Margarita Pizza

One of my friend taught me this recipe and it has become very popular in my home since then. The versatility, the quickness and various modifications which can be make to this basic pizza recipe make it more interesting to make. I have in my mind to post the different kinds of pizza I have tried including a dessert pizza which I made watching the recipe on TLC's "Take home Chef". Taking "little things" into consideration like using fat-free cheese can go a long way to make this recipe healthier. I am sending this recipe to events hosted by Poornima and Bindiya.


Ingredients
1 portion of pizza dough
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (use fat-free if you want to make it healthier)
4 tablespoon tomato sauce or as desired
2 tomatoes de-seeded or sliced or chopped
10-12 basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon powdered Parmesan cheese

Method

Knead the pizza dough well for 5 minutes. Starting from the center of the dough stretch the pizza dough with your fingers to make a round shape. Alternatively you can also roll it using a rolling pin or "belan" into a round shape to fit your pizza pan or pizza stone. Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza dough. Then top with tomato slices or pieces and basil leaves. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the pizza. Bake it at 500 degrees for 10-13 minutes or till the cheese has melted and golden in color. Don't over bake it, otherwise it will turn crispy and hard.


Swirl some olive oil on the pizza. Sprinkle pepper flakes and parmesan cheese and serve it hot.

Pizza Tomato Sauce

This is the recipe for the tomato sauce used for making pizza.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
2 cups canned tomato pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoon butter
3 cloves of garlic
pepper powder as per taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt for taste

Method
Chop the onion and garlic finely. Take butter in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Saute for 8-10 minutes on medium flame till the onion and garlic are well cooked the raw smell is not present. The onion should not burn or stick to the pan. Add canned tomatoes, oregano and the tomato paste. Cook for 20 minutes. Add salt, sugar and pepper as per taste. Cool the sauce before use.

Pizza Dough

Recently one of my friend taught me how to make basic pizza dough at home. It is very relaxing to come back home from work knowing that the pizza dough waiting in the fridge to be topped with vegetables and sauce and baked in a matter of 10 minutes. This pizza dough can be made in advance and stored in the freezer. I cut the dough into sections sufficient to make single pizza and then store the pieces in separate ziplock bags. When ever I plan to make a pizza, I take the ziplock bag from the freezer a day in advance and store it in the refrigerator, so that it de-freezes and can be then used to make a pizza.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup maida or all purpose flour (if you are not using whole wheat flour, use 2 cups all purpose flour)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or chappati atta
1 packet instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon oil (best if olive oil is used)

Method

Take a cup of warm water and mix in sugar, oil and salt in it. Add the yeast powder and mix well. Add the flours and make a loose dough. Knead it well for around 10-15 minutes. The dough should not be sticky nor too hard. If the dough is too dry, more water can be added while kneading it. If th dough is too wet, add some more flour to it.
Place it in a bowl and cover it with a wet cloth and keep it in a warm place for around 40 minutes. The dough will rise to double its original size. Knead the dough again for 10 minutes. This dough can be used instantly or kept in a freezer. Keep it in the refrigerator or at room temperature to de-freeze it. The dough should be at normal temparature before using it. Use this to make any kind of pizza.

Bread Fruit Sabzi / Jeev Kadgi Upkari

Bread fruit or Jeev kadgi as we call it in Konkani is one of my favorite vegetable. It is mostly grown in south Indian states like Karnataka or Kerala. I was also surprised to know that people in Polynesian islands and West Indies also use bread fruit in the local cuisine.

This is how it looks when it cut.

We make fritters (phodi ), bhajiya or sabzi (upkari in Konkani) using this vegetable. I usually bought canned breadfruit until I found that Coconut Hill in Sunnyvale sold fresh bread fruit. I made phodi and upkari from it.

Phodi

Click here for recipe of phodi.

Ingredients
2 cups thinly chopped bread fruit
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 green chili
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoon grated coconut
1 teaspoon coconut oil or any other oil
salt for taste

Method

Chopped Breadfruit Pieces

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter add urad dal and slit green chilies. Fry for a moment and add the chopped bread fruit pieces. Add one cup water and cook covered till the bread fruit is soft. Garnish with grated coconut.

Palak Dal / Indian Lentils with Spinach

There are a zillion ways to make dal. This recipe is just more than the normal dal and any green leafy vegetable like palak or spinach, methi, malabar spinach can be added to it. I got this recipe from my friend Pri. She is a great cook and is a very patient and meticulate in her cooking methods. The last time we had lunch together she had got this dal and I took the recipe from her. This dal is very easy to prepare and goes well with roti too.

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
1 bunch palak or spinach
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of heeng
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oil or ghee
salt for taste


Method
Wash and chop the palak and the tomato. Wash the dal and keep aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric powder and chili powder. Add chopped palak and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and stir for 2 minutes. Add the dal and 2 1/2 cups of hot water. Pressure cook till the dal is soft. Serve with roti or rice.

Capsicum Peanut Curry

This is a colorful curry made from capsicum, peanuts and tomato. This is my mom's recipe which I used to love during my childhood days. This is a different kind of curry as compared to the other Konkani curries as it uses soaked peanuts. The peanuts need to be soaked for around 1- 1/2 day so that it sprouts. The water in which the peanuts are soaked needs to be changed every 6-8 hours. If you find sprouted peanuts in your local market you can use those too. My mother also uses a little rice to thicken the curry. This curry goes well with rice and dal.

Ingredients
1 green capsicum or bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes
1 cup soaked peanuts
1 tablespoon rice (uncooked)
1 cup coconut
3-4 red chilies or as per taste
small piece of tamarind
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida or hing
7 curry leaves
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Boil or pressure cook the peanuts with a little salt till soft. Chop the capsicum and tomato into one inch by one inch pieces. Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan and fry the capsicum till soft. Take care not to burn it..so fry it on low or medium flame. After it is soft on all sides add the tomato and fry it for 5 minutes. Add the peanuts and switch off the flame. Fry the rice in a seasoning pan on a low flame till it is crisp. Grind the coconut, tamarind, red chilies and rice into a fine paste. Add this masala to the vegetables and cook covered and get the curry to a boil. Add salt as per taste. Season with mustard seeds, asaoetida and curry leaves.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2-3