It's Giveaway time friends.

Remember my post on Saffola Fit foodie's crave no more challanege that I wrote about Here. I recently went to take part in the second leg of the challenge where us, the six winners fought in two teams in a food truck challenge under the expert guidance of Chef Shipra Khanna and Chef Saransh Goila. 

As promised in the first leg of the competition, the Food truck challenge took place in Gurgaon's Ambience mall on July 9. The plan was to divide the winners in two teams, each were to create dishes with one of the new flavours of Saffola's Italian and Chinese Masala oats. Following which I along with Kumar of Petpujaris and Shivangi of Shivangi reviews were given the italian team headed by Chef Shipra. Saloni of FBAI, Adarsh of Bigbhukkad and Priya of mumma's food diary were in the Chinese team headed by Chef Saransh. Chef Kunal Kapoor was there too as a judge and to guide us through the entire event. 

"Sometimes the dreams that come true, are the dreams you never even knew you had."

While I was busy with my responsibilities as a daughter, wife and mother and trying to squeeze out as much time as possible for my passion for food and blogging I never thought what plans God had for me. It started with a mail, not a regular one but a mail where someone asked me if I was interested to cook with Michelline starred Chef Vikas Khanna for an upcoming show. Initially I was sceptical. Is someone joking with me? was my response but after a few phone calls later I was sure it was genuine...then after some more discussions, exchange of ideas, some changes of plans one evening I got a call from the team. Can we shoot tomorrow, is all they asked. I was clearly not prepared but the humble Chef himself talked to me and assured of his guidance to help me out.

The day was very cloudy and inbetween incessant rain I set out for the proposed venue. The location was on a boat on River Hoogly with Kolkata's most iconic bridge in the background. The most picturesque venue one could think of in whole of Kolkata. and there I cooked, not alone but with my most favourite chef, my Food Hero Vikas Khanna. 

It was a dream come true moment for me to meet this uber talented yet so very down to Earth person. He has such infectious energy and passion for food. With that warm smile he makes you believe in yourself, makes you do things that you could never imagine you could. spending just a few hours with him and listening to his stories that he believes tells something about life made me change my outlook towards World.  

The show Twist of Taste with Vikas Khanna is being aired every Monday and Tuesday at 9.30 PM. I am so very proud to be a small part of this show, their Kolkata episode. but more than that am grateful for this opportunity to meet this unique person with a heart of gold.

do watch me and the show and accept y gratitude for reading my posts, for trying my recipes, for writing to me, for loving me and Thanks for being there. 

Thank you my readers. I owe you big times.

                                        

Indrani Dhar of Recipe Junction is a super mom or more appropriately a super woman. I have known her for the past 4-5 years and we started blogging almost at the same time. But until recently I dint have any idea how much she has on her plate. She is mom to three kids including two super active twin boys (I know how difficult it is as I struggle with the one I have), whom she takes care of all alone as her husband lives in another city for his high profile Job. Still she manages to cook delectable food, experiment in her kitchen and bring us fabulous recipes every week. Kudos to her effort and enthusiasm for blogging.

She has lived abroad for a considerable amount of her married life and has many quick cooking tricks including plenty of microwave recipes up her sleeves. I love her Bengali recipes which has that old world charm and authenticity. The best thing about Indrani is 'you get what you see'. The ever smiling indrani never shy away from speaking her mind and standing up for a cause. As a blogger and mother I respect her patience, creativity and boldness. She is a dear friend and I look forward to spend more time with her and her beautiful kids.

Sarani Tarafdar the gorgeous, vivacious face behind the blog Cocoawind wears many hats with equal elan. She is a mother, an ex banker, a part time lecturer, a cinematographer, a food blogger and a dear friend in need for many. I met her online a couple of years back in a Bengali bloggers group and spent many hours chatting on random topics, pulling legs, discussing food and what not. She spent a formidable amount of her married life in USA but you can hardly make that out once you meet her. Her sense of aesthetics, her beauty, her style rather everything about her speaks volume of her classic Bengali background. No wonder she has a fond relationship with food.

Her recipes are easy to follow, quick and a real life savers for busy mothers. Recently she again moved back to USA and is already being missed here at our Kolkata Food bloggers group big times. Here is a small interview with her.

Archita Chanda Ray the charming and sophisticated personality behind the blog 'My Food My Life' is a beautiful person inside out. If you ever talk to her you would be blown away with her down to earth attitude and polite nature. The thing that I love most about her is her level headedness. She is one of those rare persons who knows what she is talking about and never boasts her knowledge.

She is a doting mother, an Ex-Banker and leads a busy life running their play school chain. But is an avid cook and a budding food photographer. Her recipes show a great legacy of cooking that she received from her mother. Here is a small excerpt of a chitchat which is a part of the Know your Blogger Series, an initiative by Kolkata Food Bloggers team.  

Antara Ray is the face behind the fun and charming blog Antipasti. If you have ever visited the Chef at large Facebook page, you must have seen her as an enthusiastic foodie and moderator. Recently as a part of Chef at Large: Bloggers table member, I met her on a personal level and found her as much bubbly and adventurous as her food blog.

By Profession she is an Environment consultant and juggles a hectic work schedule and recently married home front. She writes beautifully and all her write ups (which she calls banters) are backed by great in depth knowledge about food and culture. This pretty jovial woman is an excellent cook and experiments in her kitchen to whip up quick delicious meals on busy weeknights. I love her way of cooking which is quick, Delish and so full of flavour and taste.

