Home made from scratch pizza

 

My long journey in making Pizza from scratch was inspired by the below recipe from BuzzFeed. I watch it once every time I make pizza at home.

The Best Homemade Pizza You'll Ever Eat

Here are my changes to above recipe:

a. For making the dough is I use 5 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups of bread flour

b. Another option is to use 00 flour from Italy instead of 5 cups of all-purpose flour. With this flour your pizza can be extremely thin with crust.

c. The 7 cups makes 4 large pizzas. You can cut the recipe into half to make 2 pizzas.

Making the pizza:

- Apply little bit of olive oil on the pizza pan

- Roll the crust on the pan

- Spread a thin layer of the sauce (tomato or basil pesto); Once you like basil pesto, you will never go back to tomato sauce!

- Sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella cheese

- Start layering your toppings; do not pile up too much of each topping. For a vegetarian pizza the toppings we use include

○ Finely chopped red onion

○ Cut bell pepper (any color)

○ Pineapple pieces (canned)

○ Green olives (canned) each cut into half

○ Tomatoes cut into small pieces. Alternate is slices.

○ Mushrooms sliced

- We add chopped pickled Jalapenos, crushed red pepper, chopped garlic. Also I add chopped fresh rosemary and oregano

- Sprinkle Italian seasoning (ours is from Costco) evenly on the top of the pizza

- Finally add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, sprinkled across the pizza on the top

Baking the pizza:

Every oven can cook differently. Here are the settings I use.

- Pre-heat to 400 degrees F

- Place your pizza in the oven and cook for 12 minutes

- Upon completion, turn on BROIL mode in high heat and cook for 3 minutes

- Remove your pizza IMMEDIATELY and cut into slices after a couple of minutes of cooling

Topping after cooking:

- Sometimes we would use tomato slices on top of each pizza slice

- Sprinkle fresh chopped basil on each slice

Enjoy your pizza

Mexican style black bean - eat with quesadilla and guacamole

 Recipe for 4 people

 

Ingredients:

 

Black Beans - 2 cups (Safeway has organic black beans)

 

Jalapeno peppers 1 or 2

Taco Seasoning - 1st choice Safeway organic seasoning, 2nd choice Trader Joes

 

Large red onion 1

Large tomato - 1

Cilantro chopped 2-3 table spoons

Green lime - 1/2

Garlic 2 pods

 

Procedure

After dinned or before going to bed, In instant pot, place the black beans , rinse and wash once an drain

Add 5 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook 25 minutes, hit delay start and cancel stay warm

 

Next day morning in a pan add 2 tsp cooking oil and add the chopped onions and fry 2 minutes

Add the chopped garlic, Jalapenos split into 2 and tomato

Add 2 teaspoons of Taco Seasoning

Add 1 teaspoon salt

 

Mix well and cook for 5 minutes

 

Turn off heat and add the cilantro and give a good mix

 

Add the onion/tomato mixture fried into the instant pot and mix well. Add water if consistency needs adjustments

 

At this point you can hit the slow cook button and let is simmer till lunch time for 3-4 hours.

Alternately you can pour the black beans into the pan with onion/tomato mixture, heat up for 2-3 minutes.

 

Squeeze half a lime and mix, your black bean is ready to eat.

 

Enjoy your black beans with quesadilla and guacamole

 

You can also make a nice Mexican style salad with the black beans

Super quick Baingan Bhartha (Eggplant Curry Masala)

 

Ingredients

Large Purple Eggplant (baingan) - 2

Large red (or yellow) onion - 1

Large tomatoes - 2

Garlic pods - 2-3

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Green chilly - 1

Cilantro - 2 tablespoons chopped

Fennel seeds (saunf)

Red chilly powder - about 1/8th teaspoon

Curry powder OR MDH Sabji Masala OR MDH Kitchen King OR Garam Masala - 1.5 teaspoons

Procedure - preparation - 5 minutes

Wash the 2 Eggplants, dry them and using a knife make a couple of cuts on the eggplant. Do not cut the eggplant, just make incisions to let the steam escape.

Preheat oven to 400 F and place the 2 eggplants on a oven safe pan or container; bake for 60 minutes

After 60 minutes, remove the eggplant and let it cool. If you want to use the next day, let the eggplant cool fully and refrigerate.

