Aadi was sick,so she stayed away from school. When I asked her what she wanted to eat for lunch,her answer was,”can we go to a restaurant?” I said no..”Can we get takeaway?” I said No! Can we get Maccas? I said,N.O. She went to ask SD,who was also home that day. “Papa,Mumma says we can’t eat out..can we go get something from outside?” Obviously SD said no too..She started to whine and SD lost it and told her..”That’s it..No more eating out till MARCH!” And her face fell,the lower lip started quiver and the tears started flowing.When I asked her why she was crying,out came a jumbled mess of words..”But its not fair,I don’t get to eat out,I will miss out on the treats..”blah blah…So,we tried to tell her our reasons..its not healthy,we need to save money,etc.And we reached a compromise that whatever she wants to eat,she can tell me and I’ll make that for her.So,yesterday,she wanted to eat a pizza.
I found this recipe from Kidspot and it looked simple enough. Best of all,I had ALL  the ingredients it called for- Self raising flour and Yogurt! You read that right..it uses only 2 ingredients.But I tweaked the proportions a little. This is what I used-

2 cups self raising flour
1.5 cup greek yogurt.
warm water,if required.
1-2 tsp olive oil.

Take the flour and yogurt in a bowl and start kneading.Add warm water,only if required. Once the dough comes together,take the olive oil on your palms and rub it nicely into the dough,making a smooth ball.
Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
Once the dough has risen, punch it and let it rest for another 10 minutes. [If you are not going to use it immediately,put in the fridge till you are ready to use it ]

Divide the dough into 8 equal sized balls and roll in to round discs. Take a fork and poke holes in the base.
Spread some pizza sauce on the base,add toppings of your choice and cover with shredded mozzarella.
Bake in the oven at 180 deg ,till the cheese is melted. At this stage,I transfer the pizza to a pan,getting heated on a low heat,and let the base get crispy. Serve hot!

For the toppings we did-1) plain cheese
2) Mixed vegetables( A pan-charred mix capsicum,onions and broccoli)

For the Sauce(This is my mum’s recipe):

Heat oil in a pan,add the red chili powder.When the oil starts to get foamy,add the sugar and the tomato puree followed by the salt. Mix well and let it cook on a medium flame till all the water from the tomatoes dries up and you are left with a thick sauce.

I can guarantee you,once you taste this sauce,you will never want to buy any of the readymade ones. Try it,I dare you 🙂
I leave you with a picture of my pizza 🙂

Here’s wishing a very happy Rakshabandhan to all the brothers and sisters across the world.

‘Rakhi’ is a big deal in our household.When I was a kid, my sister and I used to tie ‘Rakhis’  to each other, along with all our cousins and ‘Rakhi’ brothers. When we grew up, we started tying the ‘rakhi’ to our dad.
When my first daughter was born,we started this tradition in our home. I made two ‘rakhis’ and tied one(on her behalf) to hubby and the other to the Bal Krishna idol in our pooja room. A few years later,when her sister came along, I made them both tie ‘rakhis’ to their dad and to each other. It’s just a lovely celebration.  So,when Preethi asked me, if I wanted to do a craft or a recipe post for Rakshabandhan, I jumped at it.
Every year, Rakhi making is a big part of the celebration.This year we started with :

Photo Credit : Trish

• A bunch of assorted ribbons
• Glue
• Assorted ornaments to decorate the ribbons(pompoms,buttons,etc.)

And this is what we came up with :

Can you guess which one was made by the very crafty 6 year old?

Now for the sweet. Today, I share with you a recipe of my favorite Chocolate Burfi. Anyone else remember this delicious 2-layer wonder??

Image Courtesy:Google Images

Ingredients :

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup full cream milk
• 125 grams butter OR 1/4 cup ghee
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Chopped Pistachio for garnishing

Method :

• Mix the cocoa powder with a little milk,using a whisk,so as to avoid lumps.Keep aside.
• Take all the ingredients,except the chopped nuts,in a heavy bottom pan and cook it on a medium flame,stirring constantly.
• When the mix starts to thicken and leaves the sides of the pan,turn off the heat .
• Spread about 2/3rd of the mix on a greased tray.(I like my chocolate layer to be nice and thick )
• Mix the chocolate mix to the remaining mixture.Mix thoroughly and spread it on top of the milk layer.
• Garnish with chopped pistachios.
• Mark the squares-let it cool and then cut off the squares.
• Sink your teeth in to one or two or three..and enjoy the yummmy chocolatey goodness.

Once again wish you all a very happy Rakshabandhan..Hope you enjoy the day and don’t forget to tell your sibling,how special they are to you.

Cross-posted here

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked Pasta
4-5 chicken sausages cooked and sliced
1 small onion diced
1/2 cup diced capsicum

For avocado sauce:
2 medium sized avocados
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup coriander leaves
Salt&Pepper- to taste

Cheese for garnish(optional)

For avocado sauce-Whiz all the avocado sauce ingredients in a food processor.
Toss pasta,sausage,saute’ed onion & capsicum and sauce together.add more pepper if you like..and garnish with cheese(optional).

Tip:If you like your pasta hot, make sure the pasta,sausage and sauteed veggies are warm,if not hot.Because the sauce is not cooked.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.This is fast becoming a staple in our house for hot days!