Naan Bread Spicy Pizza (Naanza)

We had been out for a meal at lunchtime but I was hungry by the time we finished our shopping and got home.  I am one of those people who can not wait for something to be cooked when I get hungry and often end up having a simple cheese sandwich which I moan about if it's too bland.  My hubby has been watching a lot of food shows lately  and is always ready to help me make great tasting ,quick and easy meals using every day ingredients.  This is one such dish which took him less than 30 minutes to make and we called it Naanza .   You can use any topping you like on your pizza all depends what you have in your fridge or freezer.  If you do not like spicy food, please reduce the use of chilly powder and green chillies.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

Shop Bought Naan breads: 2  large naan and 2 Mini naans
1 onion - grated
1 grated garlic
1 capsicum/pepper - chopped into small pieces
½ cup tinned tomatoes

½ tsp salt

½ tsp chilly powder

½ tsp dhana jiru (mixture of coriander and cumin powder)

1-2 green chillies chopped

2  cups grated cheese

2 tsps oregano

1 tbs oil

Method:

1.  Heat the oil and add the grated garlic to it.

2.  Once the garlic softens, add the onions, green chillies and green peppers.

3.  Add all the spices - salt, chilly powder and  dhana jiru.

 4.  Cook until all the vegetables are cooked.

5.  Add the tomatoes to the mixture and stir until it's all blended well.

 6.  Once the topping is cooked, spread it on your naan bread leaving the edges clear to give it a bit of a pizza look.

7.  Sprinkle some grated cheese on the top and cook them in the pre heated oven at 170 degrees for 10- 15 minutes depending on how cooked you like your cheese.

8.  Sprinkle some oregano and serve the Naanza/pizza hot
.

I have used a similar style of filling on Jacket potatoes too and they taste great.

For recipes on home made Pizza please click here and here

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Rice bhajias (Rice fritters)

Rice bhajias are my old time favourite comfort food for weekend snack.  It's perfect for using up left over cooked rice. You can serve them as snacks with any dip.  They make a perfect starter too.

Ingredients for 20-25 fritters

2 heaped cups of cooked rice
250 grams of chick pea flour (also known as besan)
1 grated onion
2-3 chopped green chillies
1 chopped red sweet chilly pepper
1 tbls grated ginger
2 tbls whole coriander
2 tsps ajma (carom seeds)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp coarse black pepper
2 pinches of soda bi carbonate
1 pinch of turmeric
350 cc warm water
1 litre oil for deep frying

Method:

1.  Transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl.

2.  Add the chopped onions and red peeper, chilies, ginger and garlic

 3.  Add the spices - salt, pepper, whole coriander,ajma and turmeric.

4.  Add the chickpea flour and mix it using the warm water. Go easy on the water as you may not need to use all of it.   The mixture shouldn't be too runny.

 

5.  Heat the oil and drop a small piece of mixture in the oil.  If it rises up -the oil is ready for frying the bhajias.  Add a couple of pinches of soda bicarbonate to the mixture with a tablespoon of the hot oil from the fryer.  Mix this and using a tablespoon, gently drop small bhajias in the oil.  As soon as they rise up, turn them and cook until golden brown. 

5.  Serve them hot with any dip or chutney.

6.  When entertaining, you can make a variety of bhajias - spring onion bhajias; onion bhajias; lentil bhajia; bread bhajias; maru bhajia

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Tortilla wraps with Quinoa, vegetables and nuts

I have seen a lot of recipes with Quinoa and I was keen to try some recipes with it as it is highly appreciated for its nutritional value;  its protein content is fairly high -though not as high as most beans and legumes. There is lots of information and recipes using Quinoa on the internet.  I found this article very interesting.

I found that Quinoa on its own didn't taste much but adding some spicy vegetables and nuts to the quinoa made it a tasty meal.

Ingredients for 4-6 wraps:

6 tortilla wraps
½ cup Quinoa

1 medium sized potato

1-2 small onions

½ cup frozen peas

2 green chillies chopped finely  (optional)

1 tsp grated ginger (optional)

1 cup mixture of chopped almonds and cashews

1 tsp salt (as per your taste)

½ tsp turmeric

2 -3 tbs sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup of cheddar cheese

some salsa , pepper, green chutney or red chutney for serving

Method: 

1.  Wash and cook the Quinoa as per the instructions on the packet.  Mine asked for one part of Quinoa to be cooked with 5 parts water.  I added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil to mine.  Once cooked I had quite a lot of cooked Quinoa and I kept the leftover Quinoa in the fridge to use in another recipe.

2.  Using a mandoline or grater, grate the potatoes, onions and carrots.

3.  Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil and add the cumin seeds to the oil.  Once they get a little brown, add the onions and green chillies allow them to soften.  Then add the nuts and toast them for a minute. 

4. Add the grated potatoes, peas and ginger.  Add the spices - salt and turmeric and stir the mixture.  Cook until the potato feels soft.  It took me 3 minutes in my microwave.

