Chicken pizza



Ingredients

Whole-wheat flour – 1 ½ cup
All purpose flour – 1 ½ cup
Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Yeast – 1 ½ tsp
Sugar – ¼ tsp

Take ¼ cup of warm water in a cup. Add sugar and yeast. Mix with a spoon until the yeast and sugar dissolve. Keep it in a warm place. The yeast will become active in about 5 to 10 minutes. You need to use good quality yeast to get good results. The best tool in the kitchen, your hands, is all what you need to make a good pizza dough. Make a dough by adding the flours,yeastwater and salt.Add more water if needed. Press it to a ball shape using your hands. Smear olive oil over the dough ball and place it in a large mixing bowl. Cover it with a clean damp kitchen towel. Keep it in a warm place to rise. After an hour, check the dough. It would have doubled its size. Punch it down and let it rise for another 45 minutes covered in a warm place.
You may substitute whole wheat flour with all purpose flour. But adding whole wheat flour makes it more nutritious and tasty.

You can use a store bought tomato sauce or pizza sauce. You can also make homemade tomato sauce.

Simple Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil,1 small onion chopped,2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped1 carrot, choppedSea salt and freshly ground black pepper2 (32-ounce), cans crushed tomatoes2, dried bay leaves,4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional. In a large pot or pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce. If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Spread the tomato sauce evenly on the rolled out pizza crust.

Toppings:

The variety of toppings you can put on a pizza is endless. Onion, bell peppers, fresh tomato, minced garlic, sautéed mushrooms, meat cut into small cubes and precooked with your favorite marinade, meat,black olives, green olives,fish or shrimps if you dare,salt and pepper, and toasted it in a skillet greased with olive oil.
Here I have to made the chicken pizza.So I used the cubes of cooked chicken breasts.When it is cooked add little salt and pepper and a little water. I steamed it in cooker. I also used the toppings like chopped cabbage,onion,bell pepper,garlic,carrot etc. Ofcourse there is also a lot of shredded cheese evenly over the topping.Sprinkle a little of salt and pepper. You can use less cheese if you are dieting, or make it extra cheesy by adding more cheese.

It is good to have a pizza stone for baking the pizza. A baking stone will give you a nice crispy crust. If you don’t have one, you can try a big cast iron skillet, or a cookie sheet.Place the pizza stone on the center rack of the oven and preheat it to 475 degree F. It is important that you preheat the oven at least 30 minutes before baking the pizza. Don’t put the pizza into a cold oven and start it. It won’t come out right. Transfer the prepared pizza to the pizza stone and bake it for 8 to 12 minutes. The time varies depending on the performance of your oven. So watch it carefully while you make it the first time. The pizza is ready when the cheese is all melted, and the crust turns golden brown around the edges. That's it delicois........

Banana Chocolate muffins


Ingredients

Butter at room temperature - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1
Sugar - 3/4 cup
All purpose flour - 3/4cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Blueberies - 1/2 cup
Nuts -1/2 cup
Cocoa powder(chocolate)-2 tble spoon
Banana-2

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F.

Mixing

Cream butter and sugar together until it is nice and smooth. Add egg and whisk to incorporate. Sift flour, baking powder,cocoa powder and salt together and add it to the sugar-butter-egg mixture. Add milk and mix everything together with a wooden spoon. Add vanilla.Add paste of bananas. Add the blueberries,nuts and gently stir to incorporate. Pour into muffin tins and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks. This recipe makes 6 medium size muffins, but you can easily double or triple it.

Chicken Biriyani



Ingredients

Basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups
Chicken- 1/2 kg
Egg-2
Onion(medium) - 6 nos(chopped finely)
Tomato(medium)chopped - 3
Garlic - 7 big cloves
Ginger - 1 and 1/2 inch piece
Green chilly - 2
Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
Yoghurt - 4 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Lime juice - 4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - according to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom(Elakka) - 2
Cinnamon(Karugapatta) - 3 small pieces
Cloves(Grambu) - 2
Salt to taste
Preparation
This is a Kerala style chikken biriyani.
  • Grind garlic,ginger and green chilly together to make paste.
  • Heat ghee in a pan.
  • Saute onions till golden brown.
  • Add garlic-ginger-green chilly paste and fry for 2 mins.
  • Add chopped tomatoes, chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, mint leaves ,salt and coriander leaves into it.
  • Saute for a few minutes till the masala becomes thick.
  • Add cut and cleaned chicken pieces and stir.
  • Pour little water and mix.
  • Cook till chicken is done.
  • Add yoghurt.
For rice
  • Boil water in another vessel.
  • Add enough salt, a pinch of turmeric powder, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and 1 spoon ghee into this.
  • Add double(of rice) qty of water and cook till done.
  • Heat a vessel.
  • Pour a little of ghee.
  • Put a little of cooked rice and spread 1 tsp of lime juice over it.
  • Place one layer of the chicken masala above it and repeat the process till the rice and masala are over.
  • Close the lid tightly and heat on a low flame for about 10 mins.
  • Boil the eggs for 10minutesand serve this also with the rice
Serve with Lime pickle and onion-tomato salad.This is the southern kerala style to serve with boiled egg.

