Home made Veggie Pizza

I've tasted pizza for the first time during my college days in India...I've done my engg in a city called Vijayawada in AP...It was a hub for many educational institutions and hence was then one of the very rapidly developing cities...We were 7 girls in the hostel as a group...Among us me, chandu, swapna n jyothi were kind of foodie freaks...There were times when we even used to bunk the classes to go to Hot Breads, Sweet Magic (Food corners) in Bunder Road...hmmmm I'm getting nostalgic now..Miss u all dearies...

Ok coming back to today's cooking saaga, I wanted to try something which's not from the Indian cuisine...I've recently came across a website describing the preparation of pizza dough...From that moment I wanted to try it at home...Somehow I don't prefer non-veg versions of West (I like non-veg items only when cooked with Indian Masalas), so I opted for a veggie version...Suman normally doesn't like any western food, but pizza is kind of OK to him...It came out very well as per taste, but the appearance was not that good...I need to improve on setting the Baking time in the Oven (slightly over baked it)..Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

For base,

Self-raising flour - 1 cup

Dried yeast - 1 tea spoon

Warm water - 1/2 cup (should not be luke warm or too hot, shld be able to touch)

Brown Sugar - 1/2 tea spoon (honey or normal sugar can be used too)

Salt - 1/4th tea spoon

Oil - to rub onto the base

For topping,

Tomatoes - 1 cup - sliced (I used tinned tomatoes, but fresh cut tomatoes are a good choice)

Capsicum/Bell Pepper - 2 - sliced (preferably of two different colors)

Red Onion - 1 - sliced

Green Chillies - 2 - sliced (Jalapeno peppers also can be used)

Mushrooms - 1/2 cup - washed and sliced

Cheese - 1/2 cup to 1 cup (your choice)- grated (I used cubes, but grated cheese would be a better option)

Any other toppings can also be added..like olives etc

Procedure:

1. Mix the flour, brown sugar, yeast and salt with warm water and make a dough. You can refer to the link below for a more clear picture.

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/breads/yeast/pizzadough.html

2. Now take a baking tray and grease it with some oil or butter. Dust it with some flour. Now, rub a lil oil onto your palm and spread this dough evenly onto the tray. Level the surface properly.

3. Top it with all the veggies first and then cheese on the top. I first topped it with tomatoes, then onions, green chillies and then bell pepper and finally mushroom. Spread the cheese evenly on the top.

4. If you think you need to add more salt you can sprinkle some salt on the top now.

5. Put this tray in a pre-heated oven to 200C and bake for about 15-20min or until the crust is crispy.

Aahaaa....finally a yummy yummy weekend treat to my love with love, Home made veggie pizza served with tomato sauce and accompanied by a glass of mango juice topped with cream....I made 4 pieces and none's left now....me a pizza cook..hahahaha....'m on cloud nine...