INDIAN VEG PIZZA..

Hi there ,welcome to my blog.Today we are going to learn how to preapare indian vegitable pizza.LET'S GET STARTED...




making the vegetarian pizza base:


1: dissolve the sugar in warm water and add dry active yeast to it.

2: stir the whole mixture and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.

3: when the yeast is getting doubled up, take a cup of flour with salt in a bowl. mix well. add olive oil.

4: after 10-15 minutes the yeast will bubble and you will see a good frothy layer on top.

5: now add the frothy yeast mixture to the flour. with a whisk or wooden spoon stir the mixture.

6: add another cup of flour and keep on stirring.

7: the mixture will become sticky.

8: add the last cup of flour and continue to stir.

9: the dough will leave the sides of the bowl but still will be a bit sticky.

10: its time now to knead the dough with the hand. knead the dough to a smooth dough. dust with flour to prevent sticking. the dough will be soft and elastic. apply some olive oil to the dough all around.

11: keep the dough in deep large bowl and cover loosely with a kitchen napkin or towel for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

12: mama mia….. after 2 hours the dough has beautifully risen and doubled up to what you see below.

13: i had planned to make the pizza the next day, so i wrapped the dough tightly in a cling film and kept in the fridge. if you plan to make the pizza right away then flatten the dough to a disk. then start rolling the dough.

14: the next morning i removed the pizza dough from the fridge and if you compare the two pics, the dough was getting leavened even in the fridge.

15: defrosted at room tempeature for about 45 minutes before i started making the pizza.

making the tomato pizza sauce:

1: chop the tomatoes directly. or blanch them and then chop the tomatoes. i chose the second method as then less cooking is involved when making the sauce. instead of chopping you can also puree the tomatoes.

2: in a pan heat olive oil and add chopped garlic to it. fry the garlic for a minute.

3: now add the chopped tomatoes. stir and let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes more.

4: when the tomatoes are getting simmered, slice the onion, capsicum and olives.

5: instead of sauting the veggies lightly i marinated them for 15 minutes with olive oil, basil and oregano.

6: the tomatoes are softened now. add the herbs, salt, crushed black pepper.

7: mix well and cook for a few more minutes.

8. aha….. the pizza sauce is ready.

assembling the vegetarian pizza:

1: preheat the oven to 200 degress C. grease the baking pan with olive oil & then dust it with maize flour/corn meal, semolina or flour.

2: take a large ball from the dough. i made three medium sized pizzas from this dough. you can use the whole dough to make an extra large pizza or even make two large pizzas.

3: flatten the dough into a disk. now on a floured surface with a rolling pin roll the dough ball into a large round or oval shape of about 1/4 inch thickness. roll the dough from the center towards the outer edges. you may have to dust the surface with flour. the dough is extremely elastic. so be careful while rolling the dough.

4: place the pizza base in the baking pan. be careful as the dough has so much elasticity, it just stretches more when you place it. do this work of placing very gently. brush the surface with olive oil.

5: spread the tomato pizza sauce on the pizza.

6: top up with the veggies and olives.

7: sprinkle generous amount of mozarella or pizza cheese.

8: baking time now….. bake the veg pizza in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees C till the base becomes golden brown and the cheese on top melts and gets browned.

9: pizza time…. yay… the pizza is ready and out of the oven.

10: serve the vegetarian pizza immediately with tomato sauce and the herbs.

JILEBI

Hi there,welcome to my blog.Today we are going to learn how to make jilebi.Lets get started.







1. in a mixing bowl, take 1 cup (125 grams) all purpose flour or maida. add 2 tbsp besan or gram flour, a pinch of baking soda and ⅛ tsp turmeric powder. use ¼ tsp baking powder if you do not have baking soda.

2. mix all the above dry ingredients with a spoon or spatula.

3. then add water. the amount of water to be added depends on the quality of flour used. i added 1 cup water. depending on the quality of flour and besan, you can add from ¾ to 1 cup water. the batter has to be of medium consistency and flowing.

4. with the spatula or spoon, first mix. break the small or tiny lumps with the spatula or spoon while mixing. you can also use your hands for mixing.

5. then in round circular directions stir the batter briskly for 4 to 5 minutes. this adds volume to the batter and makes it even, flowing and smooth. there should be no lumps in the batter.

6. the batter should have a flowing consistency. cover and keep the batter to ferment in a warm place for 12 to 15 hours. i kept for 15 hours. if you live in a cold climate, you can keep for 20 to 24 hours.

7. this is how the batter looks the next day. you will see small bubbles on the top.

8. stir the batter and if you carefully see, the batter has become slightly thinner than what it was before fermentation.

9. so to thicken the batter again, add 1 to 2 tbsp of all purpose flour. at this step, add flour accordingly.now you need to get a batter which is thick but flowing. so you can add either 1 to 2 tbsp of flour

10. with a spoon mix very well.

11. now pour this batter in the squeezy tomato ketchup bottles that we get in the market. you can also use coconut shell and make a small hole in it. you can also use a piping bag or make your own with butter paper. depending on the capacity of the bottle, you can pour less or more.

preparing sugar syrup for jalebi recipe:

1. take 1 cup sugar in a pan. add ¼ tsp saffron strands to it. do add saffron as it gives a nice orange yellow color and also its aroma to the jalebis. and in case, if you do not have saffron, then add ½ tsp cardamom powder for aroma and ⅛ tsp of turmeric powder or natural yellow or orange color extract for color.

2. add ½ cup water.

3. keep this pan on stove top on low flame and begin to stir, so that the sugar dissolves.

4. on a low to medium flame, cook the sugar syrup. stir at intervals.

5. cook till you get one string consistency in the sugar syrup.

6. once you get the one string consistency, switch off the flame and add ¼ tsp lime or lemon juice. stir well. keep the sugar syrup on the burner itself so that it remains warm when you add the jalebis in it.

frying jalebis:

1. heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or pan. use a heavy kadai or pan for even and better frying. you can also use ghee or half-half of oil and ghee. ghee gives a better flavor.

2. to check the temperature of oil, add a tiny amount of batter to the oil. if it comes up quickly and gradually the oil is hot enough for the jalebis to be fried. the frying temperature is 350 degrees fahrenheit/176 degrees celsius.

3. now squeeze the bottle and make concentric rings with the batter.

4. either start from the center and move outside or vice versa. be careful while making the jalebis as the oil is hot.

5. you won’t get perfect shapes as the jalebis keep on moving while you make the circles. this does require practice and it also depends on what equipment you are using to make the jalebis.

6. when one side is partly cooked, turn over and fry the other side.

7. some jalebis will cook faster than others.

8. fry till the oil stops sizzling and the jalebis are a light golden. remove with a tong or a bamboo skewer. while removing shake to drain the extra oil.

9. then immediately put the fried jalebis in the sugar syrup. the sugar syrup should be slightly hot or warm when you add the jalebis in it.

10. with a wooden skewer or tongs or spoon, turn over after a minute so that both sides are coated with the syrup.

11. keep them in the syrup for about 2 to 3 minutes. if you keep for two minutes, they will be lightly colored and if you keep for 3 minutes, they will have a deep color.

12. remove with a wooden skewer or tongs. shake lightly so that the excess sugar syrup falls back in the pan. place them in a plate or tray lined with a foil or butter paper.

13. prepare all jalebis this way. its better to have a help while doing so. otherwise its kind of multi tasking.

14. serve jalebis hot, warm or at room temperature. the leftovers can be kept in an air-tight container and refrigerated.