When life gives you lemons and you have a barni (PORCELAIN JAR), PICKLE IT!!!!

There is this nostalgia with the typical pickle barni (porcelain jars).  I remember come May and my mom used to pickle the spicy tangy mangoes, cut mangoes (avakai – in Tamil).

Years went by and with time, maintaining those barnis became a big hassle, when we shifted residence and just few years back, when we were clearing our storage for Diwali, I saw the same barni and it brought a smile on my face.  I asked Amma to wash it (which she was in no mood to- lolz) and I did it for a change.  I with that childlike innocence told my mom to store tamarind in it since I remembered my amma telling me that these barnis are specifically use to store salt, pickles and tamarind.  I just wanted to see those barnis get their due respect on our kitchen shelf and not somewhere in the storage shack.

I thought why on earth she had stopped using them.  She had a fairly big barni with a nice handle and it was quite heavy.  With the entry of plastics and Tupperware and so many other types of materials which have actually invaded our kitchens, somewhere the humble barni was stored away far from its due place like A no man’s land.

Even today the site of these lovely jars brings such joy to me and with the advent of Amazon shopping (Maddy aka Mahadevan) teases Amazon as AMMA ZONE) where you name it you get it.  So, I was on this hunt for these wonderful cut barnis and guess what -   I found them. 

Online shopping is definitely thrilling – no doubt on it.  But the thrill of holding and feeling a particular item in your hand and associating with it and having the happiness of buying it from a Brick and Mortar store is something which is incomparable.  So guess what, I went to Dadar, kirti market where I was literally ravaging through shops to find these barnis.

I am sure the people around would be amused to find someone look out for these age old models of jars but I was disappointed that I couldn’t find the round barnis and all he had were the slim tall barnis.  My search still continues.

Amma Zone aka Amazon does have these and if I am not able to find something to my palate then I have no other options but to seek refuge from these online sites but the pursuit ends with me ordering these online and I have been lucky to get these and place them on my dining table.  Every time I have my food, I have these wonderful spicy pieces of art gleefully looking at me and smiling to glory. 

Happy pickling!!!!  Enjoy a great BARNI day!!!

Love to all

 Rekha Mahadevan