Ever since the husband has been put in the high risk category for heart problems, I've been trying to cook meals that not only appeal to his peculiar taste buds but also do his health some good. So last night, instead of making the same old dry phulkas and subzi, I made pizzas. :)
The dough: this is entirely an experiment that I didn't regret. With some pointers from Gordon Ramsay in his show on TLC, I just did my own thing.
1 tsp Active dry yeast in about 2tbsp luke warm water with sugar. Leave it alone while mixing the dough. 1 cup regular chapatti atta (my atta also has flaxseed, 1 tbsp roasted fine semolina and methi meal mixed in it), 2tsp olive oil, salt to taste. Knead into a soft sticky dough, adding water as you need.
By this time the Yeast should be activated. .frothy and bubbly. Just incorporate it into tge doygh..lightly. Then, smear your hands with oil and roll the dough aroubd coating it lightly with oil. Grease a container and place the oiled ball of dough in it. Cover tightly with cling film and tuck it away into a warm spot for about 2 hours allowing it to rise. I warmed my oven and let it sit in the oven for 2 whole hours.
Toppings: I used whatever I had in my fridge. Luck was on my side as I'd replenished my stock of herbs and vegetables just that morning. So I used a tomato pasta sauce as the base sauce. Red and yellow bell peppers, shallots, spring onion greens, black olives, and lemon basil. The idea was to have a thin crust and load it with toppings. I also used mixed spice, tabasco sauce and chilli flakes for heat.
When the dough was fluffy and rwady, I didn't bothet to knead it a second time. Just brushed my regular chapatti tawa with oil, pulled a ball of dough into a thin round base, poked it several times with a fork and loaded the toppings.
The trick is to put it on high heat for a few minutes till the base starts cooking. Then reduce the flame, cover with a glass lid and let it cook for approximately 10 minutes. .or until the toppings are tender and the base crisp and golden. :) just before serving, I drizzled abput a tsp if cold pressed flaxseed oil and roasted garlic flakes for an extra punch. Yummmmmm.. they were so light that we had sbout 3 pizzas each!
My pizzas were the size of small phulkas and loaded with veggies with very little oil and no cheese. So I didn't feel guilty after polishing off 2 pizzas all by myself. :)
I was so busy experimenting that I took just one picture. ..here it is. This one was for my brother... The only one who can afford to eat cheese snd is struggling to put ob weight!
