Awards/Token of Appreciation

Appreciation/Awards, they mean so much to me. When I started blogging, I use to muse about all those awards in others blogs. But little did I know that they are all token of appreciation passed on by blogger friends. Then came my first award, when my blog was not even 1 month old. I still remember the day when I got my first award. I was so very happy and excited. I was almost flying in the air. And then on my blogger friends started showering me with Awards. Thanks to one and all for this appreciation and encouragement. Every time I receive a award, it makes me very happy, makes me keep going. Thanks once again to one and all.

Here I am trying to put all the awards/token of appreciation received so far. The awards are in no particular order.

 Thanks to DK of Culinary Bazaar, who presented this trophy to me for running Recipe Marathon in November 2008.

  

Thanks to Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Priya of Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes, Purva of Purva's Daawat, PG of My Kitchen Stories

  

From Hemabalaji of Adlak's Kitchen

  

Thanks to Malar Gandhi of Kitchen Tantra, Lubna of Yummy Food, PG of My Kitchen Stories

  

Thanks to Lubna of Yummy Food, PG of My Kitchen Stories

  

Thanks to Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen, Lubna of Yummy Food

  

Thanks to Divya of Divyaseasyrecipes and Viji of Vazhga Vazhathudan, Lubna of Yummy Food, Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Priya of Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes, PG of My Kitchen Stories

  

Thanks to Lubna of Yummy Food

  

Thanks to Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen, Purva of Purva's Daawat, Indranee of Indranee's Culinary Delights, PG of My Kitchen Stories

  

Thanks to Indranee of Indranee's Culinary Delights

  

Thanks to Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

  

Thanks to Indranee of Indranees' Culinary Delights

  

 Thanks to Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Priya of Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes, Indranee of Indranee's Culinary Delights, PG of My Kitchen Stories

 

 

Thanks to Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Purva of Purva's Daawat, Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes, Indranee of Indranee's Culinary Delights

RM#2 : Day 30 Kesari

Today is the last day for RM#2. So like it was planned I am also posting a sweet dish today. Kesari a very easy sweet dish. And I make it when I get guests all of a sudden and I don't have any specific ingredients to prepare any special sweets, then I prefer to prepare kesari. It consumes less time and is requires very common ingredients also.

Kesari
Rawa (Sooji) - 1 cup
Ghee - 11/2 cup
Water - 2 cup
Sugar - 11/2 cup (or less)
Cashew nuts, Raisins
Elaichi powder - 1/4 t.sp
Food colouring - 1/4 t.sp

Method
Heat 1 t.sp ghee in a non-stick kadai. Fry the cashewnuts and raisins and keep it aside. Now add the rest of the ghee. And when the ghee is hot put in the sooji. And fry in medium heat till light pink in colour. Heat the water simultaneously in another vessel. When the water starts boiling add it to the roasted sooji. Add the orange food colouring. Let it cook. When the water is all gone, add the sugar and keep stirring till the kesari leaves the edges. Add the roasted cashewnuts and raisins and elaichi powder. Serve hot.

Don't forget to check out what my other co-runners have prepared specially for the last day of RM#2.

1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

24)Karuna

25)Roochi

Rm#2 : Day 29 Potato Rosti

Rosti is supposed to be swiss dish. But very famous here in Germany also. And my children like it very much. For long I have been wanting to make this at home. Then sometimes back while browsing through DK's blog, Culinary Bazaar. I found this. To my surprise it involved very very less ingredients and so I immediately made it. It came out much better than the shop bought ones.

So here is the recipe. I did not make any changes. Just that she had made given the shape by putting it into a muffin form and I shaped it with my hands.

 

 

1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

24)Karuna

25)Roochi

RM#2 : Day 28 Banana Nut Cake

I had long been wishing to make a banana cake. But never got the opportunity to try it. Some days before I was going the Baking buddies blog of Lakshmi. I found it very simple and had all the ingredients in hand. so gave it a try and it came out fantastic.

You can find the recipe here.

I did not make much changes to the recipe. Like Lakshmi said I used one banana more and reduced 1 egg.

 

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

RM#2 : Day 27 Butterscotch Brownies

I saw this at Aparna's My Diverse kitchen. It was very simple, used very less ingredients and it used very less butter. So gave it a try immediatley. And it came out very nice.

I just followed her recipe as such. No changes.

 

 

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

RM#2 : Day 26 Mushrooms in Almond Gravy

For the Naan I made a side dish of Mushrooms in Almond Gravy. Which I saw at dear Harini's blog, Tongue Ticklers. Loved it at 1st site.

So here is the recipe. I did not make any changes at all.

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

RM#2 : Day 25 Butter Naan

I used to make Naans in India using the sytle of inverting the vessel and exposing Naan to direct heating. But after coming here since I have got a electric hot plate here, I stopped making Naans at home. Then I came across Purva Desai's blog, Purva's Daawat. There she had given instructions for making Naan using the oven. After that I also saw DK's Series of Indian breads all made in oven. So I gave it a try and it came out very very nice and soft.

