Bake Fest #33 - Guest Hosting

Hello everyone! I am so happy to host bake fest on my blog again. Thanks Vardhini for the opportunity. If you are familiar with Vardhini's Cooks Joy, you will know how creative and fun her food is. Her food comes through the pictures as though it's sitting in front of you, calling your name. Mmmm... Bake fest has been on the rounds for a while, so all of you must be familiar with the rules, still, here it is.

~ Send in any recipe which has been baked / broiled.
~ Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please. Eggs are allowed in baking.
~ Usage of logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.
~ Linking back to my announcement page and to Vardhini's Bake Fest announcement is mandatory. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with both links.
~ You can send in any number of new entries and a maximum of 2 old entries.
~ If you have any problem linking please send me an email @ sumeesculinary@gmail.com

Please use the link below to submit your entries

Classic Margherita Pizza

This is one of the basic pizza recipe that I had seen on Youtube and over the period I have many variations of it. But in it's simplicity Margherita pizza is exquisite. It's very simple to put together and tastes absolutely delicious. My kiddos love pizza and am sure most of the kiddos do. Try this one at home and see how easy it is to impress them.

Prep Time: 15 min |  Cooking Time: 10 mins/ pizza | Resting time: 1 hr | Serves: 4 (Makes two pies)

Ingredients:

For pizza base:
Whole wheat flour - 2 Cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Brown Sugar (optional) - 2 tsp.
Chili Flakes (optional) - 1 tsp.
Warm water - 1 Cup
Dry Active Yeast - 1 tbsp.

For pizza topping:
Pizza Sauce - 1 Cup
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 Cup
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp.
Fresh Basil leaves - handful
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese - 8 oz

Method of Preparation:

~ Add yeast to the warm water and let it sit for 10 min.
~ In a wide bowl add the flour, salt and optional brown sugar & chili flakes. Add the yeast mix to this and gently mix it to make a pliable dough.
~ Now slowly knead while you stretch and pull the dough.
~ Make two portions of the dough, cover them with a damp cloth and let it rest for half an hour to one hour.
~ When you are ready to make the pizzas, preheat the oven to 450 deg Fahrenheit and leave the pizza stone in there.
~ Flour the surface and work with each portion of the dough to make it into about 8 to 9 inch pizza base. Keep the edges little thicker.
~ Top the two pizzas with sauce, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, fresh basil leaves and mozzarella cheese in that order.
~ Transfer pizzas to the hot pizza stone (Careful!!!!). Bake for 10 minutes, cut and enjoy steaming hot pizza slices.

Note:
1. If you do not have pizza stone, no worries, any cookie sheet or pizza sheet will work too. Bake for 15 minutes on the pizza pan.
2. Fresh ingredients such as mozzarella and basil enhances the flavors tremendously.

Linking this to:
BakeFest#32, SaturdayNightFever, MyFavoriteThings

Suran Sukke/ Elephant Foot Yam Subzi

Did the name "Elephant Foot Yam" catch your attention? :o) Yeah, pretty neat name for this tuber. We call it "Churna" in konkani or "Suvarna Gadde" in Kannada. These tubers are quite huge and my mom would buy the cut pieces or the whole. Then we would end up eating them for several days in form of several dishes. It has several medicinal values is what I have heard and it's quite popularly used in Ayurveda medicine.

You have to be careful though while using this tuber. If you don't cook it right, it leaves a little scratchy feeling in your throat. My mom would actually wash them thoroughly, cut and add pieces in salt water for few minutes. In the recipes she would add more sore taste, either with tangy tamarind or tomatoes or lemon juice.

Ingredients:
Suran - 3 Cups (I use frozen cut pieces)
Onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
Garlic - 3 pods (finely chopped)
Tomato - 2 medium
Chili Powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Shredded Coconut - 1 Cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:
~ Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel. Add cut onion and garlic. Fry until onion becomes translucent.
~ Add turmeric powder, chili powder and fry for few minutes.
~ Add Suran and continue to fry. Cover and cook them for 7 to 10 minutes.
~ Add cut tomatoes and fry until they are cooked.
~ Add shredded coconut, Garam masala powder and salt to taste. Mix everything for few more minutes until everything is combined.
~ Serve hot with rotis.

Linking this recipe to
HearthAndSoulBlogHop, ProjectInspired, TurnItUpTuesday, AnythingGoes, RecipeOfTheWeek, ShareYourStuff, CreativeCorner, DareToShare, TryANewRecipe, BragAboutIt, DIYSunday,FridayFrenzy, HappinessIsHomemade, WeekendRetreat, ShareItSunday, MeltInYourMouthMonday, What'dYouDoThisWeekend, MuchAdoAboutMonday, FiveFridayFinds,