Giving Thanks

After a sumptuous Thanksgiving meal that included a perfectly roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, caramelized sweet potatoes, beans, homemade rolls dusted with sesame seeds, poppy seeds and caraway seeds, followed by pecan pie and ice cream, I am so stuffed that I cannot think! The wine flowed as we sat around the table and shared memories, music playing softly in the background. I think we are very lucky to have neighbors who are just like family!

I thought it would be very apt to use today's post to complete my series of Thank You posts that I like to do at least once a year. This list, as some of you may already know, is pulled directly from my logs and these are blogs that I am truly grateful to - for, without them, Indian Food Rocks would be yet another lonely, seldom-read blog. So I'd like to thank all the food blogs I have mentioned previously and also the 15 blogs that follow.

Malabar Spices, written by Mallugirl, rocked our world recently with her Express Cooking Event. Raid her blog for spicy recipes from India's Malabar coast. She has a droolworthy Nadan Kozhi Chicken Curry and I can't wait to try her Malabar Meen (fish) Biryani.

Masala Magic, written by Latha, may tell you to go watch Manjula on Youtube but I really think that you should go through her archives instead! Her red hot idli podi and easy rava dosa are amazing!

Musical's Kitchen, written by Musical of course, is a haven for vegetarians looking for that extra punch. She always has a surprising combination of fresh veggies and spices. Her palak kadhi is a regular feature at our home. Her Sweet potato stew (Thai style) looks too divine to pass up on!

One Hot Stove, written by Nupur, first regaled us from New York City and now she does the same from St. Louis, Missouri. Nupur is known for her fabulous writing as well as her A-Z series: A-Z of Marathi cooking as well as her A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

Padma's Kitchen, written by Padma, is an elegant blog with some of my favorites like akki roti, mamidikiya annam (mango rice) and Shahi Kofta curry.

Saffron Trail, written by Nandita, is the home of the Weekend Breakfast Blogging event. Nandita also has her own food video show on Nautanki TV. She focuses on healthy vegetarian recipes.

Samayal, written by Sudha, has a lovely recipe for Chicken Chettinad, a welcome variation for me. Her arachuvita sambar also sounds delicious!

Spicyana, written by Archana, is a feast for the eyes! She's the queen of baking, designing and decorating cakes. I was hooked right from the time she posted her first cake. Her creative talents extend to other things besides cakes, so if you haven't visited Archana's blog before, you need to stop what you are doing and do so now!

Stream of Consciousness, written by Shankari and sometimes by her husband Rajesh, is not just about food. You will find hair-raising pictures of Rajesh as he goes sky-diving, amazing pictures of the moon and spicy recipes. Shankari conducts cooking classes and has also appeared live on NBC's KCRA3. A huge round of applause for her, please!

Tastes like Home, written by Cynthia, comes to us from the Carribean. I love a gal who appreciates okra, my favorite veggie! Her pictures say it all. If you see something you like, you can always write to Cynthia to ask her for the recipe. She's really nice like that!

Tea and Cookies, written by Tea, is a blog that pays homage to fresh local produce with the most exquisite words ever. I have yet to come across a blog better written than Tea's. She has authentic Japanese recipes that she learned from her stay in Japan and I recently bookmarked her Zaru Soba recipe. The picture of soba noodles in that post could very well have been an entry for this month's CLICK!

Trial and Error, written by Nabeela, is one of my favorite blogs! I was first intrigued by her Marag, which I adapted to a slow cooker recipe. It's my comfort food now. I am still trying to figure out which of her mango sorbets I should try!

Vyanjanaa, written by g, is a chronicle of two kitchens separated by thousands of miles yet linked by a strong bond. Check out her Rajasthani papad ki subzi and her yummy garlic chutney.

What's For Lunch Honey?, written by Meeta, is a treat for the eyes and a feast for the soul. Don't believe me? Just head on over and check out her beautifully composed photographs, her tastefully created centerpieces, and of course her delicious recipes! She also hosts The Monthly Mingle with interesting themes each month.

When My Soup Came Alive, written by Sra, is a great blog to visit when you desperately need that chuckle! She launched her first event, Grindless Gravies recently, and already has a reputation for strictly enforcing the rules, which she changes every day. Or so I heard...

