Showcasing Awards and Answering Tag Questions!

Many thanks to Kurinji Kathambam for passing on this award. She is very talented. Do find time to visit her lovely recipe blog, where you get some additional perks like her occasional posts on lovely rangoli designs, pictures and poems, etc :)

I want to pass on this Best Blogger award to: Sanyukta, Soumya's Kitchen, Oriya Rasoi, PriyaNowServing, specialtyrecipesfrommykitchen, Bakasoor, Cookingstation, JaisyJames, Sayali, Shama Nagarajan. Please accept this award and pass it on to your friends.......

My gratitude and apologies to Sayali of Treat your Tongue . She had passed on this award quite a few months ago. Sorry Sayali, I was on blogging break at that time......

I am passing on these awards to: Kavita, PanchPakwan, CozyLittleKitchen, Vibaas, Banaraskakhana, Apskitchen, Shoumya, Cookingiseasy, Gayathri'scookspot, Indianspicemagic. Please accept the circle of friends and sunshine award and pass it on to your friends.......

Questions & Answers

I was also tagged by Mrs. K of Kavita's kitchen to answer some fun interview questions. Kavita has a lovely space with recipes from a variety of cuisines to choose from; count on her to leave a lovely, well composed comment on your blog :)

So here are the tag questions........

1. Are you a vegetarian, or have you thought about being one?
Although I eat both Veg and Non-Veg, I tend to be more partial toward vegetarian choices.

2. Who inspired you to cook or bake?
My mother is my biggest inspiration. She instilled in me the love of cooking at a very early age. We were lucky enough to taste a myriad of amazing dishes, both cooked and baked by my mom :)) She also does not like to waste things, so in that process, she ended up inventing a ton of new dishes much to our amazement!

3. How do you celebrate Christmas?...or a favorite holiday of your choice?
Christmas celebrations at our house typically include decorating a tree, hanging out stockings, exchanging gifts amongst friends, drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows on Christmas eve while watching Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer or something in that genre and leaving cookies and milk for Santa Clause 'cause we still have one big time "Santa believer" left in our house - my youngest one who is just 3 and a half yrs old :)

4. Do you prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends and/or family, or prefer to ring in the New Year quietly, and privately, at home?
We normally prefer to celebrate New Year with a few close friends because they are like our extended family out here; or if we are lucky, sometimes we do get to celebrate with close family too.

5. If someone were to ask you to bring dessert to a party, what would you bring? Store bought, or homemade, and if you were to make homemade, what would you make?
It totally depends on the notice time.... if party plans are improptu, I would just pick up ice-cream or cake from the store :) But if it is planned well in advance, I would definitely try and bring something home-made depending on the party menu or theme and the number of people; but mostly it would be a trifle, crumble, pudding, or something on those lines, an Indian menu, would call for Kheer, Gulab jamun, Shrikhand or similar Indian desserts.

6. How will you celebrate your next birthday?
Hmm... Life is too uncertain to plan that far ahead...... plus I love surprises [this is a hint for family and friends reading this post :))].

7. Do you have a New Year's resolution-and will you be sticking to it?
Long time ago I made a new year resolution - "Never to make any New Year Resolution", well, I am still sticking to it :))

I am now tagging 12 of my blogger friends to answer this same questionnaire. I had a ton of fun answering these questions and I hope you all will too:

KitchenBoffin,  Krishnaveni, Authentic Food Delights, HGormetFoodie, JoyofCooking, Khaugiri,
VeggiePlatter, Satrupa , Sangeeta, Torviewtoronto, USMasala, Padhu. Please tag 12 friends after answering these questions.

I am really grateful to all my blogger friends for showering me with so much love. Believe me I want to share these awards with all of you. Till my next post, Happy holidays and take care everyone!!!

Rice Pakoda and TAG Award!

Came across this recipe a few years back when I purchased a copy of Sanjeev Kapoor's "Khazana of Indian recipes".  I have been making this pakoda for my guests eversince! They keep wondering what the pakoda is made of and when they hear its made of 'rice', its fun to see their reactions. Its very simple and a great way to use left over rice too. Confession : It is so yummy that I actually make rice just to eat this pakoda..... lol.