5. Toast the tortilla on a griddle and layer it with the Quinoa.

6. Spread the cooked vegetables over the Quinoa.

7.  Roll the tortilla and arrange them on a greased baking tray.  To stop them from sticking to each other, rub some oil on the tortillas before arranging them next to each other.

8. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water over the tortillas and cover them if foil and cook them in the oven for 15 minutes at 170 degrees F (or 75 Degrees C) .

9.  Remove the foil after 15 minutes and sprinkle the cheese over the tortillas and cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.

10. Serve the tortillas hot with some salsa and green chutney.  You can even serve it with Salad. 

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Spicy Sweet Potato Juliennes

A lot of health magazines are classing  sweet potatoes as one of the  most nutritious vegetables.  I will leave that debate to the experts.  I grew up eating sweet potatoes in curries, chips and crisps and still enjoy them as they taste slightly better than the potato.   There are two varieties of sweet potatoes sold in most supermarkets – one with a slightly redder skin and white flesh and one with a lighter colour and yellow flesh. This recipe works with both varieties but the cooking time taken for the yellow flesh one is less. For this recipe, I used the white fleshed sweet potatoes.

Ingredients for 2 servings

2 medium to large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 or 2 green chillies for garnishing

Method

1. Wash and scrape the sweet potatoes

2. Cut them across into thick slices first and then cut  these slices into juliennes.

3. Heat the olive oil. 


4. Add the sweet potatoes and season them with salt and pepper. 


5. Transfer to a microwave dish and cook for 5minutes. 


6. Add lemon juice to the sweet potatoes and microwave for 2 more minutes. 


7. Garnish them with green chillies and serve them as a side dish to any meal.

8.  For Hindus around the World the month of Shravan started last Saturday.  This is an auspicious month for Hindus and a lot of them will be fasting during this month. Some fast for the whole month eating only fruits, nuts, root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes, milk and milk products and avoiding grains.  Sometimes a little innovation like this recipe can make the fasting foods more interesting.

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FRENCH BREAD PIZZA

It's been very hot in the UK for the fast 2 weeks and we have been enjoying lots of salads, fruit and icecream.   This has meant that none of us have wanted a big meal at mealtimes.  This is a quick and simple recipe to make when you are hungry and want something extra with your salad. 

Ingredients:

Loaf of unsliced bread  (any bread is fine )
butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
one red pepper
one onion
2 green chillies
grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese)
some oregano
a small mixture of salt, pepper, coriander and cumin powder mixed to your taste
2 tablespoons Passata sauce (or any tomato sauce)

Method:

1.   Slice the bread and put it under the grill to brown on one side.
2.   Cut the onions, green chillies and pepper (you can use other toppings too).
3.   Add the spice mixture and olive oil to the sliced vegetables.
4.   Remove the bread from the grill and butter the uncooked side.
5.  Top it with the sliced vegetables covered in olive oil.
6.  Pop this under the grill for a minute.

7.  Spread the cheese on top of the vegetables.

8.  Cook under the grill until the cheese starts to melt.

9  Sprinkle with Oregano and serve on its own or with salad

Summertime is great in the UK this year with lots of flowers all over the countryside. Here's a picture of some of the pretty flowers (and strawberries) growing in my area.

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www.givemesomespice.com

Puris or Pooris (Deep fried Indian Bread)

Puri is an Indian bread very popular in Gujarat.  Its a dish that can be cooked quickly and served up to be eaten hot or cold.  A lot of Indian restaurants in India serve it in the morning with mango pickle or potato curry for breakfast.  Its served as a accompaniment with mango raas, shrikand or just about any curry for lunch or dinner.  Leftover puris are great for breakfast too. Whenever guests arrive unexpectantly for dinner, puris are easy to make to serve with potato curry or with chick peas (Aloo Chole).  The recipe for puris is very simple and can be made plain with just salt or with spices.  I have given the recipe for the plain which uses some salt and tumeric.


Ingredients (serves 6)

2 cups of chapatti flour (or any strong flour but not plain flour as its too fine)
Half a teaspoon of salt
Quarter teaspoon of turmeric (optional)
2 teaspoons of oil
Litre of oil for frying.
Warm water to make the puri dough.

Method:

1. Transfer the flour in a mixing bowl

2. Add  the salt and tumeric.

3. Add the 2 teaspoons of oil

4. Mix all the ingredients and slowly make a dough which should be firm but pliable. Mix it well and leave it covered with a tea towel for half an hour.

5. Divide the dough into small flattened balls.

6. Roll out each puri and save them on a clean tray or work top as shown below: (try not to keep them on top of each other or they may stick together)

7.  While you are rolling out the puris, transfer the oil to a wok or something similar and heat the oil.

8.  Test the oil by dropping a pinch of puri dough in the oil.   If it raises quickly to the top, the oil is ready.

9.  Reduce the heat slightly and start putting the puris in the hot oil one at a time.

10.  They will start to cook and as soon as they pluff up, turn them over, cook  for 30 seconds and remove onto a clean Kitchen paper.

11.   Serve the puris with any curry or pickle or even yoghurt.Yummy..........

This recipe is exactly like the one used by my mum and grandmother.  Hope you enjoy making the puris.

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