Whole Wheat Veg–Cheese Pizza

 

I was inspired to make Pizza after viewing Nithya’s Pizza recipe the other day in her blog ( 4thsensecooking ). I did not want to use  all purpose flour , so made it using whole wheat flour. I prepared this on Sunday for dinner . My DH ,Cousin, mom and my daughter – everyone liked it.

Ingredients

For the base

Whole wheat flour –  1 cup

Yeast – 1/2 oz

Sugar – 3/4 oz

Salt – 1/4 oz

butter – 3/4 oz ( Best - use Olive oil )

warm water

For Pizza Sauce

Ripe Tomatoes – 3

Onions – 1/2

Garlic – 3 to  4 pods

Olive Oil – 2 tbsp

Italian seasoning – 1/2 tsp

Basil – 1/2 tsp

Oregano – 1/2 tsp

Parsley – 1/2 tsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Red chilly flakes – 3/4 tsp

Salt – as per taste ( I just added 1/4 tsp as we will have salt in cheese )

Toppings

Vegetables ( I used Onions . Green bell pepper , Orange and red bell pepper )

Mozzarella Cheese – shredded ( 1 1/2 cup )

Preparation

Mix Yeast , Sugar with warm water until it is dissolved. Slowly add this to the flour along with little salt and butter . Make a dough by adding enough water. Knead the dough atleast for about 15- 20 mins and leave the dough covered for about 45 mins - 1 hr until it has doubled the size. Meanwhile start preparing the Pizza sauce ( you can get it readymade , but I made it at home )

Sauce : Cut the onions and Garlic pods into very small pieces. Cut the tomatoes and grind it in the mixer. Heat up the pan and add Olive oil. Add Onions and fry it till it becomes translucent ( need not fry it well ) . Then add garlic and fry for sometime. Now add the Tomato puree and mix it. Once it starts to boil, lower the flame. Add Basil , Parsley , Italian seasoning, Salt , oregano , Chilli flakes and mix well until it becomes thicker.

Base : Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. Once the dough doubles , knead it and and roll it out on the floored work surface and transfer to Pizza dish or baking pan ( I just used the foil ) . Use a fork and make some perforation. Add the pizza sauce, then the vegetables toppings and add the cheese. Bake it for 15- 20 mins

Your Pizza is now ready to be served…

Maaladu

 

I have never heard of Maaladu until my marriage. This is one of the seer pakshanam that needs to be kept for Kalyanam or any function in my in laws side. For this year Diwali – My mom made this healthy and delicious sweet. It is very easier to prepare.

Below is the recipe

1. Potukadalai – 1 cup

2. Sugar – 1 cup

3. Ghee – 1/2 to 3/4 cup

4. Cardamom – 1 tsp ( Optional )

5. Cashews – few (Optional)

Preparation

1) Grind the Potukadalai and Sugar separately in a mixer for fine consistency . In a pan, heat the ghee ( 1/4 cup ) . Mix Potukadalai powder and sugar. Add the warm ghee in to the mixture ( Ghee should be warm enough such that, you should get a shhhh sound when you pour into the mixture ) . Mix it well and make small balls.

You can keep this potukadalai / sugar powder handy and when ever you want to make the maaladu’s you can just warm the ghee and quickly make the  balls.

Sending this to Serve it –Festival Series hosted by Denny and Krithi.
Also sending to Kushi's event - MyDiwali My way

Anu's event - Festival of lights

Mullu Murukku

Happy Diwali to all my friends. Let this Diwali bring you happiness , joy and laughter forever..
Below is a short  Diwali wishes poem from my DH. ( I converted to Tamil . I know it is good to read this in our own language )

அனைவர்க்கும் இனிய தீபாவளி வாழ்த்துக்கள்
கரகோஷம் நிறைந்த நன்நாள்
புத்தாடை அணிந்து இனிப்பு காரங்களுடன்

பட்டாசு முழக்கத்தின் சத்தத்தில்

தொலைக்காட்சி தொகுப்பலை கண்டு ரசித்து

மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் கொண்டாடுவோம் திருநாளை
நல்லதெல்லாம் பெருக அமைதி நிலை பெற
வையகம் என்னும் வாசுதேவ குடும்பத்தை வளம் பெற செய்வோம்