For a workday, I cook the eggplant during dinner time, let cool and refrigerate it. Next morning finishing takes 5 minutes.

Finishing procedure - about 5-7 minutes

Coarse cut the onions and tomatoes and keep separately

Chop the garlic, green chilly and ginger

Cut the top of the cooked eggplant and gently remove the skin. On the cutting board coarse cut the cooked eggplant (without skin)

Heat a pan, add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil

Add fennel seeds, as they are turning slightly brown add the onions, ginger, garlic and green chilly

Fry till the onions are cooked. Add a teaspoon of ghee to make the onions (and the dish) aromatic.

Add the tomatoes, Curry/Sabji Masala/Kitchen King powders and add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil

Also add the red chilly powder (do not add with Kitchen King as it is already spicy)

On medium heat, mix the tomatoes, onions, spice powers etc and cook till it get mushy. Turn off heat at this time.

Add the cut eggplant to the mix above. Use a handle blender to coarse blend the eggplant, onion-tomato mix. Add chopped cilantro to this.

Bring the pan to medium heat and stir the mix for 1-2 minutes.

At this point your Baingan Bhartha or Eggplant Curry Masala is ready to be enjoyed with roti, naan or any bread of your choice. If you have cooked basmati rice, you can add a plain dal to enjoy the rice with the Bhartha.

Roasted Bell Pepper (Simla Mirchi) Raita (Yoghurt sauce)

 I make 2 versions of the Roasted Bell Pepper Raita. One with red bell pepper and other with green. Red seems to go well with north Indian dishes and green with south Indian food. I am sure they can be interchanged; I haven't tried them yet.

Red Bell Pepper Raita (for North Indian dishes)

Ingredients

Red Bell pepper - large - 1

Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1/2 teaspoon

Red chili - 1

Chat Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Hing (Asafoetida) - 1/8 teaspoon

Salt 1/3 spoon

Cilantro - 1 tablespoon chopped

Yoghurt plain - 1/2 cup

Method

If using an air fryer, set to 400 degrees F and time about 18 minutes (adjust based on your model/make)

make a few incisions on the bell pepper and roast it. Let it cool completely.

Alternately you can also roast in an oven or on a gas flame/grill.

Once cooled, remove the skin of the bell pepper and cut into large pieces.

In a mixer grinder, add the bell pepper, jeera, chilli, chat masala, hing, cilantro and salt and make a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl, add half cup yoghurt and mix well Taste and adjust the salt. If too spicy add little more yoghurt and mix well. It should be tangy, spicy at the same time. Enjoy this as a side dish with your favorite pulav/biryani/roti/naan etc

Green Bell Pepper Raita/kichdi (for south Indian dishes):

Ingredients

Green Bell pepper - large - 1

Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1/2 teaspoon

Red chili - 1

Salt 1/3 spoon

Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves

Coconut grated - 2 tablespoons

Yoghurt plain - 1/2 cup

Method

If using an air fryer, set to 400 degrees F and time about 18 minutes. (adjust based on your model/make)

make a few incisions on the bell pepper and roast it. Let it cool completely.

Alternately you can also roast in an oven or on a gas flame/grill.

Once cooled, remove the skin of the bell pepper and cut into large pieces.

In a mixer grinder, add the bell pepper, jeera, chilli, coconut, curry leaves, and salt and make a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl, add half cup yoghurt and mix well Taste and adjust the salt. If too spicy add little more yoghurt and mix well. It should be tangy, spicy at the same time. Heat pan in a small pan, add 1 teaspoon oil and half teaspoon black mustard seeds. Once they splutter add it to the bowl and mix with the kichdi/raita.

Enjoy this as a side dish with your favorite south Indian food. It also works great as a side for idli and dosa.

Mushroom Matar (Pattani in Tamil) Kurma recipe

We made the Mushroom Matar (Pattani) Kurma recipe based on the video from Chef Deena. It came out really awesome. The instructions were in Tamil language, turn on subtitles for instructions in English.

https://youtu.be/v28scCbVx8Y?si=by43hyOlycy2hiP8

I made a couple of changes to the recipe.

a. After all the onion, spices, tomatoes were cooked, I made a coarse paste with them. This allows all the spices to be ground and integrated with the gravy.

b. I added above gravy and then added the coconut and cashew nut paste, added the mushroom and peas, boiled for a few minutes.

c. I sliced the fresh mushrooms and boiled them in a separate saucepan with some water, so they cook and become tender. 

d. Since I used frozen organic green peas, I placed the peas in a porcelain bowl, added water and drained the water. Next, I added some water to the peas and microwaved for 2 minutes so they were cooked and soft.