Thank you all very much!

It's Thank You time!

This is long overdue and I thought Friday would be a perfect day to look at my stats and say a huge thank you to all the wonderful blogs and friends out there who have been sending me visitors through this year. I'd like to begin by thanking all the wonderful Indian food blogs on this past post who continue to send relevant traffic to my blog. I have another 30 blogs that send me significant traffic. In alphabetical order, here are the first 15.

A Mad Tea Party is precisely that, a blog where you can let your hair down and have a good time. Anita is a very gracious hostess but do not underestimate her as the pen is her mighty sword and she wields it exceedingly well when she relates tales and recipes from her Kashmiri heritage as well as regional Indian recipes. Some of her stellar posts include her latest on her Continuing Discovery of Indian Cuisines, The Big Fat Kashmiri Wedding and Stuff, Food Glorious Food, and A Delhi Summer - On the Streets. These are just at the tip of the iceberg. Go dig through her archives for some saffron...er, I mean gold!

A Pinch of Spice, written by SJ, tried out my Nutty Green Beans and came up with a low-cal version. She also has delicious Bengali recipes like Bhapa Ilish or steamed hilsa and Kolkata's Mishti Doi.

Ahaar, written by Mandira and Aswin, is chockful of recipes that are international as well as very Indian. They have a Healthy Sabzi Series, a Pumpkin Mousse that is just right for this season and a Pomegranate Rasam.

Akshayapaatram, written by Priya, used to filled with stories of student life. No more! The resident has graduated, got a job and moved to a kitchen she can call her own! If you didn't know, go over and congratulate her on her success. While you are there, insist on some of her Ginger Tea with Pav Bhaji.

Anna Parabrahma, written by Anjali, and not Anna as I initially thought, is the only Koli blog around! Me dolkara, dolkara, dolkara dariya cha raja. Anjali has authentic Koli recipes as well as Koli folklore. It was a thrill to find out that she, too, used to be a red-check!

Chachi's Kitchen, written by Saju and family, is all about East African influences on Ismaili food. One of my best friends in Kenya used to be Ismaili and Saju's blog brings back many memories of the wonderful food her mother used to make for us. Don't miss her recipes for Matoke, Mandazi and Mogo. They are celebrating a triple birthday party this weekend so be sure to wish them!

Cooking 4 All Seasons, written by Srivalli, hosts the Microwave Easy Cooking Event and also has a series called Lunch box ideas. Her Nawabi Biryani is on my list of recipes to try!

Cooking Made Easy, written by Nidhi, has some great news for us! Nidhi has many talents, one of which is cake design. She was also a guest star on Emeril Live. Uh huh! She's a celebrity!

Cooking Pleasures, written by Meena Kandlakuti, also has great news for us. Meena makes a mean Mushroom Manchurian and a drool-worthy Nellore Fish Curry.

Dining Hall, is a community blog for food bloggers, started by Indira. I am a co-Admin at that blog and recently, with Sree's help, I redesigned the layout. Dining Hall is a food bloggers community web site, created mainly to discuss and exchange tips and pointers for fruitful food blogging experience.

Elaichi Etcetera, is written by the King of Thalia, also known as Pelicano. Pel is a treasure trove of information and has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. He has recipes from the world over, but Indian cuisine remains his favorite. That is not to say that one can ignore his Krung Kaeng Khiew Wan or in simple language, Thai Green Curry Paste.

Food Blog Desam, an RSS feeds aggregator, was developed by Mathy of Virundu and Indira. Mathy has an excellent post on Dining Hall explaining Food Blog Desam, how it works and how to get your blog listed.

India Inc., from Digital Inspiration, written by Anurag and Sweta, covers "the Indian Economy, Financial Markets, Currency movements, Commodity trading, Corporate Actions, Taxation, Branding, Marketing, Law, Sector and Company analysis, and anything which is of interest to the readers. In totality, it is a one stop shop for information about Indian businesses." Thank you!

Jugalbandi, written by Bee and Jai, burst on the scene only in Feb 2007 and have brought a new charm to the world of Indian food blogging. They focus on healthy recipes, garden like those possessed, and promote an overall environment conscious attitude. And once in a while, Bee rants and I, for one, love those posts! They love all types of bread, have a fascinating series of postcards from around the world and recently started a new Photography event called Click.

