Usha's Recipes

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup butter softened

1/4 cup castor sugar

1/2 cup Brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 egg

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Procedure: 

·         Sieve flour together with salt and baking powder.

·         Beat butter, brown sugar, castor sugar at medium speed.

·         Add egg and vanilla and beat well to get creamy texture.

·         Add flour and mix on low speed for 30 sec and stop beating.

·         Add chocolate chips, nuts and gently mix (fold-in) with wooden spoon.

·         Pre-heat the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C (350 degree F).

·         Line the baking tray with non-sticking baking paper.

·         Take a large spoon (2 tbsp) and drop like a scoop on the tray.

·         Make sure each cookie should have chocolate chips & nuts.

·         Scoop the dough on to the tray leaving space between the cookies to spread.

·         Bake these for about 6-8 minutes or until the edges and peaks on the top surface turns golden brown.

·         At this point of time, only the top peaks should be coloured but the middle part still looks like the dough colour. Don’t wait to get browned the entire surface.

·         Take out the tray and let it stand for 5 minutes.

·         Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let them cool for sometime then can be stored in an air tight container.

 Note: If you want a bit crisper, bake it for 2 more minutes 9-10 minutes, but not more than 10 min. If you bake more than 10 minutes, chocolate chips get melted and burnt.

Homemade Veg Pizza 

Makes 2 regular (9 inch) pizzas.

For Pizza Base: 

Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour

1 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil

·         Mix yeast, salt, sugar in warm water and keep it aside for 8-10 minutes.

·         Now pour the above mixture and 3 tbsp oil in the flour and knead to make soft dough like chapathi dough.

·         Coat the dough with oil and cover the dough bowl with damp cloth or plastic wrap.

·         Keep this bowl in a warm place for 1 hr where we usually place the curd to set. I prefer to keep this in oven (switched off) where the temperature is a bit warm.

·         Meanwhile we can prepare the pizza sauce and toppings.

·         Take out the dough, now the dough is double the size punch for 2 minutes and coat with oil and wrap with damp cloth & keep it again in warm place for 30 min.

·         Punch the dough again and now your pizza dough is ready.

For Pizza Sauce:

Ingredients:

4 Tomatoes (Red ripped)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 Garlic flakes minced

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp basil (tulasi)

1 tsp oregano (vaamu aaku)

Salt

Procedure: 

·         Mark '+' sign on each tomato with knife and place in boiling water for 1 minute.

·         Take out and place in cool water and remove the skin.

·         Chop two tomatoes and make paste with the other two in the blender along with basil and oregano.

·         Now Heat olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic & sauté for 1 minute.

·         Add chopped tomato, salt, sugar and cook covered for 5 minutes.

·         Now add the tomato paste and let it cook on slow flame for around 20-30 minutes or until required consistency to spread on the pizza.

For Topping:

1 Tomato

1/2 capsicum

1 onion

6 button mushrooms

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp pepper

Salt

Slice tomato, capsicum, mushrooms and onions.

Arranging Pizza: 

·         On the Pizza pan or on tray, spread half of the dough flat with the hands or use rolling pin to get thin crust pizza.

·         Roughly prick the base using fork and brush with olive oil on the top and edges.

·         Spread Pizza sauce on the top and arrange sliced tomato, onion, capsicum, mushrooms, leaving one inch from edge.

·         You can vary the toppings according to your taste buds.

·         Sprinkle salt and pepper, finally sprinkle cheese on the top.

·         Bake it for 20 minutes at 230 degree C (450 degree F) or until the cheese is golden brown.

·         Take out the pizza and run the knife or pizza cutter to cut into pieces.

·         Don’t try to byte right from the oven; wait for at least 10-15 minutes to cool.

·         Enjoy Homemade Pizza.

Pav Bhaji 

Ingredients: 

Pavs (Square buns) 12 no

2 onions finely chopped

3 tomatoes

1 large potato chopped

2 Carrots chopped

1 cup green peas

½ cup Beans chopped

1 cup Cauliflower florets

1 tbsp ginger garlic

3 green chilies

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

½ tsp fennel powder

½ tsp Aamchur powder

1 tsp Chili powder

1 tbsp kasur methi

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp butter

Pinch of hing

Salt

Chopped Coriander leaves

Procedure: 

·         Cook all the vegetables (potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, beans, peas, green chilies) with 1 cup of water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.

·         Heat 1 tbsp butter in a pan add cumin seeds, hing let them splutter then add chopped onions. Fry till translucent.

·         Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, green chilies, tomatoes, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder, fennel powder, amchur powder, kasoor methi and add 2 tbsp of water and cook covered until tomatoes become soft.

·         Now add cooked vegetables and a cup of water & let it cook to boiling consistency.

·         With a potato masher keep mashing the mixture & let it cook nicely. When all the veggies are cooked thoroughly adjust salt and add 1 tbsp of butter, chopped coriander, lemon juice and mix well.

·         Heat a half tbsp of butter in a pan and place the pav and roast on both sides for 1 minute and take into the serving plate.

·         Serve with hot bhaji, few chopped onions and coriander with a lemon wedge.