Nisha and Nishanth's Culinary Debacles

Coal-Fired Pizza My kids love Pizza. My wife and I, on the other hand, have left our love for Pizza behind. But, with the kids in tow, I started researching how to make a decent pizza from scratch. YouTube is filled with recommendations, so I had to make some choices for my very first Pizza. If you're looking for a quick-cooking Pizza, this isn't the recipe for you. This will take around 2 days, including fermentation and some work. As usual, Kamado Grill Classic is again my go-to cooking platform. References: John Setzler's ' Kamodo Joe Pizza '.  John Kenall's ' Easy Pizza Dough Recipe '. Vito Lacopelli's ' How to Make Perfect Pizza Dough at Home'  and ' freeze the Pizza for later '. Goals: Everyone has so many variations for making Pizza dough. I never realized the debate of Biga vs Poolish  dough making. Before we get into all the details, I set some goals. Type : I wasn't going for Neapolitan-style, very high-heat Pizza. The t...

Parippu Vada's remind me of my time back in MCA when friends would get parippu vada's when studying late in the evening for exams. I finally got around to trying to make them and according to Nishanth, it was quite decent. http://www.mariasmenu.com/vegetarian/parippu-vada-lentildal-fritters It did not turn out to be spicy, and it could do with more green chillies if you like a bit of spice in the vadas. I decided to skip the saunf too.

I had soaked some black chick peas and decided to try out the Kerala style kadala curry. I tried the following recipe out: http://www.sailusfood.com/2012/12/31/kadala-curry/ Nishanth liked the curry although it wasn't as spicy. The addition of fennel and coconut milk gives it an interesting twist.

Ingredients: Paneer 1/4 kg cut into very small pieces Onions - 3 Tomatoes - 3 Chilli powder - 1 tbsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Ginger paste - 1 tsp Garlic paste - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Kitchen king powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves Coconut paste - 1/4 cup Cream 2 tbsp Method: 1. Chop all the vegetables 2. Take a pan and add 2 tbsp oil. Add onions and saute. Add the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste. Add all the dry masala powders, paneer cubes, coconut paste and cook for a while. 3. Add coriander leaves and cream. Serve hot.

The paneer chilly recipe from this website turned out quite good :http://cookingmarvel.in/chinese/paneer_chilly.html INGREDIENTS Cornflour 1 tbsp. Tomato sauce 2 tsp. Maida 1 tsp. Green chilly (cut into thin & long strips) 5 Salt 1 tsp. Garlic Cloves (optional) 5 Paneer 125 gm Ajinomoto tsp. Vinegar 1 tsp. Sugar tsp. Soya sauce 2 tsp    Black pepper tsp. Chilly sauce 1 tbsp. Oil for deep frying METHOD Make a thin paste of Maida, Cornflour and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cut paneer into small square pieces. Dip them in the paste and fry to a golden brown color. Heat 2 tbsp. of oil. Fry green chilly and garlic. Put salt, sugar, black pepper, ajinomoto, chilly sauce, tomato...

This was the first recipe I tried for Sambhar and I love the recipe primarily because it turns out like the sambhar in the Bangalore restaurants. I got it from the following website: http://cookingmarvel.in/south/sambar.html INGREDIENTS Arhar Dal 300 gms Dry red chilly (sabut) 4 Onion (roughly chopped) 3 Kari Patta 6-7 Tomato (roughly chopped) 250 gms Asafetida (heeng) A pinch Ghiya (roughly chopped) Kg Red chilly powder 1 tsp Fresh coconut (grated) 1 cup Sugar 1 tsp Tamarind Water 1 cup Haldi tsp Sambar Masala * 4 tsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped) A few Mustard Seeds (moti) 1 tsp Oil for Tadka 1 tbsp * You may buy Sambar Masala from the market or click the above link for excel...

