First, let me explain the milestone part. This is my 202nd post! Wondering what 202 signifies?  Well, everyone celebrates the magic number 200, not me! 202 is a very special number to me. It was our very first apartment number, and it also was the address of the first house that we owned (well, the mortgage company owned it, but our names were somewhere in the agreement.). And my birthday is Feb 2nd, that is 02-02!! So you see why I want to celebrate the 202nd post, instead of the boring 200th. Okay, that is a load of baloney… Everything I wrote above is true, but the real reason why this is the milestone post is that I simply forgot to notice the 200th and 201st posts! Somehow it so happened that #202 had some special meaning to me, I am sure if I think hard I can find some connection with every number, well that is a topic for another post!

No milestone post is complete without thanking a bunch of people… I would like to take this moment to thank all my readers who made this experience worthwhile. Without you my dear reader, I’d have quit this a long time ago! So, as my own small way of thanking you, I’d like to give away some fabulous prizes. Wish I could give something to everyone, but as luck would have it, I am not married to Bill Gates… I have flashed him some of my most seductive smiles in the elevator a couple of times, but the effect was totally lost on him. So, I have to sadly limit this to three lucky folks.

Just to add some fun, I am going to make this a guessing game… I know this will be a very easy guess for some of you… But if you are someone like me, you will have to think hard and search hard to get even a single one correct. All of these are from my dear buddy Musical as part of the Arusuvai Friendship Chain, more about that in a later post. Lucky she had labeled everything, except for the surprise ingredient in the first picture. I shocked myself when I correctly guessed what it was, even though I had never seen one before; all thanks to food blogging. fiveone threetwo four

Guess all the items above correctly. You can click on the smaller pictures to get a better view. Here are the prizes I am giving away - three fabulous books! The winners will get to pick the book of their choice.

  1. Modern Indian Cooking
  2. Cook with Jamie: My guide to making you a better cook
  3. Flavours of the Spice Coast

 Jamie Flavours_SpiceCoast_Big

One prize will go to the person who gets all the guesses right. If more than one person qualifies, I will have to randomly pick one. I thought of giving it to the first person to get all the correct answers, but that won’t be fair with all the different time zones and such.

Apart from this, two randomly chosen lucky winners will also get to pick a book from the above. All you need to do is to leave a comment in this post. Bloggers and non-bloggers are welcome.

If you are picked as the winner, you will have to e-mail me your mailing address. The contest is open till the end of this week, Saturday March 7th midnight PST. I will moderate the comments till then. So, good luck everyone!


Don’t forget Monthly Blog Patrol!

I am guest hosting MBP this month. The theme for March is Mixed Drinks and the deadline is March 24th.

Check out the details here.


Comments

64 Responses to “A Milestone, a Game and some Cool Prizes!”

  1. Namratha on March 2nd, 2008 8:10 pm

    Oh what a fun game!!! I know 4 out of the 5….let’s see!! Congrats on the 202nd post :roll: before I forget! :smile:

    1st - Hmmmmmmmmm….hmmmmmmmmm
    2nd - Panch Poran
    3rd - Par Boiled Rice
    4th - Kala Jeera
    5th - Anardana (Dried Pomegranate seeds)

    Ok, the first one is really killing me….!!! :neutral:

    Is it something made with a fruit…we call it Elachi Hannu, and we make a vada out of it. It’s sweet and sour :smile: We also give it with the Til on Sankranthi..

    Sigh..what a guess!!

  2. Lakshmi on March 2nd, 2008 8:33 pm

    Congratulations!!! You have a wonderful blog here. :party: Here are my guesses… Still thinking hard about the 4th one(don’t have a clue really) :???:
    1. Punjabi/Amritsari wadi
    2. Paanch Phoran
    3. Ponni Rice
    4. Caraway/Fennel (this is wrong for sure)
    5. Anardana (dried pomegranate seeds)

  3. evolvingtastes on March 2nd, 2008 8:54 pm

    Lemme try too!

