A twist in taste.
Anila Kurian, Dec 29, 2015, DHNS
Down foodpath
I never planned on being a part of the hospitality industry. I wasn’t even sure if this is what I wanted to do when I applied for my Hotel Management course. However, things changed when I started the course and by the end of the second year of college, I was very sure of what I wanted to do in life — I wanted to be a chef.
It was part of our course to learn everything related to the hospitality department, but my true calling was the kitchen. I absolutely loved cooking and knowing that people enjoyed my food. I couldn’t find that kind of satisfaction anywhere else. So I made sure that I worked with some great restaurants to build my skills. And be where I am now.
Having grown up in Uttar Pradesh, it’s easy to find a mix of communities living in harmony there. So my food memories involve me trying various dishes from other cultures. That kind of lifestyle has moulded me to fuse the traditional recipes with Western ones. For example, I serve my ‘chicken tikka masala’ with pita bread instead of regular roti and ‘Kerala veg stew’ with pancakes as a replacement for ‘appams’. It’s about combining ingredients and flavours in such a way that we incorporate other cultures as well. As a chef, I believe that it’s my responsibility to introduce such flavours as I have been exposed to them during my travels.
When I was in college, we were taught that food needs to be complex and we need to confuse the guest with taste and flavour. Where only one sauce needs to be added, we were guided to add other elements to the dish so that the guests are left wondering about what they have just eaten. Over the years, this notion has changed and it’s turned to ‘simple and palatable cooking’. And that’s what I believe in too. It’s important for me to convince the guest of what they are eating rather than to confuse them with flavours they might not like.
However, it feels like a vacation when I’m home. My wife takes over the kitchen — I like to give her the space or I might not get food the next day! And she makes some great dishes for me.
I love when she makes ‘litti chokha’, a traditional dish from my hometown that’s basically an evening snack served with ‘chokha’ made of potato, brinjal and tomato. And the day I get to prepare something, I enjoy making biryani and cookies for her.
The recipe I’m sharing today is of a simple dish called ‘Naanza’ which is a pizza with a twist. Instead of serving it on the regular pizza base,I prefer to use a ‘naan’ bread. It’s a dish that doesn’t take long to prepare and makes for a perfect party snack or meal that you would want to dig in to.
Chef Vikas Pathak
Chef at blueFROG
Ingredients
For assembling
*Naan bread — 1
*Olive oil — 10 ml
*Pizza sauce — 50 ml
*Cooked tikka — 100 gm
*Mixed cheese — 75 gm
*Chopped coriander — 5 gm
*Chopped green chilli — 5 gm
Method
Naan dough
*All purpose flour — 250 gm
*Warm milk — 50 ml
*Yoghurt — 20 gm
*Sugar — 5 gm
*Yeast — 5 gm
*Salt —5 gm
Pizza sauce
*Pureed tomatoes —250 gm
*Chopped garlic cloves — 50 ml
*Chopped fresh basil leaves — 20 gm
*Dry oregano — 10 gm
*Red chilli flakes — 5 gm
Method:
Pizza dough
*Add flour, salt, baking powder, yeast, sugar and mix well in a bowl.
*Add yogurt and combine it with the flour mixture.
*Add warm milk and start to knead the dough until it becomes soft.
*Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place to rise.
*After the dough has risen well, grease your hands with oil and start to knead the dough again.
*Divide the dough into150 gm balls.
*Dust the surface with dry flour. Pat or roll the naan with a rolling pin.
Pizza sauce
*Rinse and chop the tomatoes. Puree the tomatoes in a blender or with a hand blender.
*Heat olive oil in a small pan.
*Add the chopped garlic and saute on low flame.
*Add the tomato puree and saute on a low to medium flame.
*When the tomatoes are cooked, add the chopped basil, dry oregano, salt and pepper.
*Keep it on slow flame for 30 minutes till the sauce gets cooked and gives that perfect flavour.
To assemble
*Take the hot naan bread and apply olive oil.
* Top it with homemade pizza sauce.
*Arrange the cooked tikka, layer it with mixed cheese.
