The bonda's had a nice aloo masala tinge and the mysore one was soft and fluffy. The ladies finger bhajji was also crispy and great to munch. The diamond dosa had a slightly spicy masala inset which I quite liked. And for enders we had a jaw dropping delicious Ashok Halwa which was simply melt in the mouth and final flourish was a resoundingly strong filter coffee.

On the whole, it was a lovely experience. The food was great and homely. It was a bit mild and more catering to the healthy side which may not please everyone but once in a way it's a nice option to try out. The prices are pretty reasonable. Thaligai will have it's legion of fans. I appreciate the fact that they are taking the efforts to preserve tradition by bringing in the lost wonders of Brahmin cuisine. They are also intent on adding twists along the way for that 'x factor' and keeping their target audience lured. I wish them all the best in this endeavour and hope they find a firm footing in this ever growing food circle of Chennai.

Thirukkural Unavagam - Simply Traditional!

There are very few restaurant's which have been resoundingly good from start to end and Thirukural Unavagam rightfully falls in that positive bracket. All the items dished out here are of the traditional kind made from millets and herbal products.

The place is located in a quiet suburb in Gandhi Nagar and shouldn't be much of a hassle finding it with maps coming to aid. No valet facility but as it's situated in a silent lane away from the hoot of the streets, sufficient space is available for parking your vehicles.

It is a converted restaurant from a quaint old house and consists of a portion downstairs as well as upstairs. There is a very local and rustic feel about the surrounding and you find scriptures of the ancient Thirukural scrips and the bommais (soft toys) bring out the cultural feel of the rural land. It is very simple in it's outlook with no gimmicks whatsoever.

They usually allow for upside seating only once the ground portion is filled and that was the case when we reached here at around mid 8ish prompting us to be sent to the top. We were the only one's there and the cane chair seating gave a very cozy and languid feel. We were apprehensive on the service whether we would at all be checked upon being the only exclusive guests on top but that was put to rest immediately with a dedicated waiter being assigned to us who was very adroit and not only helped us with our order but also brought along the food in doubly quick time.

The menu is just a 2 sider laminated copy with one side having the dine options and the other comprising of the drinks. Interesting point to note is that all the food items are written in local tamil language. We first had a shot at the soup titled "Thoothuvazhai" which set the tone beautifully for things to follow. It was a light spicy soup consisting inset shredded pieces of potatoes, carrots, beans and spices. The dosa section had interesting choices and we enjoyed a sumptuous feast here. The Vendhiya keerai dosa was simply ravishing with the essence of the vendhiya keerai lingering for long. A word of praise should also be reserved for the coconut/onion chutney and the sambar which were such joyful accompaniments. The millet and herbal dosa too went along expected lines as the former turning out to be ravishing in taste. We also had a hand made millet kozhakattai which had a nice sweet tinge to it. The beetroot chappathi looked all pink with the strong odour of beetroot and went along in sync with the delightful veg kurma. Another show stealer of our dinner sojourn was the veg omelette made with paasi payaru with a strong peppery hint and cut pieces of onions. This was infectious in taste prompting us to go for a repeat. The pachai payaru payasam was close to the equilavent of chakra pongal and felt sweet and the goodness in taste was apparent.

For closure, we went with white pumpkin juice, amla buttermilk and herbal (mooligai theneer) tea. The first two were more of the 'mor' kinds and felt very refreshing. You could also feel the presence of pumpkin and amla along with the elongated butter milk froth. After a heavy meal these come in really handy and can give infuse the perfect signal to finish proceedings. But the best was reserved for the last. The herbal tea at an insanely low cost price of 20 bucks was one of the best tonics I've ever had. It had such a divine taste and was to devour. It was like the final sockdolager punch and was simply killer. I will revisit this place just to have a slice of the tea yet again.

We were very satisfied customers and all the stuff we had pushed us back by just a wee bit above 500 bucks. The taste on offer and value for money will guarantee give you something to relish about. This is a gem of a restaurant and trust me you can take my word and go feel the simple, homely and divine taste of Thirukural. I'm more than confident you won't come disappointed. Highly recommended for a wholesome south indian aromatic experience.

Green Cafe - For the uninitiated Organic Lover!

Green Cafe is a place for organic vegetarian food and it manages to cross over the line quite amicably. It is located in T Nagar in a little lane on the backside of Natesan Park. The place is small and there isn't much to harp on the ambiance factor. It is neat and clean and seems to be doing adequate justice within it's limited boundary. They have this concept of no plastic whatsoever and seem to stick to the rules tightly. Even the seating is made up of recycled material.

We were invited for an on the house meal to savour their signature offerings. We started our sojourn with a traditional twist in the form of a Panagam. Then came the Vazhai Thundu soup which was light, appetizing and seemed like a good digester. Next came the Ragi Kozhukattai resembling a sweetened chocolate ball which tasted yum and the paniyarams which went really well with the onion chutney.

And completely off the hook arrived the Chilly Garlic potato and Chilli Idly both which seemed out of place. Not that it tasted badly but turned out to be an aberration in this green place. In the main course section we had chappathi with kurma of which the kurma was a bit of a let down. We also had keera dosai and pongal both which were wonderful and it went jocularly well with their lip smacking sambar. For desserts and in between the meals we also got served some sweetened delicacies all of which tasted great.

Overall the food was pleasing. The service was very quick and we kept being showered with items continously one after the other. The pricing on a glance seems reasonable. What surprised me was the number of options in store. I didn't imagine there will be so many choices in the organic genre with the boosted fact of the food also tasting pretty good. For the tried and tested tongue this might not appease much, but for a change this surely ain't a bad choice. Green cafe at least based on my dining experience surely passed the test with flying colors.