My mom is here with us to celebrate Diwali and we decided to make Mullu murukku / Ribbon pakora ,Maaladu and Almond Burfi. For my daughter , I told my mom to make some omapodi. Our Cousin who is staying with us mentioned that he is missing his grand mom’s ukkarai very much.. In my side , we don’t prepare ukkarai and my in laws side , they make it.. so my mom decided to make ukkarai .. since it was first time , it did not come that very well. although the taste was very good . I am hoping that I will have some time to post all these recipes.
Actually I lost my Murukku press while we shifted our apartment and we searched the entire house last month and couldn’t find it. So I asked my aunt ( my athai ) to get it from Chennai and give to our friend’s parents . Since it was a new one , we had trouble pressing it initally..
Anyways here is the recipe for Murukku
Ingredients
Pottukadalai ( Dhaliya ) – 1 cup
Rice flour – 1 cup
Moong dhal powder – 1 cup
Butter – 1 tsp
Sesame seeds – 2 tsp ( white ) – optional
Salt – as per taste
Asafoetida – a pinch.
Chilli powder – optional ( I did not use it )
Oil for frying
Preparation
Dry roast Moong dhal until you get a nice aroma. Cool it and powder it smoothly ( you may have to sieve and grind it ) . Grind pottukadalai also to a smooth flour. Mix Rice flour , Moong dhal powder and pottukadalai along with salt , sesame seeds , butter by adding  water to a soft dough. Heat the oil in Kadai.
Take a handful of dough and put it in murukku press. Make round shape by pressing it in the oil ( you can also press it in the ladle and then transfer to oil ) Turn the murukku and Fry it until it is crispy, Remove the excess oil by draining in paper. Store it in airtight container.

 

Sending this to Serve it –Festival Series hosted by Denny and Krithi.

Also sending to Kushi's event - MyDiwali My way  

 

Anu's event - Festival of lights

Radhika’ event – Sweets and Savories

Mysore Rasam

 

Rasam is traditional south Indian soup usually taken with rice. I prepared this for lunch today along with Raw Banana / Vaazhaikkai fry.

Ingredients

1. Tamarind –  lemon size ball

2. Tomato – 1 big

3. Turmeric – 1/ 4 tsp.

4. Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp..

5. Salt – as per taste

6. Masoor dhal – 1/2 cup cooked.

7. Coriander leaves – little.

For grinding

1. Masoor dhal – 2 tsp.

2. Chana Dhal – 1 tsp.

3. Grated Coconut – 5 tsp

4. Jeera – 1/2 tsp

5. Whole pepper – 1 tsp

6. Coriander seeds – 1 tsp

7. Red chillies – 4

For Seasoning

1. Ghee – 2 tsp.

2. Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp.

3. Jeera – 1/2 tsp.

Preparation

Pressure cook Masoor dhal along with little turmeric for 3 whistles.

Add the tamarind in a small bowl along with water and microwave for 1 minute.Allow it to cool and extract the tamarind juice. In a vessel , Add the tomatoes along with tamarind juice , turmeric , Asafoetida , Salt and boil it for sometime. In a kadai , Dry roast all the grinding  ingredients except grated coconut first and keep it separately. Roast the grated coconut separately. Grind the roasted ingredients by adding water to coarse paste.

Add the paste to the tamarind / tomato mixture and boil it. Add masoor dhal along with some more water and keep stirring until bubbles comes up.

Add Coriander leaves. In a kadai , Add 2 tsp ghee , Add mustard seeds and Jeera and once it splutters add it the Rasam.

Mouth watering Mysore rasam is now ready to be served with rice.

 

Raw Banana / Vaazhaikkai Fry

 

This Vazhaikkai fry is a traditional recipe and it goes very well with Sāmbhar / rasam and curd rice. For Today’s lunch , I decided to make this along with Mysore Rasam.

Ingredients

Raw Banana / Vaazhaikkai – 5

Salt – as per taste

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp.

Asafoetida – 3/4 tsp.

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp.

Oil – 3 to 4  tbsp. ( I used Olive oil )

Mustard – for seasoning

Preparation

1) Remove the skin of banana using a peeler  and cut the vaazhaikkai into small cubes and put in water. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.  Once it splutters , Add the chopped vaazhaikkai. Add Turmeric powder , Asafoetida , Salt and chilli powder . Mix it and add oil and keep frying till the banana is cooked well and it becomes little crispy.