    1. Spicy Wadis
    2. Panchphoran
    3. Arborio Rice
    4. Shahjeera
    5. Anardana

  4. Lakshmi on March 2nd, 2008 9:21 pm

    Got it :cool:
    4 is kaali jeeri (Centratherum anthelminticum) - courtesy Anita’s madteaparty.wordpress.com. I knew I had seen it somewhere, and couldn’t sleep until I got it… So here is my updated list of guesses:
    1. Punjabi/Amritsari wadi
    2. Paanch Phoran
    3. Ponni Rice
    4. Kaali Jeeri (Centratherum anthelminticum)
    5. Anardana (dried pomegranate seeds)

  5. Rupa on March 2nd, 2008 9:27 pm

    Your picture #2 is Panchphoran #3 is Arborio rice.

  6. Mansi on March 2nd, 2008 9:40 pm

    The dish looks like Masala vada, but I’m clueless about some of the ingredients that go in it!!:)

    maybe I’ll be the lucky random winner, though my luck really isn’t that great with contests!:)

    just wanted to wish you congrats on your milestone…you’ve done a fabulous job with this blog, and I wish you the best in the years to come!

  7. Raaga on March 2nd, 2008 9:40 pm

    #1 Moong Wadi/Mangodi/Wadi
    #2 Seasoning material: Fenugreek, Mustard, Cumin, Fennel, Shahjeera
    #3 Short grained rice: I am not sure of the names… like Arborio or sona masuri boiled
    #4 Is known as suhangane ke phool or something locally… not sure :-(
    #5 Anardana

  8. Raaga on March 2nd, 2008 9:41 pm

    And congrats on 202 :-)

  9. musical on March 2nd, 2008 9:42 pm

    Congratulations on this milestone, Sig! Wish you many many more posts and lots of fun with blogging :)

    Its very obviious that i can’t be a part of this guessing game :-D

    hugs,
    musical.

  10. Shankari on March 2nd, 2008 9:45 pm

    Punjabi Wadi
    Panch poran
    Risotto rice
    4&5 - WIP :evil:

    I have spent 30 minutes looking at spices of the world and cant think of what it is…I blame you for not being able to sleep tonight :cry:

  11. Jyothsna on March 2nd, 2008 10:05 pm

    Congratulations Sig! :) I looked at the prizes straightaway before looking at the quiz….. the only book I want is Flavours of the Spice Coast. And it’s cheaper to pick it on my trips to India than you mailing me the prize :wink: Okay, that’s a smart way of saying I’m bad at guessing what the first picture is!! :razz:

  12. Rupa Sengupta on March 2nd, 2008 10:11 pm

    Hi Sig !

    Congratulations on ur 202nd post !

    I am a very very regular reader of ur blog .. only i didnt leave any comment till now .

    I have tried many dishes from here, and was not disappointed even once ! thanks a lot for the wonderful recipes .

    Rupa.
    Sydney

  13. Revathi on March 2nd, 2008 10:21 pm

    I am really dumb in guessing these, So I will bid my luck on being one of the lucky winners - Congrats on the 202nd.. My favourite number is 2202 cool eh !!

  14. sra on March 2nd, 2008 10:42 pm

    Sig, congrats on your 202nd post. :(Yes):
    My guesses:
    #1 Amritsari Vadi
    #2 Panch Phoron
    #3 Risotto rice - is it carnaroli?
    #4 Wild rice
    #5 Anardana or pomegranate seeds

    I’m not here for the prize, just for the thrill.

  15. Shankari on March 2nd, 2008 10:43 pm

    4th is Haritaki - Terminalia chebula
    5th pomegrante seeds.