Here is how I make it: Mix together 1 cup cooked rice (soft), 1/2 cup besan, 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, 3 chopped green chillies, 2 tsp chopped ginger, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, 1 tsp chat masala, 1 tsp red chilli powder,1 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, salt to taste and a little water as per need. Form small flat balls and deep fry in oil till golden brown. Serve piping hot with chutney/ketchup.  Tates even yummier with a cup of hot tea or coffee :))

Friends, I am also happy to announce my TAG award!!  

Priya of MharoRajasthanRecipes has tagged me :)) Thank you so much for this award Priya, love to have you as a friend.This award comes with set of rules...The rules are,

1. I should pass it on to 7 friends.
2. I should post a favourite picture/pictures.

Actually I would have loved to share this award wish all my blogging friends whose encouragement keeps me going everyday, but the rules say I have to name only 7.  This time I am trying to include new friends with whom I have not shared awards so far....... so I'm passing this award to these 7 of my blogging world friends........

1. Sheba
2. DaisyBlue
3. Meena
4. Varunavi
5. Aruna Maniknandan
6. Aruna
7. Anu

And, here is one of my favorite picture. I had already posted it a few months back, it still ranks as my favorite!! Till my next post, take care everyone......... will be blogging whenever I get a chance, still busy........

Awards and Sabudana Khichadi

A big Thank You to Priya  for sharing this Sunshine Award with me, its my very first award too :))
Your energy and enthusiasm is really infectious and motivates me to push myself!!  Keep blogging....

I would like to share my Sunshine Award with the following 12 fellow blogger friends: 
Sushma Mallya, Nithu Bala, Khaugiri, Jagruti, Pavithra, Muskaan Sadhana, Pari, Ruchika, Sangi, Suma, Prajakta (PJ), Sailaja. Your words of encouragement keep me going everyday!!!
 
These Award Winners have to do the following :
1) Use the logo within your post .
2) Pass on to atleast 12 other bloggers .
3) Add a link to the nominees in your post.
4) Let the nominees know of their award
5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to you.

Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen shared these awards with me......... a big Thank You to her too!!! It feels really nice to get so many new friends in such a short period of time :)
UPDATE: Yesterday, Priya also shared this award with me :) Thanks Priya, I am honored!! 
ANOTHER UPDATE: Anu has shared this award with me too!! feel so lucky to have such great friends around, Thank you Anu!

The Honest Scrap award comes with a set of rules:

a) I must brag about it.

b) I have to display the badge on my blog and link to the one who tagged me to prove that I didn't tag myself (how pathetic that would be!)

c) Share 10 things about myself.

d) Pass the award to other fellow blogger friends by visiting their site.

I would love to share both the above awards with these fellow blogger friends:

Priya, Swathi, Jyothi, Champa , Padhu , Cool Lassie, Nupur, Kiran, Vaishnavi & Sivaranjani, and Cardamom ,   Thanks for all your appreciation, comments and suggestions!!

These are the 10 Things I would like to share about myself :

I am a shy and private person, a voracious reader, love to paint, nature and outdoor lover, value true friends, am a prankster, love to gaze at stars at night, love to listen to music, was actively involved in sports, believe that each day of life is a gift from god!!!

 

Last week, this post was accidentally published while I was composing it. My very good friend Priya asked me about it and was keen to know the recipe, so I am publishing it in this post because she is sharing her very special first award with me :))  

Sabudana Khichadi is typically made for a fast/upvaas. To make this khichadi, Soak 1 cup sabudana in water for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. It should be fluffy and not soggy when done. Heat 1 tbsp ghee/oil in a pan. Add 1 tsp jeera, 2-3 green chillies, and 1 boiled and cubed potato. Saute for 2-3 mins. Add 1/2 cup ground peanut powder to the soaked sabudana and add this mixture to the pan. Stir for 8-10 mins on medium heat. Take care it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add 1 tsp sugar and salt to taste. Stir for 2-3 mins. Add 2-3 tsp of lemon juice, garnish with cilantro and serve hot.   

I was really busy for the last couple of days and might be for a few days more so I may not be able to post recipes frequently. Things should hopefully get to normal by next week....... maybe earlier :)) Ciao......