Happy Calories: Easy Vegetarian Pizza

I don't usually worry about calories - as long as there's happiness bundled in. That's my only condition.. Each calorie I take in, must bring me happiness. If it doesn't it isn't worth it. This recipe brings you oodles of happy calories! :)

I have to confess - I am not a pizza person. The only restaurants where I voluntarily order a pizza are the authentic Italian joints, never fast-food/pizza chains. The husband, however, can happily live the rest of his life eating pizzas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So this is for him. Pizzas make him happy, so I do bake these goodies at home sometimes.

Ingredients:

Don't fuss about the ingredients too much, use whatever is easily available.

• Pizza base: Wheat, Refined, Multigrain, Herbed, Thin, Minis - anything works)
• Pizza Base Sauce: Any available, I used Dr. Oetker's Fun Foods)
• Grated Mozzarella Cheese: Very important
• Grated Processed or Cheddar Cheese: Experiment with your cheese, I used processed. I always like to use an additional variety of cheese apart from Mozzarella so I get more flavor.  
• Toppings of choice: I used spring onions, baby corn, bell peppers, paneer, black olives and jalapenos
• Oregano or Pizza Seasoning Mix
• Red Chilli Flakes
• Salt to taste
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For brushing the pizza base and baking tray
• A pinch of love! :)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and put it into the oven while it preheats. I like to bake pizzas mostly at this temperature with the heat setting turned to top and bottom. When the pizza is almost done, I set the heat at the top and increase it to 220 degrees so the cheese can completely melt and get golden brown in places. 
2. Pierce the pizza base using a fork. While most pizza bases already come forked in, that is done before baking. This will make sure the flavors seep in deep and the pizza is nice and moist.
3. Brush the base with some extra virgin olive oil.This will ensure a golden brown, crispy crust rather than dry and dusty. 
4. Generously spread pizza base sauce all over the base using a butter knife. Apply gentle pressure so some sauce gets soaked in. At this point, you may spread some of the cheese too - this will help your toppings stick to the pizza better. I didn't.
5. Just as the way you slice/cut your toppings, the order in which you place the toppings on the base makes a big difference. The exact toppings layered in a different order will give you different taste. This is how I spread them - spring onions-bell peppers-baby corn-paneer-seasoning (salt, chilli flakes, oregano)-olives and japenos
6. Finally add cheese - as much or as little as your conscience allows you to. I first added the processed cheese and then the mozzarella on top. This helps the mozzarella melt into that stretchy goodness and bring those precious golden-brown spots all over. The processed melted cheese on the other hand, melts and seeps down into the toppings ensuring an even consistent flavor.
7. Right before you put the pizza in to bake, brush the aluminium foil on the baking tray with oil (any.. I used extra virgin olive since that was handy).
8. Place the pizza in the centre of the baking tray and set the timer to 20 minutes. 
9. After 15 minutes, keep checking on your pizza to see how it's going. As I said before, this is an approximation - and this completely depends on the size and thickness of your base as well as your choice of toppings. When the pizza is almost done and the cheese has melted, turn the heat setting to top and increase the temperature to 220 degrees for the last 5 minutes or so.
10. Serve with a side of the usual suspects - ketchup, mustard, pizza seasoning and oregano.
11. Eat!

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I made pizza miniatures and a regular sized pizza today. The same heat settings worked perfectly on both of these. 

Keep experimenting with your food, don't shy away from adding your own personal touch to your food. With experience comes the skill, over the years I have grown a lot as a cook and have acquired a better sense of what goes with what and what doesn't. But I am still an amateur and always looking for new recipes and better cooking techniques.

Happy Cooking!

Love,

Nidhi

Restaurant Review: Pasta Street, Bangalore

I discovered pasta street as I was walking back to my workplace recently.. I think it's been very few days since this place has opened.

On the outside it looked promising, and the day's specials written in colored chalk on the small blackboard right outside seemed interesting as well.