    Now 4th & 5th is combined effort of R, Revathi ane me :razz:

  16. anncee on March 2nd, 2008 10:53 pm

    Congrats on the 202nd Post…!! very good blog, I come often but I am more of a lurker, but it was very interesting to see if I got atleast a few of these right. :D

    1. Mungodi/ Badi (Probably the punjabi variety)
    2 Panch Puran (the bengali/oriya spice mix)
    3Rice - Some thick variety, sona masuri..??!!! :razz:
    4. Wild Rice - I have had it once, this totally looks like what I ate :D
    5. No clue, Anardana?
    Yay…

  17. anncee on March 2nd, 2008 11:16 pm

    Congrats on the 202nd Post…!! very good blog, I come often but I am more of a lurker, but it was very interesting to see if I got atleast a few of these right.

    1. Mungodi/ Badi (Probably the punjabi variety)
    2 Panch Puran (the bengali/oriya spice mix)
    3Rice - Some thick variety, sona masuri..??!!!
    4. Wild Rice - I have had it once, this totally looks like what I ate
    5. No clue, Anardana?
    Yay…

  18. Nirmala on March 3rd, 2008 12:28 am

    These are my guesses ;)
    1. Vadagam (used for thaalipu)
    2. Mustard seeds + Jeeragam + Vendhayam
    3. Rice
    4. Black Jeeragam (Karunjeeragam)
    5. Head removed cloves

    I should be right atleast 50% (again over confidence he he ;))

  19. sia on March 3rd, 2008 12:30 am

    am i the first one to comment???
    its punjabi wadi… balle balle… thats what i could thisnk of when u said it was sent by our punjabi kudi musie :)

  20. sia on March 3rd, 2008 12:31 am

    and how stupid of me not to wish u for another milestone!!! congrats sig darling :) i’ve lost count of posts after 100th :wink:

  21. sia on March 3rd, 2008 12:47 am

    oh!!!!!!!!!1 u want us to guess 5 ingredients :sleepy: let me try….
    1. punjabi wadi
    2. paanch phoran
    3. arborio rice
    4. wild rice
    5. anardaana(dried pomegranate seeds)

  22. Srivalli on March 3rd, 2008 12:56 am

    Sig congrats on 202..thats a cool stuff musy has sent…here are my guesses…though at first look the 1st one looks more like a tirupati ladoo… :mrgreen:

    1# Punjabi Wadi
    2# Panch phoran
    3# par boiled rice
    4# Black Cumin
    5# Anardana

    I am doubtful on the 3# but I can’t think of anything that might look like a rice and not…

  23. Priscilla on March 3rd, 2008 2:33 am

    Hi Sig -

    Here are my guesses –

    Pic 1 Punjabi wadi

    Pic 2: Fenugreek, Mustard , Cumin, fennel and Nigella seeds

    Pic 3: Risotto rice

    Pic 4: Aniseed

    Pic 5 : Roasted Pine nuts (wild guess, a tough one to crack)

    Cheers
    Priscilla

  24. Nupur on March 3rd, 2008 3:22 am

    Here are my guesses:
    1. Punjabi badi
    2. Panch phoran
    3. Arborio rice
    4. Aniseed
    5. Pumpkin seeds (spiced and roasted)
    (the last two are just wild guesses :razz: )
    Congratulations on the milestone, and here’s wishing you 200002 more!

  25. indosungod on March 3rd, 2008 4:02 am

    Sig, why not celebrate 202? Sounds good enough reason to me. Congratulations! As for the ingredients 2/5 stumped me.

  26. Asha on March 3rd, 2008 4:27 am

    Good Monday morning to ya dear girl.
    Congratulations on 202nd post! WOW!! All that 2s in your life! Good for you. You are an Aquarian like me and Arvind too!! We have Feb 6th and Feb 9th b’days with 2 yrs apart betn us!:)
    I think it’s Punjabi Wadi, spicy one at that! I am always bad guesser but this time I am 80% sure!!! :grin:

  27. Asha on March 3rd, 2008 4:33 am

    I am supposed to guess all of them!
    1. Punjabi Wadi
    2. Panch Phodan(Bengali) or Garam masala
    3. Arborio rice
    4. Shah Jeera or black cumin seeds
    5. Dry Pomegranate seeds.

