Mini Pizza Party For Children With Dough From Scratch

Mini Pizza Party for children with Dough from Scratch.

Great recipe for making mini pizzas where the children can roll out the dough and bake it themselves. A very forgiving dough which works well every single time. Simple ingredients. No overnight resting required.

Getting the children early in the kitchen is the only way to get them interested in food. My father made my son sit on the kitchen counter and gave him a real knife when he was four. I was scared but he just asked me to let it go. He told he would take care. He did. My father would say, you got to believe the kids. We actually do not know what they are capable of doing because we are scared and over protective and never willing to give them a chance. Starting them early is very very essential.

We had a lot of fun making this pizza from scratch with the children. This is a very very forgiving pizza dough recipe which can be made the same day. No overnight resting is needed. I have made it several times with the kids and they all love to get their hands doughy and saucy and would lick the plates clean. Lets get some flour love. Shall we?

First step, weigh and measure all the ingredients. In a big bowl, add in 420 grams – 3 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a separate bowl mix a tablespoon of olive oil , 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup milk.

Second step, lets get the yeast working. Take a small bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast. Add in 1/4 cup tepid water. Mix well and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy. Indian yeast is temperamental. If it doesn’t foam, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast.

Combine all the ingredients (flour mixture, milk mixture and yeast mixture ) together and form a dough. The dough will be very soft. We are not trying to knead yet. We are just combining everything together. Once its mixed, move away for 10 minutes. Don’t do anything. It hydrates the dough and it becomes a lot easier later to knead. Now start kneading. I did it by hand for a good 5 minutes. The trick in kneading is to avoid the temptation of adding flour. Too much flour alters the moisture content and will result in a dry dough. So do not add too much flour while kneading. Knead well until the dough becomes one soft ball. Take a lot of help from the little master kneaders.

First Rise : Once kneading is done, shape the dough into a nice smooth ball and transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled. Mine took two hours.

Second Rise : Check every half hour with your little one to see how the dough is getting fat. You will be impressed. Once the dough is doubled, transfer the dough to a work surface. punch the dough down, make a ball and let it rise again until doubled. Another 2 hours. It can be faster or slower depending upon where you live.

Third rise : Turn the risen dough to your work surface and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten the dough and start crimping the dough as shown in the picture below to form 8 nice smooth balls.

Lightly oil all the balls and let it rise for half hour before baking. If you are not going to use it right away, refrigerate for up to 6 hours. Let it come to room temperature before proceeding.

Baking Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Flatten each ball to disks on a parchment paper. Press it in shape as necessary with your fingers. Top it with tomato sauce and toppings of your choice and place it on a sheet pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

For a children’s party, hand over a parchment paper and a dough ball to each kid and let them flatten and put the toppings of their choice. Mark a small initial on the corner of the parchment for identification. Have a great party with loads of fun.

Yeast mixture

• 1/4 cup tepid water
• 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Dry ingredients

• 420 grams /3 cups All purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. In a big bowl add in the all purpose flour and salt. In a seperate bowl mix a tablespoon of olive oil , 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup milk.
2. Take a small bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast. Add in 1/4 cup tepid water. Mix well and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy.
3. Combine all the ingredients together and form a dough. Once combined rest for 10 minutes. Knead well for 5 minutes until the dough becomes one soft ball.
4. First Rise : Once kneading is done, shape the dough into a nice smooth ball and transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled. Mine took two hours.
5. Second Rise : Once the dough is doubled, transfer the dough to a work surface. punch the dough down, make a ball and let it rise again until doubled. Another 2 hours. It can be faster or slower depending on where you live.
6. Third rise: Turn the dough to your work surface and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten the dough and start crimping the dough to form a nice smooth ball. Lightly oil all the balls and let it rise for half hour before baking. If you are not going to use it right away, refrigerate for upto 6 hours. Let it come to room temperature before proceeding.
7. Baking: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Flatten each ball to disks. Press it in shape as necessary with your fingers. Top it with tomato sauce and toppings of your choice and bake for 10-15 minutes.