There's seating space on the first floor as well as the ground, but we were told we couldn't sit upstairs as that area opened up only during the evenings. I don't get the point of it really. Anyway. The ground floor itself has fair a couple of different seating options - with some tables inside and some right outside. One major pain is just how tiny their tables are. The tables for two can hold only food for one.. at best one small dish and two small quarter plates to eat in. This isn't well thought out at all. I don't know about the first floor, but the ground floor tables (atleast most of them) are very impractical. Despite this however, the decor is clean and simple.. and the hygiene and cleanliness seems to have been taken care of.

The staff is very polite, courteous and eager to help. We were promptly received, sat at a table of choice and were offered water within a minute of stepping in. The staff also helps you make your decision on the food and their suggestions are pretty good I think.

The variety they offer in the menu is pretty good.. so you can build your own pasta by choosing a sauce, pasta shape and any add ons. They've got some nice options in appetisers with your usual bruschetta and misc breads as well.

They have some great options in thin crust pizzas as well, and we were told that the pizzas were introduced just 3 days before we went in.

I was very satisfied with the taste of the food - both the pizzas and the pastas are very well made, and unlike most other restaurants - it is not partial to either vegetarians or non vegetarians. There are equal number of good food options for both across the menu.

Despite being pretty satisfied with the food, I still stick to 3 on 5 because for the offering the prices are pretty exaggerated. The decor and ambience is very basic.. and this restaurant is located in an office locality where most eaters come in from work during their lunch breaks. Their prices should have been at least 1/3rds lower than they are. 750 for two which is mentioned here, seems right about accurate - and it should have been more like 500 for two. This is also considering that their food presentation is pretty basic. So with no fine crockery/cutlery, very basic seating and furnishing, basic ambience; the price tag buys you just the food - with no frills.

I still say the service was impeccable, the food was great. The prices, although, are unjustified.

When I posted this review online, I did get a response from the restaurant. I'm posting the reply here as well.

"Thank You Nidhi. Appreciate you taking time in writing a feedback. We are glad that you have liked our food. We are working on VALUE COMBOS, keeping the corporate target group in mind, the same should be rolled out in few weeks time. Will keep you posted through Zomato. Thank you once again for your visit and valued feedback. Look forward serving you again."

I will definitely try their value combos as well when they're rolled out. Looking forward to it

My rating: 3/5 (Just because of the prices)

Address: Cunningham Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka
Phone:080 3041 2940 ext. 337

Bon Appetit!

Love,
Nidhi
My review at zomato.com

Restaurant Review: Benjarong, Bangalore

We were invited to Benjarong as part of a promotional event organized by Burrp and Yes Bank to dine with the chef over a five course meal.

To start with, I feel obliged to state that Benjarong has the best Thai food I've ever had. Also, they pay very close attention to the presentation, and you can see how every little aspect has been carefully embellished to create the dish. Major Eye Candy for any foodie.

The evening started with "Miang Kham", which is a traditional snack from Thailand and Laos. The name can be interpreted as meaning "eating many things in one bite" - from miang, meaning "food wrapped in leaves", and kham, "a bite". This was amazing! Sort of starts fireworks inside your mouth as it has such a variety of concentrated flavors - ginger, lemon, chillies, peanuts, onions and some sort of a tangy sauce. Miang Kham is thai version of the Indian paan - except that it's eaten as appetiser before the meal instead of being eaten as digestive after.

We were served a welcome drink called "Siam sparkle" - which again was very interesting with ginger and chillies along with the sweetness.

For appetisers we were served "Grathong Thong Je" (Water chestnuts, mixed peppers, corn and peas with minced chicken tossed in a delicate sauce served in rice tartlets), "Tod Mun Pla" (Thai fish cakes with peanut and cucumber relish) and "Larb Gai" (Minced chicken salad with mint and makrut leaves in a spicy dressing served in an iceberg lettuce cup). Out of these three, I absolutely loved the Grathong Thong Je. Tod Mun Pla was delicious as well, but I felt the Grathong Thong Je was also very uniquely Thai.