Another recipe that turns out good. I do adjust the lemon I put into the rice since my husband dislikes sour food. The papad gives a really awesome taste. I got it from the following website: http://cookingmarvel.in/south/lemon_rice.html INGREDIENTS Rice 2 cups Kari Patta 8-10 Salt To taste Mustard Seeds (moti) tsp Haldi tsp Dry Red Chilly (sabut) 3-4 Lemon 1 Oil for Tadka 2 tbsp Chana Dal and Urad Dal 1 tsp each Papad 2 METHOD Boil rice in the normal way. Heat oil in a kadahi. Add mustard seeds, kari patta, chana dal, urad dal and sabut red chilly. Break papad into small pieces and fry it in the tadka for 30 seconds. Add lemon juice, salt and haldi. Finally, add boiled rice and mix it well. Serve hot. Serves: 4-5 adults

This is another recipe that works out very well that I have adapted into my day to day cooking. I got it from the following website: http://cookingmarvel.in/south/plain_upma.html INGREDIENTS Suji 300 gms Water (in proportion to Suji) 3 times Salt To taste Onion (in fine long cuts or chopped) 2 Green chilly (finely chopped) 2 Ginger (finely chopped) 1 Chana Dal 1 tsp Urad Dal 1 tsp Kari Patta 5-7 Mustard Seeds (moti) 1 tsp Oil for tadka 2 tbsp Lemon 1 Coriander Leaves (finely choppes) A few METHOD Roast suji in kadahi without oil to light brown color. Boil water. Heat oil in a kadahi. Put tadka of mustard seeds, green chilly, ginger and kari patta. Add chana dal and urad dal and fry it in the tadka for 2 minutes. Add...

I tried this recipe out shortly after marriage and it came out so well. The upma turns out soft and yummy. This recipe was taken from the following website: http://cookingmarvel.in/south/vegetable_upma.html INGREDIENTS Suji 300 gms Ginger (finely chopped) 1 Water (in proportion to Suji) 3 times Chana Dal 1 tsp Salt To taste Urad Dal 1 tsp Onion (in fine long cuts or chopped) 2 Kari Patta 5-7 Carrot (finely chopped) 1 (big) Mustard Seeds (moti) 1 tsp French Beans (finely chopped) 4-5 Oil for tadka 2 tbsp Peas (seeds) 50 gms Lemon 1 Green chilly (finely chopped) 2 Coriander Leaves (finely choppes) A few METHOD Roast s...

This is a simple and much loved dessert and a quick fix! I got the recipe from this website: http://www.cookingmarvel.in/desserts/rasgulla_pudding.html INGREDIENTS Rasgulla (medium) 12 Vanilla Icecream 500 gm Milk Chocolate (grated) 3 tbsp METHOD Take half of the icecream in a serving bowl and beat for one minute. Squeeze the rasgullas completely and add to the above. Beat the rest of the ice cream and pour on it. Garnish with the grated chocolate and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Serve chilled. Serves: 5-6 adults.

Spaghetti bologonaise is an all time hit with my guests. I first tried it out 10 years back when I was newly married and this recipe is just perfect. The recipe has been taken from this site: http://www.cookingmarvel.in/vegetable/spaghetti_bolognaise.html INGREDIENTS 50 grams spaghetti; 1 cup boiled vegetables (beans, peas & carrots); 1/2 cup sliced capSicum; 1/2 cup spring onions; 1 cup grated cheese; 1/2 cup potatoes; 1/2 cup  maida; 2 tbsp paneer; 400 grams tomatoes; 3 pieces of garlic; 2 tsp red chilli powder; salt to taste; 2 tsp sugar; 6 tbsp tomato sauce; 2 tbsp ghee. METHOD For Spaghetti Boil water in a pan. Add 1 tbsp oil, 1/2 tbsp salt and add spaghetti. Cook till done. For the sauce Take about 200 ml water in a vessel. Add the tomatoes, 3 pieces of chopped garlic, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp red chilli powder. Cook for 10-12 minutes. Cool. Crush in the mixie. Then strain in a strainer. It should be quite thick. In a kadai heat 2 tbsp ghee. Th...