• Author: Kannamma @kannammacooks.com
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Bread
• Cuisine: American/Italian

Yeast mixture

• 1/4 cup tepid water
• 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Dry ingredients

• 420 grams /3 cups All purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. In a big bowl add in the all purpose flour and salt. In a seperate bowl mix a tablespoon of olive oil , 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup milk.
2. Take a small bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast. Add in 1/4 cup tepid water. Mix well and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy.
3. Combine all the ingredients together and form a dough. Once combined rest for 10 minutes. Knead well for 5 minutes until the dough becomes one soft ball.
4. First Rise : Once kneading is done, shape the dough into a nice smooth ball and transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled. Mine took two hours.
5. Second Rise : Once the dough is doubled, transfer the dough to a work surface. punch the dough down, make a ball and let it rise again until doubled. Another 2 hours. It can be faster or slower depending on where you live.
6. Third rise: Turn the dough to your work surface and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten the dough and start crimping the dough to form a nice smooth ball. Lightly oil all the balls and let it rise for half hour before baking. If you are not going to use it right away, refrigerate for upto 6 hours. Let it come to room temperature before proceeding.
7. Baking: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Flatten each ball to disks. Press it in shape as necessary with your fingers. Top it with tomato sauce and toppings of your choice and bake for 10-15 minutes.

• Author: Kannamma @kannammacooks.com
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Bread
• Cuisine: American/Italian

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/mini-pizza-party-for-children-with-dough-from-scratch/

Vellai Kurma – Restaurant Style South Indian White Vegetable Korma.

South Indian Tamilnadu Restaurant style white vegetable kurma called as vellai kuruma or parotta korma. With video and step by step pictures. Finger licking good!

I learnt this Vellai Kurma recipe after marriage from my mother in law. She is an awesome cook. My father in law is a foodie. This is his favorite curry to have with chapati. In my early years of marriage, whenever my in-laws used to visit us, I would just help around in the kitchen. The true cooking was done by my MIL. She used to make this as a side dish for chapati. Its a very easy recipe and comes out very well every single time.

Here is the video of Vellai Kurma – Restaurant Style South Indian White Vegetable Korma

Usually in Indian curries, the spices are dry roasted and then ground. But for this vegetable kurma, the spices are ground raw. Grind all the ingredients listed below with about 1 cup of water to a smooth paste.

Boil about 2 cups of mixed vegetables until al-dente and keep aside. Do not use a lot of vegetables. 4-5 different vegetables should do fine. Adding potato gives the gravy some body. So don’t miss the potato.

Here is how I boil the veggies. I cook the veggies with quarter cup of water in a pressure cooker (2 or 3 litres) for exactly 2 whistles. Immediately release pressure from the cooker by lifting the whistle weight carefully. Releasing the pressure manually is important to get the veggies with the right texture for kurma without the veggies turning mushy.

Refer to this post to know how to cook veggies in a pressure cooker.

Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add in a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Let it splutter. Add in the chopped onions and salt. Saute till slightly brown. Add in the ground masala paste and a cup of water. Let it simmer on low flame for about 5 minutes. Since we have added cashews, it will foam up. So stir once in a while. Once the paste is cooked, add a cup of water to dilute.

Once the raw smell goes, after 5 minutes add the boiled vegetables.

Optional: If the gravy looks thin, here is what you can do. Take a small cup and add a teaspoon of cornstarch or maida (All purpose flour). Add 1/2 cup water to it and make a slurry. Add the slurry to the gravy. The slurry helps in thickening the gravy. Do not add the corn starch or maida directly as it may lump up. Simmer for couple of minutes more.

Finally, add in juice of a lime and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with roti or chapati.

For the raw ground paste

• 1 cup fresh shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1 clove
• 2 cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 4 green chillies (adjust according to your taste)

Boiled Vegetables

• 1/2 cup carrots
• 1/2 cup beans
• 1/2 cup potatoes
• 1/2 cup peas

Other Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 sprigs coriander leaves
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional-use if necessary)

1. Raw ground paste: Grind all the ingredients with about 1 cup of water to a smooth paste.
2. Boil about 2 cups of mixed vegetables until al-dente and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add in a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Let it splutter. Add in the chopped onions and salt. Saute till slightly brown. Add in the ground masala paste, a cup of water and let it simmer in low flame for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of water.
4. Once the raw smell goes, after 5 minutes add the boiled vegetables. Simmer for couple of minutes more. Add corn starch slurry if the gravy is thin. Else not necessary. Add in the lime juice and the coriander leaves.
5. Serve hot with roti or chapati.

• Author: Kannamma @kannammacooks.com
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Category: Gravy
• Cuisine: South Indian