    Phew!! Hope I win the Kerala book, fingers crossed!

  28. Rachna on March 3rd, 2008 6:15 am

    Hey Siggy, you flashed seductive smiles at Bill gates !! oooooooo remindes me of a FRIENDS episode, heeee, you were right hey… im working on a asp.net with C# project in stamford CT now, C# is so hot in the US right now… anyway

    back to guessing the ingredients…
    1.) punjabi (amristsari) wadi
    2.) whole spices for achar (pickle)
    3.) arboro (risoto) rice
    4.) shahi jeera (? i think)
    5.) Anardana (dried pomegranate)

  29. TBC on March 3rd, 2008 7:36 am

    Sig, 202 was my 2nd apt… :smile:
    Congrats on completing this miletstone.It would be boring if we all did the same things. I like it that 202 is special for ya. :wink:

    Moving onto more important things now….:razz: :mrgreen:
    Here’s what I think…
    1.Punjabi wadis
    2.Panch Phoran
    3.Arborio rice
    4.Caraway seeds(shahjeera)
    5.Pomegranate seeds(anardana)

  30. Amudha on March 3rd, 2008 7:43 am

    #1 Thattai
    #2 Tadka ingredients.
    #3 White rice- long grain
    #4 Wild rice
    #5 Pomogranate seeds

  31. Laavanya on March 3rd, 2008 9:16 am

    The first paragraph sounds like me!!! I too often make all kinds of weird connections (esp. with nos.) :) So, it’s not weird-sounding, atleast to me…
    As for the guesses.. I’ll come back when I get more time and am more creative.

  32. Laavanya on March 3rd, 2008 9:16 am

    Sorry I forgot a very important thing in my previous comment - Congratulations!! :(Martini):

  33. shilpa on March 3rd, 2008 11:45 am

    Congratulations on 202nd post Sig. You have such a nice blog and I love it. Keep writing those beautiful posts.

    Lolol at “I have flashed him some of my most seductive smiles in the elevator a couple of times”…hahaha…

    The first pic looks like punjabi vadi and #2 panch phoron. I donno about others :(

  34. Pravs on March 3rd, 2008 11:54 am

    Wow, this is real tough !2 pic - Panch poran, 3pic - White medium grain raw rice, 4 pic -Roasted jeera, 5 pic - dry pomegranate seeds. I am still thinking about the first pic… :???:

  35. Shazia on March 3rd, 2008 12:59 pm

    Hi,
    I have been silently lurking around “LivetoEat” for several months now, but an introvert (and highly intimidated by food bloggers) that I am, never left a comment .Today, decided to join you in the celebration of your 202nd post (that number is special to me too!!) . I love your recipes and your writeups are fun and totally relatable.Good Job!!
    Thanks a bunch.
    Shazia

  36. richa on March 3rd, 2008 1:17 pm

    Congrats on the 202nd post sweetie :(Yes):
    am not sure if my previous comment went thru, here it is again:
    1. vaadiyan’
    2. panch phoron
    3. kali jira rice
    4. saah jira
    5. anardana

  37. Laavanya on March 3rd, 2008 1:26 pm

    Am back with my guesses:
    1) Punjabi wadis
    2) Panch Phoran
    3) Arborio Rice
    4) Wild Rice
    5) Have no idea that i can’t even give a shot!

  38. Mythili on March 3rd, 2008 2:47 pm

    Hey,
    So do we have to guess #1?

  39. Pooja V on March 3rd, 2008 4:02 pm

    The First One is Vadi like the Punjabi Vadi. In Konkani we call them Vadiyo.
    #2 - Panch Puran
    #3- Rice
    #4-Shahjeera
    #5-Anardana /Pomegranate Seeds

  40. Archana on March 3rd, 2008 4:21 pm

    Congratulations Sig,and here’s to another 202 more, and so on.