So here is the recipe. I did make much changes to the recipe, just used fresh yeast instead of dry ones. And did not add kalonji since I did not have it.

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

RM#2 : Day 24 Pineapple Pulao

This week I thought of publishing all those posts which I tried from others blog. So here is the 1st one which I tried from dear Mahimaa's blog, Indian Vegetarian Kitchen. I love to use pineapples in cooking. So when I saw her recipe I made it immediately. And all of them like it very much.

So you can find the recipe here. I did not make much changes to her recipe. Just in the garnishing part I used only cashews since I did not have the rest of it.

 

 

Pineapple Pulao is going to the Rice Mela event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga
 
20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

RM#2 : Day 23 Veg. Noodles

We all love vegetable noodles. I bring the normal chinese noodles and add the vegetables and make to the flavour which suits us. Whenever we go to hotels mostly I or children order for a noodles dish. In the house I cook without much of oil.

Ingredients
Noodles - 1 packet (Around 500 gms)
Onion - 1 big (cut lengthwise)
Chopped/Grated Vegetables - 2 cups (Carrot, Potato, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Capsicum etc)
Boiled Peas - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Green Chillies - 2 to 3
White Pepper Powder - 1/2 t.sp
Ajinomotto - a pinch
Red Chilli - Garlic Paste - 1 t.sp (For those of who like it little spicy)

Method
Cook the noodles in boiling salt water and a t.sp oil. Drain the water from the noodles using a colander. Then run cold water over it. Heat oil in big kadai. Add the onions and green chillies. Fry till onion is translucent. Then add the chopped/grated vegetables and cooked peas and saute for sometime. Add the salt, white pepper powder, chilli-garlic paste, ajinomotto. Mix, cover and cook for about 5 min stirring in between. Then add the noodles and mix together thoroughly so that it the vegetables and noodles get mingled together nicely. Serve hot with manchurians.

Check out what my other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

24)Karuna

25)Roochi

RM#2 : Day 22 Indian Style Penne Pasta

We all love this type of preparation of Penne Pasta than the western style. One of my friend gave me this recipe. We add thuvar dal and masalas to bring it the Indian Taste. Fast and easy to prepare, and serves about 4 to 5 people. I usually make it for the dinner.

Ingredients
Penne Pasta - 1 packet (500 gm)
Onion - 1 big
Tomato - 3 big (or you can also use Tomato Puree)
Chopped Vegetables - 2 cups (carrots, beans, cauliflower etc)
Peas and/or Corn - 1/2 cup
Thuvar dal - 1/4 cup
Red Chilli Powder - 1 t.sp (or more if you like)
Garam Masala - 1 t.sp
Salt to taste
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 t.sp
Saunf - 1 t.sp
Cocum (The black vegetable which has a sour taste) - 1 or 2 (Optional) (comes fresh as well as dried in India)

Method
Cook the Penne Pasta with salt and with not much water. I usually cook it in the microwave with water little more than its level. Remove it when it is 3/4th cooked. Do not drain the water. Cook the thuvar dal till is half cooked. And again keep the water. Heat oil in a kadai and toss in the saunf. Then add the ginger-garlic paste. Saute till the paste turns brown. Then add the onion and saute till it becomes translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes or tomato puree. Then add the chopped vegetables, peas & corns. Add salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Cover the mixture and cook for two minutes in medium heat stirring in between. Then add the thuvar dal with the water and cook for five minutes. Then add Penne Pasta with its water and let the whole mixture boil for another 5 min. The cooked Pasta will have a slightly thick sauce. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with the thick sauce.

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today.
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

24)Karuna

25)Roochi

RM#2 : Day 21 Ven Pongal

My husband and children like ven pongal with coconut chutney or sambhar and with medhu vada. My mother used to add turmeric powder to pongal and cook it to look like Kichdi. But in my in-laws house they cook a typical Ven Pongal. So I also adapted to this preparation.

Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 3/4 cup
Green Chilli - 2 to 3
Crushed Pepper & Jeera - 2 t.sp
Broken Cashew Nuts - 2 t.sp
Whole Pepper - 1 t.sp
Jeera - 1 t.sp
Grated ginger - 1 t.sp
Salt to taste
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Method

Wash the rice and dal. Pressure cook both of them together with 31/2 cups of water, salt, chopped green chillies, crushed pepper & jeera, grated ginger. Cook for 2 whistles. Remove and let the pressure come out. Splutter the whole pepper and jeera in 1 t.sp ghee. Also fry the cashew nuts. When the pressure gets released open and add the fried ingredients and the rest of the ghee. Mix together without mashing the rice and dal too much. Serve hot with the chutney and sambhar of your choice.

And this Ven Pongal is being served to the Rice Mela event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons

Check out what the other RM runners are cooking today
1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Sripriya

21)Viji

22)Kamalika

23)Pavani

24)Karuna

25)Roochi