Aviyal(veg.Mix curry)


Ingredients

Vegetables

You can use some or all of these available south Indian veggies like
kumbalanga (similar to cucumber),
kathirikka (baingan or eggplant),
Padavallanga (snake gourd) or padaval (chundakka)
Drumsticks (muringakka),
Raw plantain etc.
You can also use carrots (1 or 2 only, else it becomes too sweet),
Long beans or French beans,
Cucumber,
Potatoes,
1 plantain or raw banana
1 or 2 green chilies

Others

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Raw coconut or coconut powder (1/2 cup)
Salt to taste (one teaspoon)
Fresh curry leaves

Preparation

Boil the veggies with water (say 1/2 cup), salt and turmeric powder. Rinse the vegetables well before boiling. If using drumsticks, add only at the very end. Reduce the salt you add. The total sliced vegetables should total approximately five cups. When boiling add very little water if the veggies you add are rich in water (cucumber, cumbalanga etc.) Add the sliced green chilies to the boiling vegetables if you don't like it too hot. Else blend it with the coconut.Add the veggies that take longer to cook like plantain first, then beans etc. Meanwhile, blend the coconut to a smooth or semi-smooth paste with the green chilies or half the green chilies, and cumin. When the veggies are almost cooked, add this blended paste and curry leaves cook for a few minutes. You can season with mustard seeds if you wish but I prefer not to add any more oil (the coconut has enough of it). Serve the above with rice.

Cabbage Thoran




Ingredients

Chopped cabbage - 3 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Green chilies - 2 or 3
Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
Garlic cloves - 3
Onion - 1 small (optional)
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Preparation

Chop the onion. Heat the oil on medium heat and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the urad dal and curry leaves. Then add the onions and sauté till browned. Now add the cabbage, turmeric powder and salt. Stir for a while, lower the heat and cook covered for five minutes. Crush the garlic and cumin seeds and add to the cabbage along with the green chilies and the coconut. Stir for a few more minutes and remove from heat.

Veg fry(mizhukkupuratti)









Ingredients

2 cups ivy gourd(kovakka) sliced


1 big onion(savola)sliced
3 teaspoons oil
Salt to taste

Preparation

Heat the oil in a frying pan add one tblsp of oil.When the oil become hot splutter the mustard seeds.Add one red chilli and some curry leaves.To this add the ivy gourd along with onion.Add a little salt and saute for a minute. Then cover the vessel and cooked.stire for a mintu while cooking because it may stick to the vessel.When the raw smell disappears saute again and add little more oil.When the ivy gourd and onions are fried take it out of flame.
You can use any vegetables like carrot,ladies finger,brinjal,plantains ( green bananas),cabbage,beans etc for this recipe.

Rasam




Ingredients

Shallots(red onion) sliced-2
Tomatoes - 1 large
Tamarind extract - ½ teaspoon
Black pepper crushed - ½ teaspoon
Whole red pepper (dry red chili) - 1or 2
Chili powder - ½ teaspoon
Coriander powder-1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - ½ teaspoon
Methi powder(uluva/fenugreek powder)- 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida(kayam)-a pinch
Garlic cloves crushed - 3
Mustard seeds - ½ teaspoon
Coriander and curry leaves - a bunch
Salt to taste.

Preparation

Heat oil, fry mustard seeds, then add onion, red chile and stir for a while. Then add curry leaves (optional),and then fry the crushed black peppar and garlic.When a nice aroma(smell)comes and then add all the powders and salt. Stir for a few seconds.Add the tomato slice and a little of water.Add asafoetida and tamarind.cover the vessel to cook the tomatoes.When it is cooked add the water and allow it to boil. Turn Off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Pulisseri




Ingredients

3 shallots(red onion) sliced
2 or 3 Green chile, cut long
¼ tsp. Turmeric powder
¼ tsp. methi (uluva/fenugreek) powder
¼ tsp. cumin (jeerakam) powder
1/4 cup coconut shredded
Oil
Salt
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
1/2 cup Yogurt whipped well.

Preparation

Grind coconut with turmeric powder,cumin,garlic,1 red onion,methi powder and green chilli.Heat oil, fry mustard seeds, then add onion, green chile and stir for a while. Then add curry leaves (optional), and then all the grinded paste and salt. Stir for a few seconds, then add the the yogurt and 1/4 cup water.
cook to become hot.But not allow to boil because it will lose its consistancy . When cooked, take it off the stove. And it is ready! Note: (You can add ripe mangoes which is sliced and cooked in this recipe.Then it will be the mampazha puliseri).