The soup was the star of the evening - loved the presentation! We were served a soup called "Tom Kati Goong" (Thai coconut cream soup with prawns, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal served in tender coconut shell.) Amazing contrasting flavors - the earthiness of coconut cream against the sharpness of chillies and just the right seasoning. It is deceptively spicy - which for me was a pleasant surprise.

The main course included "Pad Thai Goong" (Thai rice sticks cooked in a sweet and tangy sauce with prawns and wrapped in an omelette), "Hormok Talay" (Steamed seafood Mousse) and "Gai Tod Nam Prik Pow" (Chicken tossed in roasted chilli paste). I was bowled over by the Hormok Talay. It was mega-delicious! This mouse was generously flavored with thai red curry paste and mouth watering! Perfectly complimenting the Pad Thai.

Desserts included "Sakoo Piak Maprow On" (Thai sago pudding with young coconut and corn), water chestnut in coconut milk and finally Lemongrass Icecream. While each of these were unique and different - I absolutely went crazy about the water chestnuts in coconut milk. The water chestnuts were soaked in rose syrup and had a beautiful wholesome goodness to them and the coconut milk perfectly complimented the crunchy sweetness of the fruit. Lemon grass icecream was very pleasant as well, but honestly I wasn't too crazy about the sago dessert.

To sum it up, my favorites from the meal were Tom Kati Goong (The Soup), "Hormok Talay (The mousse), Water chestnuts in coconut milk and above all the Miang Kham. It was a wonderful experience dining with the chef who explained every single course and talked about thai cuisine, culture and inspirations throughout.

If you're looking for a Thai Fine Dining experience - go for it. Don't expect to be bowled over by the decor and ambience. VERY pricey!! Great food though.

My Rating - 4/5

Address: 1/3, Ulsoor Road, Near Manipal Centre, Ulsoor, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 500009
Phone:080 3221 7201

Bon Appetit!

Love,
Nidhi
My review at zomato.com

Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is my signature cake.. I've been baking it since I was 12, and I can make it even while I'm sleepwalking! It's a different matter altogether that I do not sleepwalk. I do find that fascinating though.. sleepwalking.. I wonder how it'd be. Anyway, don't mean to digress. 

My sister and I used to fight like animals when we were kids. And then time came for her to go away for college. I was still in school.. and I missed her terribly. Whenever she used to come home for her vacations, she would call me and tell me to make sure I keep the cake ready for her.. And I used to love baking this cake for her. Once she was home, she'd give me a mingy little piece and eat the rest of it by herself. I used to love the fact that she was enjoying eating the cake I baked. We're both married and live in different cities now.. It's not that we're not in touch - of course we constantly are - but we don't get a chance to spend sisters time together.. I always miss her every time I bake this cake.

Sis - This one's for you! xoxoxoxo

Here's the recipe for you to try. You'll fall in love with yourself (all over again) when you eat what you've created. You'll want to kiss your own hands.

Oh and did I mention this is an eggless cake? Yep! So vegetarians - rejoice!

It's simple as heck and delicious - every single time!

Fresh out of the oven

Mouth-watering Chocolate Icing!

After the icing

The finished product

Ingredients:

For the cake

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/4th cup
Castor sugar - 3/4th cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Yoghurt - 6 tbsp
Milk - 5 tbsp
Melted Butter - 6 tbsp
Crushed Walnuts - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

For baking

Baking tray - 8 inches diameter
Parchment paper
Butter to grease the tray

For icing

Cocoa powder - 4 tbsp
Icing Sugar - 4 tbsp
Lukewarm water

And as always, the most important ingredient - A pinch of love! :)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius
2. Line the baking tray with parchment paper and grease with some butter
3. Mix in all the dry ingredients in a big bowl
4. Add all the wet ingredients
5. Mix well to make sure the mixture is smooth and evenly mixed. Make sure there are no clumps
6. Pour the mixture into the baking tray
7. Bake it for 20-25 minutes. Keep a check, this may vary depending on the size of your baking dish and the consistency of your cake. If you think its done, prick the centre of the cake with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.
8. Keep the cake aside and let it cool. Do not take it out of the baking tray until it's cooled down. If you attempt taking the cake out while its hot, you risk breaking it. Have some patience!
10. While the cake cools down, mix up cocoa powder and sugar for the icing. put in a couple of tablespoons of lukewarm water. Pour it one spoon at a time to make sure the icing doesn't get runny. If the icing gets too runny, the cake becomes a little too soggy and while it still remains delicious.. it just becomes messy to handle.
11. Pour the icing on the cake once the cake is at room temperature.
12. Eat!

