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Thank you, I had a good laugh reading through all of the blunders. It’s good to know that some of you were able to save the day from total disaster. Whatever was the case, I am sure it was a lesson well learned. I selected two winners randomly. Here they are:
1st Place: shwetha0388
2nd Place: babli kaur
Congratulations to both of you.
Thank you to everyone else that also participated in the contest.
Everyone including myself makes big cooking mistakes from time to time. Sometimes I feel they always happen on important occasions. For this month’s contest, I would like to hear your cooking blunders. Maybe you were preparing for a big dinner party and things went very wrong. What did you do? Were you able to save the day? What did you learn from that day?
You needn’t send any photos for the contest. All you have to do is post your story to the disucussion forum on the Cooking Blunders topic that I have created.
The winners will be selected randomly from all the forum post entries.
Below is my checklist:
1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com
**Anyone can join this contest**
I am frequently asked about cooking with a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are convenient and can save you a lot of time in the kitchen! Lentils and dry beans are cooked much quicker with a pressure cooker.
However, if you are not using a pressure cooker, here are some pointers:
1. Soak the lentil and dry beans for few hours before cooking. They will cook quicker.
2. Add salt after lentil or dry beans are cooked.
3. When you are cooking lentils, white cloudy foam will form as they are coming to a boil. Add one tablespoon of oil to the water. This will help to break up some of the foam. Also to prevent the foam from spilling out, use a larger pot to cook. Also remove the foam from the top as it is building.
4. After the beans come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium.
5. If you have a slow cooker, you can use it for cooking lentil and dry beans.
I know rasgullas can be made without a pressure cooker, but I feel most comfortable making them with a pressure cooker.
Please do keep the questions coming and I will try my best to answer them!
Sorry for the delay in posting the winners for this month. There was a lot of color and variety in the recipes submitted and they all looked great. I would to thank everyone who participated. You all did a great job. Here are the top five recipes and two winners from those:
1st Place: Nav Sidhu (Quinoa Salad)
2nd Place: Adelina Srinivasan (Thinking Outside the Lettuce Head)
Congratulations to both of you!!
To celebrate spring, this month’s contest is to make a colorful spring salad. It must be accompanied by a homemade dressing. The salad can include fruit as well as vegetable. The vegetables may be cooked also. Mostly, I am looking for a healthy spring salad that is colorful. The specific rules for April are the following:
In general I will only consider recipes that I feel are complete in regards to ingredients, measurement, and instruction. From there I am looking for creativity and a recipe that my viewers would enjoy to prepare on their own. I will be judging on overall recipe and presentation also.
Below is my checklist:
1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com
**Anyone can join this contest**
I was happy to see so many bread recipes last month, but it was a lot more work this time to review, try and select the winners. Thank you to everyone who participated and you all did a great job. However, I did have to disqualify some due to missing photo or copied recipes. Please make sure to send original photos in the email and if adapting a recipe from elsewhere, please don’t simply copy the recipe word for word. Here are the top five recipes and two winners from those:
1st Place: Haddas Friedman (Colorful Antipasti Bread)
2nd Place: Sapna Mehta (Indo-Chinese Bread)
Congratulations to both of you!!
This month’s contest is to make bread! It can be any kind of bread (for appetizer, desert, etc). The specific rules for March are the following:
In general I will only consider recipes that I feel are complete in regards to ingredients, measurement, and instruction. From there I am looking for creativity and a recipe that my viewers would enjoy to prepare on their own. I will be judging on overall recipe and presentation also.
Below is my checklist:
1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com
**Anyone can join this contest**
Just like last year, I really enjoyed reading everyone’s Valentine’s Day stories. Thank you for sharing them with me. Here are the two winners that I selected at random from the posts. Congratulations to both of you.
1st Place: seema872006
2nd Place: Cynken
Thank you to everyone else that also participated in the contest.
This month’s contest is another easy one. I very much enjoyed reading all the valentine’s day stories last year and I would like to do the same this year. All you have to do is post your story to the disucussion forum on the Valentine’s Day topic that I have created.