    1) Wadi
    2) Panch phoran mix- cumin,fennel, fenugreek,mustard,nigella seeds
    3) Arborio or Ponni :?:
    4)Kala jeera :?:
    5)Pom seeds

  41. Nimmi on March 3rd, 2008 6:08 pm

    Congratulations! I am bad at guessing games, but will try my luck for the other prizes. :???:

  42. sreelu on March 3rd, 2008 8:19 pm

    Sig Dear COngratulations !! and celebrations :(Beer): on your 202 post, almost seems like a code to be cracked by James Bond. I have the following as my guess #1 Urad dal vada( vadiyam)
    #2 paanch pooran #3 par boiled rice #4 brown rice and #5 some kind of beetle nut. I hope I win :mrgreen:

  43. Sandy on March 3rd, 2008 9:32 pm

    Hi Sig,

    I am going to join in on the fun :grin:

    Sandy

  44. Suganya on March 3rd, 2008 9:51 pm

    I am so tired now that I can hardly put my mind to work. Will come back tomorrow. Congrats on the 202. Not the freeway, but yr milestone :)

  45. rachel on March 3rd, 2008 11:17 pm

    1: :?:
    2: Assorted rice and grains
    3: Arborio Rice
    4: Wild Rice
    5: Coated grain :?:

    That was tough!

  46. Anu on March 4th, 2008 5:37 am

    Hi Sig, congragulations on ur 202 nd post :(Flower): and this seems to be cool quiz..well here goes my answers…
    1) called vadiyamin telugu - basically spice mixture dried out and used in curries or mayb some meat balls (knowing ur taste :-) !!)
    2) mixture of mustard, cumin, fenugreek seeds
    3) Ponni rice or boiled rice
    4)wild rice
    5) supari or mayb cloves…

    well wish me good luck sig as this is my first ever quiz i’m participating !!!

    cheers
    Anu

  47. Uma on March 4th, 2008 10:28 am

    I am unable to guess all of them. :sad: I can guess only one or two. The second pic is the mixture of mustard+cumin+fenugreek seeds. The third would be parboiled rice. :???:

    I am eager to know what other have said and who is that lucky winner.

  48. Nayana on March 4th, 2008 2:43 pm

    Sig,

    Here are my guesses:
    1)Punjabi Wadi(s)
    2) Mix of mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds.
    3)Raw rice
    4)Shahi Jeera
    5)Dried pomegranate seeds

    Waiting to hear what they actually are.

  49. Vani on March 4th, 2008 3:31 pm

    The only item I would venture to guess is #2 - I think it’s panchphoran. The rest - I can’t wait to hear what they are!

  50. Raaga on March 4th, 2008 11:18 pm

    #1: Vadi
    #2: Panch phoron (fenugreek, cumin, fennel, mustard, nigella)
    #3: Short grained rice
    #4: Unpolished brown rice? Unhusked rather.
    #5: Anardana

    I’m not giving up :-)

  51. Anita on March 5th, 2008 3:46 am

    #1 Punjabi wadi,
    #2 paanch phoran
    #3 err… rice?
    #4 kalijeeri
    #5 anardana!

    You’d probably like more on the rice…well…short grain white rice :D .

  52. sunita on March 5th, 2008 4:41 am

    Sig, I’m terrible at guessing games…the only one I’m sure of is the second picture of paach phoron :sad:

    Is the second picture, by any chance that of arborio rice :???: …well, at least, I tried :grin:

  53. Sonal on March 5th, 2008 7:44 am

    Hi Sig,
    I think your blog is incredible and it always astounds me how you find time to blog despite having a full time job and being married.
    Although I have been following your blog for a while now, I have never left a comment(on any blog).However, the temptation of winning “Modern Indian Cooking” or “Flavours of the Spice Coast” was a little too much for me :smile:
    I haven’t been able to guess all of the ingredients you showed (especially in light of all the incredibly knowledgeable food bloggers out there), hence my only hope is probably the random draw.
    Anyway, here are my answers:
    #1: Badi (In UP, we make a curry with these)
    #2: Panch Phoron (used in Bengali food)
    #3: Par boiled rice
    #4: Mulethi?
    #5: Could not guess this at all :smile:

    Keep up the good work! Happy blogging!