I would love to know how it turned out for you, let me know if you make it yourself. I would also love recipes for some easy to make desserts. Let me know if you have any.

Did I mention I got married between the last post and this one? The husband is a major foodie, which means I am now cooking more than ever.. There are a whole lot of recipes waiting to be published. I'll try to put em up soon! :)

Later!

Love,
Nidhi

Masala Bread Scramble

Here's a quick and simple breakfast recipe for the days when you want to eat something different from the daily monotony, but are feeling too lazy to cook up an elaborate platter.

Serves: 2

Masala Bread Scramble ready to eat!

Ingredients:

• Bread Slices - 6 (Make it brown for a healthier alternative)
• Eggs - 3 No.s
• Onions - 2 No.s medium, chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 No.s, medium, finely chopped
• Green chilli - 1 small, chopped
• Black pepper powder - 1/4 tsp. (Or red chilli powder, whatever you like)
• Chaat Masala - 1/4 tsp.
• Fresh Coriander/Cilantro leaves for garnishing
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp.
• A pinch of love :)

Method:

1. Crumble the bread into small pieces using your hands. Whisk eggs in a bowl until smooth.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped chillies and onions. Cook on a medium flame until onions are translucent.
3. Add crumbled bread, turn up the heat to high. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until you see edges of the bread pieces getting toasted. Don't forget to keep stirring, the bread cooks up really fast.
4. Add eggs into the pan, keep stirring to make sure the eggs get scrambled and are evenly mixed. Cook for another 2 minutes. 
5. Add tomatoes and spices. Mix well. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes
6. Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves (My favorite garnish!)
7. Serve with tomato ketchup on the side. Works great without any add-ons too!
8. Eat!

Tip:

This is how I made it this time, although I intend to modify the spices the next time around. Maybe add some oregano instead of the chaat masala. You can also choose to add the tomatoes after the onions instead of adding them in the end, or skipping them altogether. This tastes wonderful with just onions and green chillies too. Also, feel free to add your fav veggies to it - capsicum, peas, corn, carrots - or anything you can think of. I didn't add any since I wanted to keep it simple the first time around. Also, you can put the ketchup in just before you turn off the heat and toss it around well, so you don't have to go through messy ketchup on your plates! Tell me if this works for you, and if you have quick and easy breakfast recipes, let me know!

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Happy Cooking!

Love,

Nidhi

Karela fry

Marinated karela and peel.

This is an attempt at converting Karela non-believers.
Karela is a vegetable I have always been fond of. Also, one of those dishes which few get right. Unfortunately, I have never eaten a good karela dish anywhere outside of home. For me, it is always too bitter to be called food.

Also, this is one dish which most people I've met run away from. But the fact is, if you make it right, it is pure magic. Need I mention it is great for your health too? Read the health benefits here.

When I hear friends tell me they hate a particular vegetable, I take it upon me to ensure their opinion stands changed. So far, I've done it with tinda, ghiya, baingan and kaddu.

So well, here's the recipe I've always been familiar with - the way we make it back home.