You needn’t send any photos for the contest. I just want to hear your valentine’s story – what did you do for your husband, wife, girl/boyfriend, or other loved one? If you cooked something, please describe the menu that you prepared. Did you surprise your loved one? The more details, the better!
The winners will be selected randomly from all the forum post entries.
Below is my checklist:
1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com
**Anyone can join this contest**
As you know, we have continued with our vacation to India. We have been here for almost two weeks and are having the time of our lives! With so much family, it is getting hard to decide just who to spend time with! That is a good problem to have. We have spent the days sitting and talking; and of course laughing. Both Alex and I are enjoying getting pampered and catered to. Alex is meeting many family members after a long time.
I have enjoyed eating here in India as everyone has made the dishes they know are favorites of mine. I have to say food in India has changed. It has become very cosmopolitan and a mix of different types of food – some would say fusion. I have to say I am old-fashioned and still enjoy the food from my childhood. In fact my nieces and nephews laugh and tell me to change with the times!
I have talked to many local chefs during my trip. However, I have learned a lot from my sisters and sister-in-law as they are excellent cooks. I prefer their cooking style as it is the food I have grown up with
Our next stop is Banaras, which is also known Varanasi. After that, we plan on visiting Jaipur Rajasthan.
Until then!
I really enjoyed seeing all the photos for January’s contest. Here are the two winners that I selected at random. Congratulations to both of you.
1st Place: Monica Prashar
2nd Place: Tonya McDaniel
Thank you to everyone else that also participated in the contest.
To start off the New Year, January contest will be an easy one and I hope everyone will participate.
Create any recipe from Manjula’s Kitchen website and post the photo on facebook or google plus. That’s all there is for this contest. Two winners will be chosen at random.
Please be sure to tag Manjula’s Kitchen Page onto the photo on facebook.
If you are using google plus, my link to the Google Plus page is here.
Add me to facebook if you haven’t already done so:
Also, you can find me on google Plus:
I received many really good recipes this last month and I had a tough time deciding on the winners. Thank you to everyone who participated and you all did a great job. Of course, I can only select five, so here they are and two top winners from those:
1st Place: Akhila Bhatt (Pineapple Kesaribaath)
2nd Place: Shanthi Bhuvan (Double Decker Burfi – Apple Coconut and Pineapple Burfi)
Congratulations to both of you!!
Thank you to everyone else that also participated in the contest:
Happy holidays from Manjula’s Kitchen!! For this month, I thought a dessert is a good idea for the holiday season. The recipe can be any dessert made with at least one of the following fruits: apple, berry (any), pineapple, or pear. You may make any type of dessert, hot or cold. The specific rules for December are the following:
In general I will only consider recipes that I feel are complete in regards to ingredients, measurement, and instruction. From there I am looking for creativity and a recipe that my viewers would enjoy to prepare on their own. I will be judging on overall recipe and presentation also.
Below is my checklist:
1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com
**Anyone can join this contest**
As you know, we took a short break from our vacation and returned back home to San Diego to spend time with our family. This time spent with family was much needed and I am happy we were able to come back. We are now ready to finish our vacation with a trip to India! I am very excited about visiting India. It is always fun spending time with family members. I am pampered and spoiled when I spend time with my siblings. What can be better than that? I am especially excited to meet my brother and sister’s new grandkids!
Our first stop and base will be Gurgaon. We will then venture out to Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Banaras, and Mumbai. So far these are the cities we have decided to visit. We may visit more, but we plan to play it by ear.
So far what I cook is all trial and error and I make the recipes to my family taste. Every recipe has been a learning curve for me.
During this visit to India, I want to learn and experience the recipes of the local chefs in the cities I visit. I am hoping to learn new techniques that will greatly enhance my recipes. I think these little details can make a huge difference in the dishes and can really enhance the flavors. Of course, I will share these tips with you.
I will keep in touch.
Until next time…