Pizza and a milestone

I have been baking for a really long time. And I started baking with yeast only in the last 3 months. I've tried a variety of buns and breads and have been more successful than I thought I'd be.

Amma makes the yummiest pizza I've ever eaten. And I'm not the only one to think this. My best friend was visiting India for the first time in the 2.5 years since she moved to the U.S. A couple of weeks before she landed in Madras, we were on the phone with her and Amma asked her what she should make for her when she's here and she said, "Pizza" without thinking twice. Amma asked her, "Aren't you tired of eating Pizza there?" and she said, "But nothing is like what you make, Aunty!"

I'd never ventured to try and decided that eating Amma's pizza each time I visited my parents' place was more than enough. I do end up going at least 4 times a year so I can't really complain. (Even though this is at their dinner table every week.) But Amma was always asking me why I couldn't make this myself. I was scared of how it would turn out. And she'd say, "You make all kinds of bread, how can this intimidate you?" Anita also suggests that one can start baking breads with the easy pizza base. I finally summoned the courage to try this out last weekend. I started chopping vegetables to make pasta and halfway through decided to make pizza. I didn't have mushrooms in the fridge (it's usually a staple in our fridge, but when it is selling at Rs. 250 a kilo, I don't have the heart to use it as often!) and added whatever I could find. So, I did deviate a lot from Amma's original pizza sauce recipe. I'm not complaining!

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
1/8 cup Oil
1/2 tbsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Water, boiling
1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:

1 Onion, sliced
2-3 medium Tomatoes, chopped finely
1 Capsicum, sliced (I used small portions of red and yellow capsicum)
2 tsp Chilli Flakes
1/8 cup Broccoli, cut

1/8 cup Sweet Corn

1/8 cup Paneer, cubed
3 pods Garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp Fresh Basil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
Salt to Taste

100g Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1 tsp Olive Oil

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:

In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum, paneer, corn and broccoli and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, basil, oregano, chilli flakes, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.

Spread the dough over the plate. (You could roll the dough using a rolling pin. I prefer doing this by hand.) Spread the olive oil over the dough. Spread enough sauce over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes. When done, cut into wedges. Enjoy your meal.

This is a recipe I've been wanting to try and post for ages. It took 6 months of food blogging to get this very special recipe out. I just completed half a year of blogging and have all of you in the food blogosphere to thank for making a smooth sailing for me. Along with family and friends, you've all egged me on. Thank you all for your support and love.