*Cook it in the pizza oven for a few minutes, until the cheese melts.
*Garnish it with chopped green chilli and chopped coriander.
*Cook it for eight to ten minutes under moderate tandoor heat.
It was part of our course to learn everything related to the hospitality department, but my true calling was the kitchen. I absolutely loved cooking and knowing that people enjoyed my food. I couldn’t find that kind of satisfaction anywhere else. So I made sure that I worked with some great restaurants to build my skills. And be where I am now.
Having grown up in Uttar Pradesh, it’s easy to find a mix of communities living in harmony there. So my food memories involve me trying various dishes from other cultures. That kind of lifestyle has moulded me to fuse the traditional recipes with Western ones. For example, I serve my ‘chicken tikka masala’ with pita bread instead of regular roti and ‘Kerala veg stew’ with pancakes as a replacement for ‘appams’. It’s about combining ingredients and flavours in such a way that we incorporate other cultures as well. As a chef, I believe that it’s my responsibility to introduce such flavours as I have been exposed to them during my travels.
When I was in college, we were taught that food needs to be complex and we need to confuse the guest with taste and flavour. Where only one sauce needs to be added, we were guided to add other elements to the dish so that the guests are left wondering about what they have just eaten. Over the years, this notion has changed and it’s turned to ‘simple and palatable cooking’. And that’s what I believe in too. It’s important for me to convince the guest of what they are eating rather than to confuse them with flavours they might not like.
However, it feels like a vacation when I’m home. My wife takes over the kitchen — I like to give her the space or I might not get food the next day! And she makes some great dishes for me.
I love when she makes ‘litti chokha’, a traditional dish from my hometown that’s basically an evening snack served with ‘chokha’ made of potato, brinjal and tomato. And the day I get to prepare something, I enjoy making biryani and cookies for her.
The recipe I’m sharing today is of a simple dish called ‘Naanza’ which is a pizza with a twist. Instead of serving it on the regular pizza base,I prefer to use a ‘naan’ bread. It’s a dish that doesn’t take long to prepare and makes for a perfect party snack or meal that you would want to dig in to.
Chef Vikas Pathak
Chef at blueFROG
Ingredients
For assembling
*Naan bread — 1
*Olive oil — 10 ml
*Pizza sauce — 50 ml
*Cooked tikka — 100 gm
*Mixed cheese — 75 gm
*Chopped coriander — 5 gm
*Chopped green chilli — 5 gm
Method
Naan dough
*All purpose flour — 250 gm
*Warm milk — 50 ml
*Yoghurt — 20 gm
*Sugar — 5 gm
*Yeast — 5 gm
*Salt —5 gm
Pizza sauce
*Pureed tomatoes —250 gm
*Chopped garlic cloves — 50 ml
*Chopped fresh basil leaves — 20 gm
*Dry oregano — 10 gm
*Red chilli flakes — 5 gm
Method:
Pizza dough
*Add flour, salt, baking powder, yeast, sugar and mix well in a bowl.
*Add yogurt and combine it with the flour mixture.
*Add warm milk and start to knead the dough until it becomes soft.
*Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place to rise.
*After the dough has risen well, grease your hands with oil and start to knead the dough again.
*Divide the dough into150 gm balls.
*Dust the surface with dry flour. Pat or roll the naan with a rolling pin.
Pizza sauce
*Rinse and chop the tomatoes. Puree the tomatoes in a blender or with a hand blender.
*Heat olive oil in a small pan.
*Add the chopped garlic and saute on low flame.
*Add the tomato puree and saute on a low to medium flame.
*When the tomatoes are cooked, add the chopped basil, dry oregano, salt and pepper.
*Keep it on slow flame for 30 minutes till the sauce gets cooked and gives that perfect flavour.
To assemble
*Take the hot naan bread and apply olive oil.
* Top it with homemade pizza sauce.
*Arrange the cooked tikka, layer it with mixed cheese.
*Cook it in the pizza oven for a few minutes, until the cheese melts.
*Garnish it with chopped green chilli and chopped coriander.
*Cook it for eight to ten minutes under moderate tandoor heat.
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