Here is a small excerpt from our little chitchat. Hope you will enjoy reading about her food journey so far.

Jayati Saha Another Kolkata based food blogger started her blogging journey very recently, but you cant make that out from her blog. In less than a year she has built up quite a collection of recipes, especially a wide variety of Non-vegetarian dishes. She is a busy working mom and an adventurous foodie in the kitchen. though am yet to meet her but going through her food journey through her blog makes me feel like I connect to her on a personal level. Her son (like mine) is the biggest inspiration and contributor behind this blog. He inspired his mom to collect the recipes on an online platform so that her great skills are shared with the world. What a beautiful son he is. No wonder her blog is called Jayati and Tito's food journey. being a mom I so want to meet him and bless him from the bottom of my heart.

Here is a small excerpt of a conversation with Jayati Saha.

I was introduced to Amrita through Blogosphere. In the very first instance I was attracted to her amazing Baked goodies. she is one of those not so old bloggers who has created a name for herself in the blog world in a very short span of time. She with her husband Vishal post amazing innovative recipes in their blog Sweet and Savoury. Recently I have come to know her personally and loved her down to earth, always ready to learn attitude. She is a darling friend and I look forward to cherish our friendship for years to come.

Here is a small excerpt of a chitchat that we had as part of the Know your Kolkata based food bloggers event.

As part of Kolkata food bloggers, we are now a days featuring one of our blogger members on an weekly basis. We started with Kamalika of Silence Sings. here is a small chitchat with her which will help you to know your favourite blogger in a different light. Hope you will enjoy this small interview.

Another day one more theft. 

Today by one of Bengal's leading news paper Ananda bazar Patrika. See my picture being used for Wednesday (31st July'13)'s Ananda plus without my permission and my knowledge.

They even cropped the image to get rid of the watermark. 

Its not everyday that a regular reader requests for a specific recipe and its not everyday that you have all the necessary ingredients, time and energy to make that. and to continue its not everyday that you crave the same and want to make it at the earliest. Call it a miracle but sometimes this just happens and I realised it last week when a reader left a message on my facebook page to share Tomato Chutney recipe. Which is by far my most favourite one and I suddenly started craving it.

When I mailed Vardhini wishing to host Bake fest I knew how important this event is for all food bloggers. And once again you all proved it right by sending so many unique baked goodies. Am so glad that I hosted this and want to Thank Vardhini for giving me this opportunity. with every mail my need and urge to bake something aggravated, I also baked so many goodies but hardly got the time to post anything here. 

Here is the round up, hope you all will be inspired to bake something very soon.

7. The deadline of the recipe submission is 31st March'2013

Will post the round up in the first week of April.

Have fun friends and send us loads of love with your unique baked goodies.

Thank you friends for taking your time out and sharing your Winter warmer recipes with me. I have already tried a few and soon will post some from this collection.

1. The first entry is from Archana of The Yum Factor. She made a warm bowlful of Broccoli soup with fried garlic. That awesome greenish hue made me grab the bowl from the picture itself. 

2. Saranya of Sara's Tasty buds sent the second entry and am totally lost in this beautiful ruby red colour of her Beet soup.

3. Can't decide what I love most of about Rumana's Pumpkin soup, the colour, the texture or the way she beautifully presented the soup

4. Tanushri's  got me at those drops of spiced garlic oil on her simple soup here

5. Love the Tea spice powder for her Masala Chai that Renjini shared here. Am going to make a big batch of it and share among friends

6. MAnjula's Chawal ki kheer is something that will give me eternal bliss for sure

7. A big thanks to Amrita for sharing this zero oil peas and corn soup. We all need such recipes to keep us warm and fit

8. Lubna of  Yummy food Sent over a warming soup recipe called Nihari. The recipe surely make us all drool on the beautiful clicks.

9. Tasty spicy made this healthy chickpea sprouts and sweet poato soup, the colour she got here is truly amazing

10. Chandrani's Red velvety Tomato soup is the next

11. Deepa's Fresh corn soup instantly warms us up with its sunny hue

12. Riddhima sent this thick chunky potato and leek soup which we just enjoyed last week.

13. Sonali sent this Leek and Brie soup which is refreshingly new and comes to the table covered under a baked pastry sheet

14. From a Girls Mind brings this lovely carrot soup to the table

15. Nutty Cook made this kid friendly carrot and broccoli soup to beat the winter chill

16. Progna sent this falvourful and chunky Lentil soup and spiced it up with caramelised onion

17. The pieces of mushroom in the vegan hot n sour soup that Spicebud sent, makes me feel hungry again

18. Kamalika's Chicken and vegetable soup could be a lifesaver if you want to whip up a easy and tasty

 meal in no time

15th feb'2013 is Saraswati puja. I totally would have missed it if a friend would not have invited us to join some puja here. Its totally unlike me  not to remember and its more unlike me to realize that I don't want to join it.

Rs. 1500 Flipkart gift voucher giveaway. Sponsored by Cuponation.in

IF you are wondering why I haven't published the result of the giveaway yet then here is the good news. We have decided to extend the time to 13th February' 2013. 

Isn't it great friends that you can buy something special for your Valentine on this very special day!!! so what are you waiting for. If you haven't send your entry yet DO IT NOW. Dont miss this opportunity.

Here is the link for you once again.

http://www.ahomemakersdiary.com/2013/01/its-giveaway-time-win-rs1500-e-gift.html