Imli ki Daal

Ingredients-
Tuvar daal - 1 cup
Imli Paste (tamarind paste) - 2 tbsp if making fresh from raw imli- 1tsp of ready-made pulp
Onion - finely chopped - 1/3 cup
Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves
Red whole chilies - 2
Asafoetida - Hing - 1/4 tsp
Mustard  seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp, or according to your taste

Process-

Put 2 tsp oil in a pressure cooker and turn on the stove. We will make tadka before boiling the daal.
Once the oil is hot enough, put mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, ginger-garlic paste, whole chilies, and curry leaves in hot oil. Now add chopped onion and let it cook for a minute. Add turmeric powder and red chili powder and mix well. Once the spices and onions are cooked well, add imli paste. Add some water and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Now add washed daal in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. Add salt and mix all the ingredients once before closing the lid. Now put the stove heat on med and wait for three whistles from the pressure cooker. Turn off the stove 2-3 minutes after third whistle. Let the pressure cooker cool down completely. Open the lid and give it a mix. Daal is ready to serve.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients for two pizzas (6" )
Tomatoes - 4 med size
Garlic Cloves - 10-12 cloves ( approx finely chopped 4 tsp)
Fresh Basil Leaves - 10-12 leaves
Onion - 1 small finely chopped
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Olive oil - 4 tsp

Process -
Rub some olive oil on all the washed tomatoes. Now make a small cut on one side of tomatoes and hold the tomatoes with the help of a fork and fire roast tomatoes on stove flame directly for 2-3 minutes. Roast all the tomatoes and let them cool for 3-4 minutes. In a cooking pan, put some olive oil to heat and add finely chopped onions. Remove the skin of tomatoes and cut them roughly in small pieces. Add these chopped tomatoes and chopped garlic together in frying onions. Add some salt and cover the pan. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Now you try and crush the tomatoes while cooking it. Add sugar and chili powder, mix well. When you see oil is separated and tomatoes are mashed and cooked, turn off the stove and add finely chopped basil leaves. Let it cool down completely before putting it on the pizza base.

Tip - You can add fresh spices and herbs of your choice once the sauce is cooled down. We can use the same sauce for pasta as well.

Pizza Bread

Ingredients -
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Dry Active Yeast - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Oil/ Butter - 3 tbsp
Dried Oregano - 1/ tsp (optional)
Dried Basil Leaves - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Pizza Seasoning / Mixed Herbs - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Process -
Put lukewarm milk in a kneading bowl. Add active dry yeast and sugar in the milk and mix well. Cover the bowl and keep it aside for 10 minutes, this will activate the yeast, and you can see bubbles formed in the milk after 10 minutes. Add all-purpose flour, salt, and all the seasoning in the bowl. Knead a very soft dough with the help of water or milk. The dough will be very soft and sticky at the beginning, but as you continue to knead it, it will slowly become manageable. The dough should be very soft. Now put oil on the dough's surface and cover the bowl with a wet towel or airtight lid. Let it ferment for an hour. After an hour, the dough will be almost double in size. Knead it once again and then divide it into 2 pieces. You will be able to shape pizzas with your hands only, but if you find it difficult, use a rolling pin. Place this pizza base on a baking tray and prick the bread with a fork. Now spread some oil or butter on top of the bread and let it bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-15 mins.

Tips-
You can place baking paper on the baking tray and spread the dough with your hands on the tray directly. It will be less messy. Even if you are rolling it on counter, place a sheet of baking paper underneath, it will make it easier to shift the bread on the tray. 

Sweet And Salted Cookies / Jeera Cookies

Ingredients -
All-purpose flour - Maida - 1 cup
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Gram flour - Besan - 1 tbsp
Semolina - Suji - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Melted Ghee - Approx - 1/2 cup
Sugar powder - 4 tbsp
Cumin - Jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Carom seeds - Ajwain - 1/4 tbsp
Milk - 1 tbsp

Process -
Mix all the ingredients in a kneading bowl. Add 1/4 cup of melted Ghee and mix all the ingredients very well so that sugar and salt are mixed properly. Now put 1 tbsp of milk and start making a dough. Keep adding melted ghee until you are able to make a very soft dough. Remember, we need to make this dough with ghee. Now take out a lemon sized dough ball and flatten it a bit. Place all these cookies in a lined baking tray. Bake these cookies in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 15-18 mins. You can smell the goodness and check if the color is perfectly golden brown, turn off the oven.