Enjoy with your favorite roti, naan, paratha, basmati rice or jeera rice,

Organic butternut squash baked with black/kidney beans (Mexican style) with guacamole, cheese with side of roasted potatoes

Organic butternut squash baked with black/kidney beans (Mexican style) with guacamole, cheese with side of roasted potatoes. 

Great dish with no added carbs barring the optional potatoes. Very nutritious, high fiber and lots of protein as well from the beans and cheese.

20 min prep time.

Ingredients needed:

Black beans dry - 1.5 cups (or 2 cans or Organic black beans)

Tomatoes - 2

Red Onion - 1

Jalapeno Pepper - 1

Organic Butternut Squash - Medium size - 2

Potatoes (Red or white) 6-8

Black Beans Prep: Do this the night before - 5 minutes

Add 1.5 cups dry black beans to an instant pot, wash them in water and drain.  Add 4.5 cups of fresh water, half teaspoon salt. Close the instant pot lid and set to sealing. Select Pressure Cook for 30 minutes and Select delay start of 6 hours.

The black beans will soak overnight and be cooked when you wake up!

If you do not want to use fresh beans, use 2 Organic Black Beans can, fully drained and rinsed with water.

In the morning, drain the cooked black beans in a medium saucepan and add coarsely cut 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 jalapeno split vertically, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 spoon paprika or 1/8 spoon red chilli powder, 1.5 teaspoons Taco Seasoning and boil for 5 minutes. Add some chopped cilantro in the end.

I prefer the Trader Joes Taco seasoning or Safeway brand Organic packet.

Baking the squash: You can do this in the morning - 5-7 minutes

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F

Wash the squash and dry them. Trim the top slightly and cut in the middle to make 2 halves. See picture for reference (baked butternut squash - Search (bing.com))

Remove all the seeds and fiber in the core. Take half a spoon Olive oil and apply to the inside of the squash (not exterior skin side).

Sprinkle some salt and pepper on all the squash halves (after applying Olive oil).

Place the squash face down (i.e. skin side on top) on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour.

Roasted potatoes - 5 minutes

Since your oven is going to be working for an hour, this is an appetizer you can make at the same time.

Wash and dry the potatoes. Take the potatoes and cut into half. add them to a small baking pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil, pinch of ground black pepper. Now you can add rosemary or Italian seasoning. Another option is to add some Taco Seasoning. Mix them well so all surfaces are fully coated. Place the baking pan next to the sheet with the squash.

Guacamole: 5 minutes

Scoop out 1-2 ripe avocados in a bowl and add half a teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Taco Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon fresh Cilantro, 1/2 lime juice and mash/mix well.

Assembling: 5 minutes

Once the squash is baked, beans & guacamole are ready then you can assemble.

Take a baked squash and fill with black beans, top with cilantro and some Mexican cheese on top.

Enjoy your meal! See the pictures below.

Kesar Pista kulfi

Ingredients

Whole milk 4 cups (1 liter - 1000 ml)

Saffron ( kesar) strands about 10

Pistachio kernel without shell 20-25

Whole raw cashews ( not salted) 10

Cardamom pods 3

Sugar 1/3 cup

Procedure

Bring the milk to a boil in a thick bottom vessel

Take out about 4 tablespoons milk and transfer to a cup. Add the saffron strands and keep aside

Lower the heat to mediums or low and continue till volume of the milk reduces by half

Make a coarse powder of the pistachio,  cashew and cardamom kernels.  Discard the cardamom pod skin

Add the saffron soaked milk with strands, sugar and pistachio/cashew powder to the milk and heat for 2 minutes. Turn off heat completely. 

Let milk mixture cool down to room temperature 

Pour the mixture into popsicle mould or small Dixie cups. Seal the top with aluminum foil. Insert a popsicle stick if available from the top through the foil.

Freeze overnight or for 8 hours minimum.

Remove foil and kulfi from mould.  Enjoy your home made Kesar pista kulfi!