This is how it looked after cooking.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• Karela/Bittergourd - 500gms.
• Onions - 4 no. (large), Sliced
• Milk - 200ml.
• Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp. (or as per your taste)
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
• Coriander powder - 11/2 tsp.
• Salt to taste
• Oil - To shallow fry.
• A pinch of love :)
• Patience

Method:

1. Peel and slit the karelas lengthwise. Do not slice or chop. If the karela is too big, however, you may want to cut it into halves. Do not throw away the peel.
2. In a large dish/plate, marinate the karelas and the peel with 2 tbsp. salt. Keep aside overnight, or for at least 6 hours if you don't have more time. This step is essential to making sure that the karela is drained of most of its bitterness.
3. Taking one piece at a time, squeeze out all the juice/water from the karelas and the peel. 
4. Wash the karela and the peel using fresh water, and squeeze to drain it all out too. Repeat this step 2-3 times.
5. Heat oil in a wok/kadhaai. Add karela (not the peel yet), and cook covered on medium flame. Toss every couple of minutes to cook evenly. They're done when they're a beautiful golden-brown color.
6. Remove the karela pieces from the kadhaai, don't put off the heat yet. 
7. Now, add the peel to the same oil and fry covered on medium heat until oil seperates, and they stop crackling.
8. Put the karelas back in. Add milk.Bring the milk to a boil and turn down the heat. Cook covered on low heat until the milk gets completely absorbed. You should not see any remains of the milk except for a creamy layer on the karela pieces. A large extent of the bitterness goes away with the marination. After this stage, the bitterness of the karelas will disappear. Only a mild lingering bitter charm would remain. You don't want to try to get rid of that.
9. Turn up the heat and add sliced onions. Mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you haven't sliced the onions too fine.
10. Turn down the heat and cover the wok. When the onions have turned translucent, add the spices and salt. Even though you've already used a large quantity of salt during marination, that has all been washed and squeezed away with the bitterness. Add salt as per taste.
11. Cover and cook for about 10 mins. Do not forget to check and stir every couple minutes. Your karela is ready to be served. 
12. Eat!

Tip:

This dish does not need any garnishing or fancy spices. Serve hot with chapatis and curd. A bowl of daal on the side would be great too! I suggest toor/arhar or moong varieties. If you have a karela recipe that works for you, I would love to know!

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Masala Bread Crumble, Vegetable Burger and Pulao recipe coming up soon. All of these were on the menu during last week. I'll also post a restaurant review of "The Chocolate Room", which I visited during the weekend.

Happy Cooking!

Love,

Nidhi

Bhindi Jaipuri

Ingredients:

• Bhindi/Okra/Ladyfinger - 250 gm.
• Besan/Gramflour - 2 tbsp.
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
• Dried Mango Powder/Amchoor - 1/2 tsp.
• Chaat Masala - 1/2 tsp.
• Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Saunf/Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Jeera/Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp.
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying
• A pinch of love (This not so secret ingredient always works!)

Method:

1. Wash and dry the bhindi. A good way to do this is to wipe the washed bhindi with a washcloth.
2. Remove the stem and slice the bhindis the way you like it. You may choose to make thin diagonal slices,  small horizontal pieces or split into two vertical slices.
3. Add all the spices and salt along with the chopped bhindi into a bowl. Mix well. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
4. Add gramflour to the bhindi at the end of 30 minutes. Make sure that the entire mixture is consistent. (I like to use my hand to blend everything together.)
5. Heat oil in a kadhaai.
6. Deep fry the bhindi until light brown and crunchy. Adjust the frying time based on how soft/crunchy you would like your bhindi to be.
7. Blot the excess oil using tissue paper/kitchen roll.
8. Serve hot with chapatis or paranthas and curd. You can choose to serve it as a side dish or main course. Works well both ways.
9. Eat!

Tip:

Experiment with your food. Add or modify spices and ingredients and make your personalized dish. I suggest experimenting with dried and powdered mint leaves, dried ginger powder, sliced onions, cashew, peanuts, sugar. If you live in India, you have access to a plethora of spices. If you discover awesomeness while doing this, let me know too!

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I randomly decided to create a food blog since I experiment a lot with cooking. This happens to be the first post here since this is what I made for dinner tonight. The picture here is representative, and is taken off the web. Next post on I'll put up pictures of my own dish.

Happy Cooking!

Love,

Doublelifer