The cheesy slice of Italy

I dedicate this post to one of my personal favorites...pizza! I am completed awed by the manner in which this   foreign cuisine found its place so comfortably in India that it tops the chart of favorites among the youth of urban India. Though its loosely termed as a fast food..its not really so..as it does take enough time and effort to make one ! Imported from Italy , its said to be a part of Neapolitan cuisine.
I remember the time when the first Pizza hut outlet had opened in my city of Pune. In those days, eating out was restricted to good restaurants on weekends. On the name of fast food fast food we just had pav bhaji, dosas and few more desi items. There were long waiting of eager people outside pizza hut all wanting to take a bite of this imported bread make. In fact cheese itself wasn't pravalent.  I don't think an average Indian housewife was aware of the mozzarella cheese at all ! To top the unfamiliarity of this delicacy were the added unseen vegetables like black olives and jalapenos. Even the spice added of oregano and chilly flakes casually kept of the tables was new. We were used to seeing only salt and pepper kept on the dinning tables of the biggest of all restaurants.Thus started the journey of these fresh smelling, hot cheesy soft disc breads with unbelievable toppings of fresh vegetables in India.

Today, the consumption of pizza is  easy.The home delivery of most of the makers of pizzas in attractive cardboard boxes, has made pizzas favorites among urban India. So well has pizza made its place in India that the makers of pizza have Indianised the flavors just to suite the Indian palate. Like the other I went out with my friends to pizza hut, I realize that the menu contained pizza with tandoori paneer and chicken toppings! This Italian- Indian concoction however, is sumptuous. Even the bases are with constant innovation. Eat from the back, thin crust, thick crust, pan crust, cheese inside, cheese outside, cheesy bites..etc just all add more guilt of all the sin of gluttony after the pizza meal.

Here is one of the easiest and yet one of the most yummy and not to forget healthier versions of home made pizza

•   Pizza base (wheat)
•   3-4 tomatoes, boiled and pureed or simple ready made tomato puree.
•   Vegetables - chopped onions, ringed Capsicum, black olives, jalapenos, baby corn ( cut longitudinal),
•       paneer if you wish.
•   mozzarella cheese grated.
•   Garlic paste 4-5 cloves.
•  Chilly powder
•   Oregano
•  Salt.
•  Butter.

To start lets make the topping base. It should be nice and tangy to mask and over come the blandness of the base. So take a pan, add butter to it, add garlic paste, oregano, chilly powder, tomato puree and salt. you may add chilly sauce as well to enhance the flavor. Bring to boil.
In another pan, saute all the vegetables you may want to add, leaving olives and jalapeno, with little butter and salt.
Apply butter on both sides of the pizza base, and then generously spread the tomato  topping on it. Then with all the dexterity in the fingers add the vegetables, olives and jalapenos.
Feeling as less guilty as possible, add the mozzarella cheese over the pizza. Sprinkle some chilly flakes and oregano powder and put it in the oven to bake.

As the cheese melts and the bread bakes, the whole kitchen will smell of this unresistable Italian dish.

Remove when all the cheese melts. Use pizza cutter to slices. Take the slice in hand and dive in the cheesy oregano, tomato, vegetables and bread concoction. Enjoy with chilled cola !