Tuesday, January 01, 2008

The Grind Is Over

I won't leave you Sra, she said, sending me another entry when I told her the first one wouldn't qualify. Please don't, send me as many entries as you like, I said.

For the first few days, this was the nature of the conversation I held with some bloggers - an entry would come in, I would check it out, say no in what I hoped was a pleasant manner, and would get another. I've earned much notoriety and some praise as the event evolved and rules went on being added for the first couple of weeks. In the last six weeks, it's been a pleasure to open my e-mail and see an entry waiting - around 40 in all, not counting my own. Thanks, all of you, for participating!

Next to enter was her. When I saw the title, I wondered anxiously if this was another dish I had to turn down, as I had said "no dunking in sauce". But happily, it wasn't.



Trust your instincts when you are tempted to eat at an "authentic" Indian restaurant - home-made is usually better, she seems to say. Here are her nine gems of a curry.



This was a new (to me) and easy combination of mustard oil, paneer and besan - I must remember to make this soon.



It's one of her favourite greens and she makes this dish when she's short on time.



This girl did what so many of us are doing - attempt something because she has a blog. To go with her first attempt into non-instant rava idli, she made this grindless gravy.






Et tu, Brute! was her reaction when I announced the event, buffeted by events as she was feeling. But she rose splendidly to the occasion and made these.






As green as jade, this is a curry often present in Maharashtrian weddings. She has used kokum to make it.





She said this curry was a breeze and I found it very unusual. Check it out on this new blog.




It's a crazy challenge, there are a zillion conditions and it's very clever, she said, and I was quite flattered! Here's this much mulled-over recipe.



Juicy potato was her contribution, literally speaking. Check it out!



She said she made up this dish specially for the event. Delightful, isn't it?




The handy and versatile potato makes another appearance in this event, through this dish. She will show you how to make this spicy dish.



Please play this game in its true spirit and don't look for loopholes in my rules, I said, and Madame took the cue. See what she did!



She made this for the event. Read her piece to find out why it was made and how it turned out! Funny as usual. The piece, that is, not the dish, I hasten to qualify.



This aficionado of Indian cuisine thought long and hard and cooked up something with much potato and not much toor dal in this.



She thought it wasn't difficult when she read about the event, but was proved wrong. See what she came up with.



This blogger had an Old Mother Hubbard moment, and see what she came up with!



Did you know you needn't soak dry black-eyed beans overnight? Here's how it was revealed to her.



This kadai featured a beerakai (ridge gourd/turai)-and-tamarind gravy, take a look.




No way, she told herself, when she found out about this event, but she had to eat her words. In more ways than one, and how!




The pumpkin gets its due in this recipe, helped along by kalonji/nigella. Don't omit that or the coriander powder, it just won't be the same, she says.




Like her, I have roots and shoots sprouting out of my potatoes, sweet potaotes and onions. A bit of cabbage and I have the makings of this fulfilling gravy.



This fan of no-fuss meals realised halfway through the process that she was cooking a grindless gravy. Find out what it is!




This is her second entry, made in energy-conservation mode. And one of the few non-vegetarian entries entered in this event.




She sent in what was to become the first 'fishy' entry - tangy with tamarind and spicy with green chilli.



She claims it really wasn't hair oil she was using to make this dish. What a culture shock the cooking medium in this dish turned out to be!



A prize fillet of trout demanded a dish from across the continents. Warm comfort for her on a cold day.



An unusual combination of cauliflower and pepper - she teaches you how to make a different dish!



Hail the minimalist recipe, she says in the course of her rant. And presents us one with an unusual combination of ingredients, here it is!




She had a couple of ideas, but alas! My rules cruelly shot them down. She soldiered on, and see what she came up with!



She put a lot of thought into this dish, often despairing at the evolving rules, but made it!



There's always stock of this, a happy combination of Mum and Mum-in-law's recipes, in her fridge.



She doesn't really like gravies that have bits and things in them (which is how they look without a blender), she said, but found one for me anyway. Why worry, when she can put it on pizza and jazz it up with cheese?




Here's an easy, hearty, grindless gravy that she made - hop over to her blog and check it out!




This is one of those dishes that has the same name across various States though the recipes often differ. She even has us peek into the legend behind its name.



Fate gave her two good reasons to post this dish. I'm glad this event was one of them.



She's just returned to the world of blogging, and as usual, has an unusual recipe for this event. Here it is!



Curry with all my terms and conditions and deadline was on her mind even as she had to think about Christmas preparations. See what she came up with.




This started off as a very promising poem, but I found out that the point of it all was an entry for the event. She just needs to change the last line and it would speak volumes for what many of us encounter in life sometime or the other.




This multi-coloured dish has an unusual ingredient added to give it richness but let it stay low-cal. Find out what she added.


And here are my own entries:

Vegetables in Dressed Up Coconut Milk

Cauliflower-Brown Rice-Besan Gravy

A Kashmiri-style Paneer

I've listed the entries largely in the order I received them. Some of you didn't send me the details, some of you didn't send me the pictures, some sent pictures that were too large, and some, pictures that were not small enough - I've not used those but have chosen to decorate them with my artwork instead! If there's anything that needs to be amended - mismatched links, mismatched photos, missing entries - please let me know.

