Paneer Makhani Pizza

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An easy from scratch paneer makhani pizza recipe with a homemade whole wheat crust. A great vegetarian option for pizza and paneer lovers. 

Paneer Makhani Pizza

The recipe for the Paneer Makhani Pizza should have been posted last week. Last week and most of this week has been a little stressful and as a result I could not. I also missed my 10 year blog anniversary which was on 27th July. Yup, its been 10 years of blogging on novicehousewife.com ! I was supposed to do an update post which was not going to be a recipe post but more personal. Instead life came in the way and I could not get the post up. I will definitely do that post but it will take a few days to have it live.

We had to go to Chandigarh for my passport work last week. It was great seeing my parents after 5 months, the longest I have gone without seeing them after I got back from the US. I also got to see a few of my Chandigarh friends and family after a very long time, and it was nice to get a glimpse of how life was back when things were normal. We still took our precautions but I didn’t realize how much the both of us had been missing company and the joy of a small get together.

We have done absolutely no socializing the last 5 months. With the exception of Anubhav’s brother and dad, it has just been the two of us in the house day in and day out. And while there were issues too personal to talk about on the blog during our Chandigarh visit, it was nice meeting our family and select friends. I also got to meet my darling niece who is staying with my parents, and we baked cupcakes together. These chocolate cupcake recipe with vanilla frosting, and it was so much fun.

Paneer Makhani Pizza

Once back, we learnt that Anubhav has got a kidney stone.  Since the pain was so severe the first day, we were scared it could be appendicitis. Fortunately it wasn’t but not that having a kidney stone has been any better. And its been a constant worry for both of us as he is not sleeping at all during the night. In the midst of all this I had my first outside shoot after 5 months of working from home.

Since Anubhav still is experiencing pain, mentally it has been exhausting. Pain killers help but once their effect wears out the pain returns. I am reading up on home remedies that can help break the stone- lots of water of course is one. Adding lemon juice in the water, basil, pomegranate juice plus working on including horse gram in our diet.

Meanwhile the house is in a mess.

I haven’t been able to unpack and sort out all the props. The shoot was a tiring 10 hour long shoot with only a small lunch break in between. Styling jobs even though for the client might seem like a one day job, in reality even with limited sourcing/pre production are 3 day jobs for the stylist. One day before the shoot goes in sourcing ingredients, sorting props and packing them. The day after the shoot goes in unpacking props and placing them back. Shoot day, besides the 8-10 hour on set shoot, 2 hours go in packing and unpacking the props, and another hour or so goes in loading and unloading the car. Traveling time is additional. Effectively it becomes a 12-14 hour day. And in some cases, not only are you styling the shoot, you are also donning the cap of the art director for the shoot.

But that’s enough of the reality check, and a small explanation why I have been away and why this post for paneer makhani pizza got delayed. Let’s get to the recipe then.

Paneer Makhani Pizza

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Mixed Berries Coconut Popsicles

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Mixed berries coconut popsicles made from frozen berries blended with a bit of honey, and then layered with creamy homemade coconut milk

Mixed Berry Coconut Popsicles

Recipes that are quick and easy to make are always welcome in my kitchen, especially in summers. When such recipes are dessert recipes, I never let go of them. Enter mixed berry coconut popsicles.

Popsicles as a dessert option are whimsical enough to impress your guests, and easy enough for you to whip them up without breaking a sweat. They are loved by kids and adults both and when made with healthy ingredients they can be perfect for breakfast too ;). These mixed berries coconut popsicles are just that- you can enjoy them as a dessert or eat them for breakfast too.

I love coconut milk. I love coconut in my savory dishes- like the pumpkin soup, khao suey from the blog but also use coconut milk generously in my desserts. Coconut milk has a hint of natural sweetness, it’s super creamy, and it goes well with most fruits, making it perfect for desserts. The chia seed pudding is a delectable dessert/breakfast made even better when using coconut milk. Today’s recipe is also a coconut milk recipe.

MAKING COCONUT MILK AT HOME VS STORE BOUGHT

Up until recently, I have mostly been using coconut milk from a can. Read: store bought coconut milk. Only because I thought it was more convenient than making it at home. But did you know you can easily make your own coconut milk at home with only two ingredients. Plus, when you make it at home, you end up with pure coconut milk without any preservatives, weird ingredients or any additional added flavors.

