Dinner roll

Breakfast (Kadala Kadale)

View from my kitchen window

Welcome 2009!!

The New year came with all of these...

Pizza Mania

Have you ever thought when you’re eating pizza at a restaurant that you also want to make one, one better than the six dollar pizza the restaurant boy makes?

Well this is one of those times. I've always wanted to make a pizza where my kids and hubby would ask for more. Moment of truth. It was the delicious pizza ever. I made it in my own simple way; it was even simpler than I thought.

For all you pizza lovers out there…this one’s for you

  

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 5 Cups of Flour.
• 1 Tablespoon of Sugar.
• 2 Teaspoons of Salt.
• 1 Teaspoon of Instant Yeast.
• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.
• 1/2 Cup of Milk.
• 1 1/2 Cups of Water.

Method:

Combine all and mix with a Mixer or with a Spoon, Set the dough aside for 5 minutes. Stir again 3-5 minutes by adding water if necessary, (Remember the dough should be sticky.)Keep aside. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours. Remember to oil the dough and the bowl, it will keep from sticking.

Once the dough is doubled in its size, Punch it down and knead for 5 minutes. The dough should stick to your finger while you do so. Set aside. Pre-heat the oven for 450 F with the pizza pan on the bottom rack. Now you have the time to make the sauce.

Sauce:1 Cup of Regular Tomato Sauce.1/2 Cup of Water.1 Teaspoon of Dried Basil (or Fresh).1 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano (or Fresh).4 or 5 Cloves of Chopped Garlic.Half a Tomato Chopped.Half a Chopped Onion.1/2 Teaspoon of Chili Powder.Salt and Black Pepper.2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions, add garlic. After the aroma comes add the tomatoes, now add in the Salt, Pepper and chili powder. Add water and the sauce. Now add the dried oregano and basil. Remove from heat once it starts to bubble. Set aside.


Topping:A Curry of your choice , or sausages. (I made chicken curry using boneless chicken ,it’s Optional)2 Tablespoons of Black or Green Olives.Half a Red Pepper Chopped.1/2 Cup of Parmesan.10 oz Mozzarella, sliced.2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil.

Now remove the Pizza pan from the oven and sprinkle some corn flour on top, Lay the dough and make a rim on the edge. Spread the sauce evenly. Sprinkle the parmesan and the curry or sausage  then the mozzarella. Top it with chopped red pepper and olives. Drizzle with olive oil over the top and everything is set. Bake for 20 minutes and be sure not to burn the top.

Ending a Rainy Day Blues (Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chunks)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chunks.
Male’ is dark with rain for two days. Mondays are supposed to be boring after the weekends correct?
I decided to make some cookies, but which one? I didn’t want to end up doing a whole lot of work either, so started browsing and came across this easy and good looking recipe. I did make a few modifications, and it came out really good. Here is my version of the cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups of Flour.
• 1 Cup of Brown Sugar.
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda. 
• 1 Cup of Chunky Peanut Butter.
• 1/2 Cup of Butter.
• 1/4 Cup of Honey.
• 1 Large Egg.
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla.
• 100g Milk Chocolate. (Roughly Chopped)

Method:
Mix Flour and Baking Soda together. In a medium sized bowl add, Peanut butter, Brown Sugar, Butter, Honey, Egg, Vanilla and Blend using an Electronic Mixer until well blended. Stir in the dry ingredients and at last add in the roughly chopped Chocolate.

   

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the baking trays and keep a small spoon full of mixture 2 1/2 inch apart for it will expand. Bake until puffed and browned for 25-20 minutes. The smell would simply swirl around the whole house.

When baked, let it cool on the tray for 5 minutes. The rest is up to you, to eat it, or to store in a jar!

Oh! Oh! And it did End my Rainy day Blues!!!
 

Chocolate Cake With Cooking Chocolate

Piece of Cake!!!
Chocolate Cake With Cooking Chocolate.

I've been longing to make this cake for a week,and finaly, here it is... It simply melts in your mouth.. :P

Recipe Coming Soon....

Eggplant Stir Fry (Wambatu Moju)

Eggplant is a special vegitable for me because it gives a great combination with all the food. In Sri Lankan we call Eggplant "Wam Batu". There are so many recipes to make Eggplant , i make fried Eggplant  salad in coconut milk... this vegetable is so versatile.

Ingredients:

• 3 Small Eggplants.
• 1 Tomato Chopped
• 1 Onion Chopped.
• 1 1/2 tsp of Red Chillie Flakes.
• 1/3 tsp Turmaric
• Salt.
• Curry Leaves. (Optional)
• 3 Tablsp pf Oil.

Method:

Slice the Eggplants thinly lengthwise, add 1/2 tsp of turmaric and 1/2 tsp of salt and deep fry until golden. (Keep aside). Heat the oil and add curry leaves and onions. Add the chillie flakes,turmaric,chopped tomatoes and salt. Stir it all up and cook on a very low flame with the lid on. After a few minutes see weather the onions have cooked, and add the fried eggplants and mix gently. Now turn on the flame a bit and and toss untill the eggplant gets coated with all the spicey gravy for 5 minutes. Remove from flame and its ready to serve. Its realy good with Chapathis and Rice. I served it with rice. Enjoy!

Pumpkin in Coconut Milk

This the usual way the Sri Lankans cook most of the vegetabke, in coconut milk.
I realy love the creamy rich tase of the coconut milk and the flavour of the vegetable.

Ingredients:

• Half of a Small Pumpkin.
• 1/2 Cup Thick Coconut Milk.
• 1 Small Onion Chopped.
• 1 Tabl Sp Minced Garlic Paste.
• 2 Green Chilies.
• Half of a Small Tomato.
• 1 Stick Cinnamon.
• 1/2 tsp of Turmeric.
• 1/3 tsp of Black Pepper.
• Salt.
• 3-4 Drops of Lime Juice
• Curry Leaves and Pandan Leaves (Optional).
• 2 Tabsp of Oil.

Method:

Heat the oil in a vessel. Add curry leaves, pandan leaves, cinnamon stick and minced garlic. Once the garlic starts to get brown, add the onions and chillie. Add the Pumkin pieces once the onion is cooked. Put the chopped tomatoes in, add salt, turmaric,black pepper and a 1/2 cup of water and let it cook with the lid on.after the pimkin is cooked and soft, add the coconut milk and once it boils and thickens, remove from flame and add a few drops of lime juice. Serve hot with Rice.

String Hoppers with Coconut Sambol

We all love string hoppers, and Friday is a day we have string hoppers for breakfast. Its very common in Sri Lanka, for breakfast and dinner, there are different varieties in string hoppers Made with  Wheat flour, Red rice flour and white rice flour. Our choice is white rice flour. There is a special tool to squeeze the dough with. My mom bough me one when she visited me last time. Its all worth it for me. :P

Ingredients for Coconut Sambol:

• 1 Cup Freshly Scraped Coconut.
• 2 Chopped Green Chillies.
• 1 Small Onions.
• 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Chillie Flakes.
• Lime Juice.
• Salt.

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients together with the hand till the coconut absorbs all the flavours.

Pound it a few times if you have a grinding bowl.

Coconut Sambol is ready to be served!. This goes with bread and any kind of roti