Lazzat, written by Rahin, has Quick N Easy recipes, a must-try yummy recipe for tava kulcha and more!

I raise a toast to you all!

A huge thank you!

I noticed recently that the traffic to my blog has been on the rise. That made me delve into the logs to see just where the visitors are coming from. And, below is a list of the Indian food blogs and web sites that have been sending me visitors on a regular basis since April 2006.

• Aayi's Recipes, where Shilpa writes tirelessly on Konkani cuisine, sending me down memory lane with recipes like chiroti, fish curry with tirphal/tepla, kurlyachi amti or crab curry and so many other dishes that were made on a regular basis in our home.


• Anthony's Kitchen, where Anthony shows how a bachelor can have delicious and nutritious meals. Anthony also hosts the ever popular Curry Mela every weekend.


• Cooking Medley, where Luv2Cook shares her love of cooking and baking. Her Mamidikaya Pachi Pulusu was a hit when I made it.


• Desiknitter, my friend from Another Subcontinent who never ceases to amaze me with her skills, knitting being just one of them! She recently posted a free pattern for Clover Leaf Socks - how cool is that!


• Food for Thought, where Ashwini, like Shilpa, also sends me down memory lane with her Konkani recipes, like khath-khatha, Goan Fish Curry and mattha (scroll down on the page for the recipe).


• Food, In the Main, where Shammi has an amazing list of cakes and pies, an equally amazing list of dals and sambars, and a mouth-watering quick mango pickle. Head on over!


• Ginger and Mango, where LG intertwines her recipes and posts with a characteristic sense of humor. She has initiated the The Green Blog Project and will be writing a round-up on Oct 1st. So click through and find out what it's about, if you haven't already.


• Gluttony is no Sin, where Dr. G. Thamaraiselvan takes a break from consulting as a physician to blog about health and South Indian food.


• Happy Burp, where Vaishali, queen of word-play, presents treats from Maharashtra, my home state. Her mirchicha chatka is fire in your mouth while her Ton of Protein is a great lesson on where to seek proteins in the Indian vegetarian diet.


• Indian Potpourri, where Indianadoc writes from the UK. I thought her steamed unni palappams were idlis!


• Krishna and Arjuna's world, where KrishnaArjuna has delicious recipes like mutton biryani.


• (Lima) Beans and Delhi Cha(a)t, where Sury writes from India and Cesar blogs from Peru. Sury has some enchanting Bengali recipes like ilish relish and Ranga Alur Puli. Sury is also an author and her thoughts can be found on her writing blog.


• Mahanandi, by Indira needs no introduction. Indira is a prolific Indian food blogger with a focus on Andhra cuisine. She recently launched the rotating event Jihva for Ingredients.


• My Dhaba, where VKN writes from the Middle East. His Virtual Cooking Competitions are very popular and he offers cash prizes.


• My Rasoi, where Lakshmi explores a variety of cooking styles, especially the Rayalaseema cooking style from Andhra Pradesh.


• My Treasure, My Pleasure, where Annita also focuses on Kerala cuisine with mouth-watering recipes and pictures.


• My Workshop,where RP has a recipe for a fantastic fish biryani and a step-by-step tutorial for baked ras malai.


• Myriad Tastes, from Lera in Bangalore who has recipes for Moghlai Egg Curry and badam burfi, and more.


• Priya's Kitchen, where Priya showcases some of the best in Kerala cuisine, such as Appam, Puttu, and more.


• Santhi's Kitchen, where Santhi has an interesting mint and cilantro chicken curry.


• Sugar and Spice, where Priya Jadhav recently blogged on yummy Kancheepuram idlis and Namakparas.


• The Spice is Right, where Garam Masala tells us about the wonders of chivda and Gujarati Bharelu Shaak.


• Towards A Better Tomorrow, where Kay from Toronto introduced us to the delights of broiling veggies.


• Vindu, where Mythili experiments with fusion cooking and treats us to quick meals from her childhood like Aloo Dosa.


• Vineela's Cuisine, where Vineela has gems like methi puri for dahi chaat.

A toast and salute to you all!