A Very Happy New Year to all of you!

34 comments:

  1. A simple and innovative roundup..keep up ur great work

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  2. Hey SRA...finally the round-up! Great to see it; very interesting, intriguing & full of suspense!! Was this part of the new year resolution-to get it done on the 1st of Jan? You've got some pretty interesting ones going grindless...well done! Take care & have a great 2008!!
    Cheers Deeba

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  3. Love the blurbs, Sra. Very clever and entertaining. Thanks for a "strictly" fun event.

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  4. Awesome Round up.. You nailed it....!!

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  5. Looks like I arrived just in time!
    Very interesting way of doing the roundup. Its going to take me a bit of time discovering who made what.:)

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  6. Well just like I thought Sra...everybody were able to find something to send you ..glad you didn't think of changing any more of the rules!

    Nice round up and happy its finally out!..:D

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  7. thanks for organising this, and have a wonderful new year.

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  8. You bet Sra,you've got everyone guessing, who made what and who is who. Initially when I saw the round-up , I wondered, now which recipes am I going to check out. But as I read your comments and moved ahead.....just loved your idea. You have removed any chances of bias....no visiting the favorite blogs only. Wonderful for people like me with such new blogs. Wonderful start to the year and thanks for hosting a delightful event!

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  9. Lovely round up Sra...happy new year to you and yours.

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  10. A clever roundup, i must say....and for my poem, didnt know how to end it or rather didnt want to end it and so had to end it in that way....will work on it and end it this time...:)

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  11. yummy round up :)
    Best wishes for 2008!

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  12. She thinks that this round-up is cool. Happy new year, Sra.

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  13. Lovely round up Sra. It's a delight to see so many grindless gravies, I'm bookmarking this without a second thought! :) Thanks for the lovely event and the rules, really had us thinking and going that extra mile to get it right...was a lot of fun!! :)

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  14. Awesome Roundup Sra...:D Loved the way u organised all the entries..:)

    ~ Siri

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  15. :) Hehe this roundup has Ms.Sra written all over it... Very nicely done... Happy New Year Sra..

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  16. Lovely entry, Sra. Found several entries I will try soon :-)

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  17. u know it was a good round-up sra..u got me laughing when you were going around rejecting entries..totally off the hook!!

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  18. Hooray, the Grindless Gravies ride again! Can't wait to go through all these dishes Sra -- thanks for all your hard work putting it together :)

    Happy New Year!

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  19. Happy new year Sra. round up is looking good, lately as i was not regular on blog, i missed it, is it monthly event ? if yes, then next time consider me in , as i m regular on blog now :).
    btw, nice to see u again after a long tiem on blog of course... :))
    keep the good work going on

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  20. Nice round-up, SRA! You have a way with words and made all the entries intriguing.
    Happy New Year!

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  21. Will be very useful for everybody..:)
    Happy New Year for you!

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  22. Very nice roundup!!!! I cudn't make it [:(]... next time, hopefully!!!

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  23. a lil sad my pic didn't make it so i am going to learn resizing asap.

    have a great new year!

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  24. such an awesome and innovative round up sra! wonderful :)

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  25. so many wonderfull recipes in one place lovely roundup sra

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  26. Happy New Year to You!
    Great roundup!! loved your way of explanaton... makes one curious to know about the dish and the blogger!!!

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  27. Hahaha!! Beautiful round up sra, thanks for taking time during the busy holidays. Enjoyed participating.
    Happy new year to you both and yes, I am finally back!:)

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  28. A very nice event SRA. I wanted to participate very much in this event and in fact I have thought abt the dishes too.. but unfortunately couldn't ....
    Happy new year SRA

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  29. Hee hee! This rocks! Loved the event, love the writing :)

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  30. I love the way you have put together the entries, Sra. I can honestly say that this was one event I enjoyed being a part of simply 'cos it was a so different from the regular events. Thanks for coming up with a fun-theme and hosting.:-)

    Here's wishing you a fabulous 2008!

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  31. Nice work Sra!! Congrats on your successful event!

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  32. Sra, excellent round up, too bad I could not participate rendu reason na camera paduayyindi and next work lo hectic undi.but chala patience ga manchi ga chesaru round up. Happy New Year to you and wishing you lots of peace

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  33. Easy, Deeba, thanks.
    Susan, got that pun!
    Kalva, thanks.
    Aparna, hope it's keeping you busy!
    Srivalli, Bee, thanks.
    Nidhi, thanks. Frankly, I didn't think of it that way until you pointed it out. I thought putting it in chronological order would be enough to deal with the bias.
    Sunita, Bhags, Richa, Suganya, Namratha, Siri, Sig, Zlamushka, Rajitha, Linda, thanks.
    Hi Pooja, welcome back! It's a one-time event, not monthly.
    Vani, Raks, Ramya, thanks.
    Nags, sorry, I'm not good with computers.
    Valli, Sagari, Lissie, Asha, Prema, Kaykat, TBC, Jyothsna, Sreelu, thank you all.
    A very happy new year to all of you!

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  34. Thanks for hosting the event and a great round up - definitely lots of dishes for me to try!

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