Vegetable Pizza

Vegetable Pizza

It had been raining this whole week. It did not rain today but there was storm and even now I can hear the sound of wind and the trees waving outside. Overall a lazy weekend so while grabbing some stuff from Trader Joe's I decided to buy pizza dough. I wanted to avoid spending too much time making dinner tonight and I think pizza worked very well.

Ingredients:
1. Pizza dough (I used garlic and herb dough. You can even make it at home, Google more for that)
2. Small cut vegetables
3. Cheese (I used mozzarella cheese)
4. Marinara sauce
5. Small quantity of flour (to spread below the base)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the over at 450/500F for about 20-30 min
2. Spread a layer of flour on a flat pan
3. Put the dough ball on the pan and spread it so as to make a circle of around 12 inch diameter.
You can also use a roller to do so

Pizza dough spread on a flat pan

4. Spread marinara sauce above the base
5. Spread a layer of cheese above the sauce on the base
6. Spread the cut vegetables (green bell pepper, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms etc) on top of the cheese

Marinara sauce spread on the base

Before putting toppings

Before baking

7. Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 min
8. Serve pizza hot with coke

In oven after baking

Gujiya

Gujiya

It was Holi last week so I decided to devote this weekend to the famous sweet of Holi celebration : Gujiya. People in North India make gujiya in different ways. I wanted to make Khoa gujiya and had been thinking since yesterday that I will go to Indian store and get some khoa and then the start of day light saving screwed up the whole schedule. So finally at 4pm today I started to make gujiya with some homemade khoa. Here is my recipe (modify the quantity according to the number of gujiyas you want to make). I made around 6 of them. 

Ingredients:
1. 1 bowl of flour (Maida)
2. 1/2 small bowl of Almonds
3. 1/4 small bowl of Cashews
4. 1/4 small bowl Raisins (kishmish)
5. 1/4 small bowl Sooji
6. 2-3 tablespoons Sugar
7. Shredded dry coconut (I did not use it but its also used in the filling)
8. Milk
9. Ghee
10. Khoa

Preparation:
Making Khoa:
I used milk to make khoa. Boil 2-3 cups of milk in a pan and keep stirring in between. Add 1 spoon of lemon juice to make it faster. Let the milk become dry to a granular mix (khoa)

1. Cut almonds and cashews into fine pieces
2. Cut the raisins into half and add to the above mix
3. Roast the sooji and keep aside
4. Add 1 tea spoon ghee to a pan and add the above prepared mix of dry fruits to it
5. Add the khoa and sooji also to it
6. Roast it for a few minutes and then add sugar and keep aside

Filling mix

7. Now prepare the dough for the gujiya shells
8. Add ghee to the maida and mix it well. Add water to the dough and knead it to make it soft
9.  Now make small balls of this dough and make round circles of about 4 inch diameter
10. Since I did not have a gujiya mould available, I just made them myself. I used a paperclip to stick the corners together.  Use maida mixed in few drops of water to stick the corners so as to make a half circular gujiya
11. Make all the gujiya and keep them aside.

Before frying

12. Heat oil/ghee to fry (I did not use ghee to fry) in a deep fry pan
13. Deep fry previously made gujiya on low to medium flame

Serve them hot or on normal temperature. You can even store them for few days.