cauliflower subzi...a different style

       cauliflower is a vegetable i love to eat...some times  i   used to just stir fry it adding little bit of salt and tossing ina few split green chillies  and used go have it with chappathies or even wid rice...i love  chilli gobi, gobi manjurian in the kerala style..,aloo gobi , etc etc...
       recently  a friend suggested marinating cauliflower and microwaving it...this  recipe stemmed from that idea but is solely my handi work
Ingredients

 1.cauliflower- 1 medium sized cut into florets

2.for marinade

  chilli powder- 2 tsp
  coriander powder - 1 tsp
  turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
  curd - 1 tbsp
  oil- 2 tbsp
     
              first  wash the cauliflower in running water ....then cut it into florets and keep it dipped in salt solution for 10 minutes....this will remove any pesticide residues...cauliflower is a vegetable which gets a very heavy dose of pesticides and therefore we should make it  a practice of washing this vegetable in this way so that the pesticides do not find their way into our system...
    1. take the cleaned florets , rub the powders onto it and then add curd and oil and  let it marinate for an hour
     2. then shallow fry the marinated cauliflower and keep aside

ingredients for the gravy

onions- 2 medium sized
ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
green chillies- 2 sliced
tomatoes- 2 medium sized
oil-as needed
     
saute the onions till they are soft,then saute the ginger garlic paste , add green chillies and saute them, then add tomatoes and saute till oil starts separating...then add cauliflower florets which have been shallow fried and mix well...then add half cup water and let it come to boil...cook in sim for 5 minutes ..then remove from flame and serve hot with rotis , appams etc...
note:
we can marinate  with tandoor masala instead of using other powders...
i used store bought curd to marinate...hung curds can be used instead

       

pizza at home

      I love to cook with company...often when my brother and family visits us, my sister in law and i cook together... more than  the dishes we make , i enjoy the camaraderie that we share during these times...last week we decided to venture into unchartered territory for both of us....namely baking a pizza at home...no big deal to many, i'm sure ....but since both of us are novice bakers we were not certain what the result of our endeavours was going to be.
But that fact certainly did not douse our enthusiasm in any  way. Armed with the manual which came with the OTG and whatever we could muster from our kitchen( including  some left over tandoori chicken from  the previous day's takeaway , we set forth to make our maiden pizza...as the news of our pizza making reached our kids they were wild with anticipation....
This is the story of the great pizza making adventure we had....needless to say we improvised hugely....and the final result was ...well,let it remain a suspence for the time being 

Ingredients for pizza base
maida - 3 cups
yeast-    2  tablespoon
sugar-  2 tablespoon
eggs-    2 nos
butter-  4 table spoon
salt-    1 teaspoon
milk-  110 ml ( 1/2 cup)

HOW TO MAKE PIZZA BASE
     1.Dissolve the yeast and sugar in milk and keep aside
      2. Once the yeast and sugar dissolves well in the luke warm milk , mix this with maida, butter and eggs...
        3. make a soft dough and keep  it covered   witha wet cloth for one hour....this is for the flour to rise
            4. once the flour has risen you can start rolling out pizzas....we lightly oiled our fingers and rolled out the pizzas with our fingers....we made rounds of about 10 cm diameter...
              5.  preheat the oven at 200 degree celsius for ten minutes
                  6. grease the drip tray  and place the pizza bases onto the drip tray...
                      7. prick them with fork..
                          8.bake at 150  degree celcius for 15 minutes
        
           while we waited with our fingers crossed a delicious smell  waftedbthrough our kitchen and we heaved sighs of relief....even though we were only half way thru...while we waited we made pizza sauce

How to make pizza sauce
Ingredients
onions - 2 medium sized finely chopped
tomatoes -  4 small finely chopped
red chilli powder-  1 teaspoon
pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
cilantro leaves - 1 sprig
oil - 2 table spoon

method of preparation
  heat oil in a pan...saute onions till they are soft.... add tomatoes ,red  chilli powder , pepper powder ,together till they become a soft mushy pulp...toss in finely chopped cilantro leaves...then blend them to a smooth paste using mixie...i turned the mixer just once and  had a very passable pizza sauce...tasted good by the way....i think it will make a great dip also:)

how to make pizza toppings
ingredients
1. onion-  1 no . diced into small cubes
2. capsicum - 1no. chopped finely
3.shredded chicken- 2 tbsp ( we used tandoori  hicken from previous days take away )
4. mozarella cheese -  2tbsp grated
keep  these things aside

how to  assemble pizza
take out the baked  pizza bases from the oven...spread pizza sauce evenly over the base...then arrange the toppings over that...
bake at  150 degree celcius for  15 minutes till  cheese melts

             our pizza was now ready...the smell  of pizzas got three ravenous kids barging into the kitchen and rest was history.....
  our pizza was droolworthy...the kids literally relished it....not to  say anything of the grown ups in the house hold....to cut this  long cuisine short ,me and my sister in law hardly got to taste anything despite our toils in the kitchen....but then we werent complaing..on the contrary  we were beaming happily  as everyone wolfed down our pizzas....what is more satisfying than having our dish so relished.....:)......we made mini pizzas...hence this funny shape...after all whats in a shape

  
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