Serve it with Rice and Sambhar / Rasam or Curd…

Chola fali - For Indian Cooking Challenge

 

This month Srivalli came up with a Gujarati Snack for Indian Cooking challenge – Chola fali. I have tasted few Gujarati snacks before, but have not heard of this. There were two different version of the recipe to choose from and I chose Lataji’s version. I was able to get Mathia flour from Indian stores . Below is the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Besan flour – 1 cup
2. Mathia Flour – 1 cup
3. Salt – as per taste ( I added 1/4 tsp )
4. Baking soda – a pinch
5. Ghee - 1 tbsp.
6. Water - To make the dough
7. Oil - as required ( to pound the dough and for rolling )
8. Black Salt – 1 tbsp.. ( for sprinkling )
9. Chilli powder 1 tbsp.. ( for sprinkling )

Preparation

In a bowl , Sieve the Besan flour and Mathia Flour and add the cooking soda . In a pan , add the Salt , warm it for few mins and add it to the flour mix.

Add Ghee , mix the flour along with little water to form a stiff dough. Rest the dough for few mins. Before starting to roll , knead the flour again adding few drops of oil now and then. Repeat it until you feel the dough feels elastic and light. Keep the dough covered while making the rolls to avoid drying.

Take small balls , Grease the surface with liitle oil and roll as thin as possible. Cut out thin strips.

Deep fry the strips few at a time in oil. Fry them until it is crispy and transfer to container.

Add the black salt and chilli powder and sprinkle it while warm .  ( I added only little chilli powder and salt so that I can give few to my daughter as well.)

Notes : Dough needs to be stiff. Roll it very thin such that it is transparent. Otherwise the falis becomes soggy. Roasting the salt ensures that falis don’t become oily.

Oats Banana Raisin Muffin

I got the muffin pan few months back but never had a chance to make it . I made these muffins for breakfast on Saturday. It was a very simple , healthier and yummy breakfast and we all enjoyed it. I think I will start making this very often with different ingredients and make it more healthier…
Ingredients

• Oats – 1 1/2 cup
• Wheat flour – 1/2 cup
• Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Baking powder – 2 tsp
• Ripe Bananas – 2
• Milk – 1 cup ( whole organic milk )
• Oil – 3/4 cup ( I felt 1/2 cup would be sufficient )
• Water – 3/4 cup
• Raisins – handful

                          
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 300°F . Mix Oats , Wheat flour , Brown Sugar , Baking powder in one bowl. Add Milk , Oil , water and whisk it well in another bowl and add the mashed bananas. Now pour this into the dry mixture and mix it well. Add the raisins. Grease the muffin pan and pour the mixture into each muffin tin ( 3/4 th) and bake it for 25 – 30 mins. Remove the pan and serve it warm.


I was able to make 12 muffins. My daughter , DH and  mom loved this tasty and healthy muffin.


sending this to ABC Series : B for banana event hosted by Ramya

Mor kali

This is one of my favorites. My mom and paati make this for evening tiffin during school / college days. It is very easy and simple evening snack.
Ingredients
Rice flour batter – 1 1/2 cup ( or use ready made Rice flour )
Buttermilk – 1 cup
salt – as per taste
Oil –  5 to 6 tsp
Seasoning
Asafoetida – 3/4 tsp
Mustard – 1 tsp
urad dhal – 1 tsp
Mor milagai ( or red chillies ) – 4 to 5
Preparation
1. Mix Rice flour batter or rice flour with buttermilk and salt. The mixture should be very thin, you can also add water to make the mixture thin.
2. Add oil and fry the mor milagai till it becomes black and keep aside.
3. Add oil in kadai , Add mustard seeds , urad dhal , Asafoetida , curry leaves. then add red chillies or fried mor milagai.
4. Add the mixture in kadai now and keep stirring. Add oil again and keep stirring for 10- 15 mins.
5. Soak your hand in cold water and touch the mixture. if it does not stick to your hand , then it means the right consistency.
6. Grease the plate with little oil and pour the mixture and flatten it. Allow it to cool
7. Cut into desired shape and serve it.

Notes
I used Idly rice batter for this recipe . When making idly batter , soak additional rice for making this recipe , Grind it and take 1 1/2 cup of batter and save it in refrigerator  or use ready  made rice flour.
I felt this recipe tasted very good using rice batter when compared to regular rice flour we get in US.