While quite a lot of recipes online use shredded coconut, I recommend using a fresh coconut as the flavor is more coconuty and creamy. If you have a good powerful blender, you can get creamy coconut milk by using very little water and fresh coconut. I use the Hamilton Beach JMG– and although expensive it has been worth it (disclaimer: this post is not sponsored, but if you click on the link to buy, I might make some affiliate money- its not much just enough to pay for an ingredient or two 🙂 )

HOW TO MAKE COCONUT MILK AT HOME

For me, the hardest step when making coconut milk at home is breaking the coconut. I am not a pro, and always ask Anubhav to do it. Once you have carefully broken the coconut (reserving the liquid), take a butter knife or spatula and remove the coconut meat from  the outer shell.

You can use a peeler to peel the thin brown skin from the coconut pieces but since it doesnt affect the taste or consistency of the coconut milk, I let the skin be.

Cut your coconut meat into 1-2 inch pieces and add it to your blender. Again, I recommend a good high speed blender that can easily cut through the coconut pieces. Add hot water to the blender and blend for 1-3 minutes until you end up with a smooth consistency paste. You could also use the coconut water that you extracted to make the milk.

Remove the paste from the blender and pour into a cheescloth/kitchen towel, or strainer and squeeze out the coconut milk. And there you have it creamy coconut milk.

TIPS AND TRICKS

While easy to make, there are certain things I like to keep in mind when making coconut milk at home.

I do not like adding too much water to the coconut milk, especially if using for desserts as the result is more rich and creamy. You can always dilute the milk later if required.

In case you are making coconut milk specifically for this recipe, you could add in a date or two to sweeten your milk while blending the coconut meat. Minimalist baker does that.

When making these popsicles, I prefer to let the milk sit for a few hours in the refrigerator, so that the coconut cream can separate from the rest of the milk- resulting an even more rich and creamy popsicle. You could avoid this step, but I get better results when I do so.

You can check the video I made in collaboration with Hamilton Beach for these popsicles on my instagram:

 

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One Pot Pasta

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A fuss free one pot pasta recipe that is flavorful and comes together in less than 30 minutes with the added bonus of very few dishes to clean up.

One pot pasta recipe

Convenient meals. Thats what we are looking for. Or at least I am, especially in this humid and hot as anything climate.

There are certain dishes I like sweating it out for. Sometimes the pleasure of spending time on a recipe brings the most flavor out of the dish. The chocolate ghiya ice cream is one such dish I don’t mind spending a significant amount in the kitchen. Probably because the entire process reminds me of my grandmom, and its my way of feeling some connection to her since I can no longer see her in person. There are other such recipes, but then there are meals you want to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen- either cooking or doing dishes. Today’s one pot pasta recipe lets you do just that.

What’s one pot pasta?

For a long time, I have seen one pot pasta recipes. It was all the rage when Martha Stewart/Nora Singley posted a recipe for it in 2013. You can read more about the discovery of the recipe here. Its only recently that I gave it a try and its been a game changer.

What is one pot pasta? Basically, you cook everything including the pasta in a single pot. No step of boiling the pasta separately, making the sauce separately and then mixing the two. Here everything goes in one pot and gets cooked for the same duration as you would your pasta when boiling separately. And voila, you have your meal ready, with only one pot to clean.

Why make one pot pasta?

Umm… because you only need to clean one pot. Do you need any other reason?

Full disclosure, you would also have the chopping board and the knife to clean, and the mug/measuring glass you use to add the stock/water. But yes, you can remove the second pot you need for boiling the pasta, and the colander for draining cooked pasta from your post cooking washing list. Even two dishes less to wash is a win.

But besides the slightly quicker method, and lesser dishes, do you get good results? With this recipe, you do. Anubhav and I were pleasantly surprised as to how good the pasta tasted. And how easy it was. You get a nice creamy pasta without any addition of cream thanks to the all the starchy water that the pasta releases. And the pasta is so flavorful since its cooked in the tomato-ey liquid.

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