  54. RM on March 5th, 2008 10:02 am

    Dunno how, but through some othert blogs I found your blog and being a mallu and food lover, have been following your recipes. Keep ‘em coming.
    RM

  55. Nandita on March 6th, 2008 2:33 am

    Cant miss your landmark post sweetie…
    Taking part for fun of it…as couriering books till Bombay will cost more than the book itself…
    I bought Jamie O book last month, and spice coast have been eyeing in the bookstore, but because more than half is non vegetarian, I am discouraged.

    1. Wadi (Ground lentils with spices, sun dried - Punjab origin)

    2. Paach Phoron (bengali spice mix of fenugreek, cumin, mustard, fennel and nigella seeds)

    3. White rice :P

    4. Caraway seeds - shah jeera

    5. Looks like Forbidden rice, but the larger picture shows lot of uneven edges, which means it could be some spice I don’t know…

  56. Nandita on March 6th, 2008 2:34 am

    BTW saturday is march 8 na? :roll:

  57. Mamatha on March 6th, 2008 4:59 pm

    Congratulations on your milestone Sig!

    My guesses:
    1. Vadis
    2. Panch Phoran
    3. Arborio Rice
    4. Lavender blossoms?
    5. Dried pomegranate seeds

  58. Manasi on March 6th, 2008 11:17 pm

    :shock:
    1: Punjabi vadi
    2: Panch Phoron
    3: Short grained par boiled rice ( :roll: )
    4: Oh boy!! where do u get THAT? Shah Jeera ( :neutral: )
    5: Anardana
    :cry: why am I so bad at guessing games??? Why don’t u have easier items?? :evil:

  59. Manasi on March 6th, 2008 11:18 pm

    This one is just for the Milestone!! :(Yes): Good going Sig! Hope u reach MANY More!! :(Flower):

  60. Nupur on March 7th, 2008 4:54 am

    Ah, I think I now know what #5 really is :smile: saw a similar pic on another blog.
    Pomegranate seeds, is it??

  61. Lisha on March 7th, 2008 8:32 am

    I’m a non blogger but have been a lurker on your site since last year when i stumbled up on your blog searching for some recipe. I’m an avid foodie who loves to cook, bake, decorate cakes and try out new restaurants esp in the chicago area. Kudos to you on doing such a nice job with your website. :(Yes):
    Anyway here are my guesses
    #1- a concoction of # 2, 3, 4 and 5 :grin:
    #2 - A mixture of fennel, mustard, fenugreek and cumin
    # 3- Rice
    # 4- Kala Jeera :?:
    # 5- Star anise.. :?:

    Looking forward for more yummy recipes and reviews on ur blog..
    By the way i’m also a MACE product ..

  62. Uma on March 7th, 2008 6:38 pm

    Hi Sig,

    I think I got all of them now. Here is the list:
    1. Punjabi Masala Wadi - A dry Lentil Cake
    2. Seasoning Mix - Mustard Seeds+Cumin Seeds+Fenugreek Seeds+Fennel Seeds+Kalonji Seeds
    3. Parboiled Rice or Sticky Rice or Short grain Rice
    4. Wild Rice
    5. Green Cardamom Seed pods

    I cross my fingers. I hope they are right.
    :smile:

  63. Grilled Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad : Live To Eat on March 20th, 2008 10:07 pm

    […] thus creating a chain of friendship linking everyone together.  My dear friend Musical sent me a bunch of stuff weeks ago, which I still haven’t put to use. The main reason being that I haven’t been […]

  64. Raaga on April 25th, 2008 1:12 am

    Thanks sweetheart for a lovely book

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