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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An easy yet delicious recipe for corn aloo tikki, or spicy corn and potato cutlets. These are vegetarian and perfect for entertaining.

Even though I have made this recipe for corn aloo tikkis a number of times now, I have never been able to photograph the tikkis and as a result it has taken so long to share the recipe with you guys. I am never left with any leftovers, even when I have doubled, tripled the recipe, since people love these corn aloo tikkis and every last tikki gets over before I can shoot them for the blog. I finally decided to make them only for the blog this time and well here we are today. These corn aloo tikkis are a crowd pleaser, and they will be a hit at your next party, I can guarantee that.

A tikki is basically what most people around the world call a cutlet. In India, we call it a tikki. So when I say corn aloo tikki I mean a cutlet made from corn and potatoes.

I adapted the recipe for these corn aloo tikkis from Sarah’s blog. You should check out her other recipes, she has a lovely collection of recipes.

There are a few things to keep in mind while making these.

Since I don’t add any corn flour to the mix, these do not deep fry well. Only shallow fry them in very little oil.

Also make sure that you refrigerate them and remove in batches, since these are best shallow fried when a little cold. This trick I learnt from a cook we had, who would always refrigerate the cutlets. He said that it helps in getting crunchy cutlets while cooking.

If you want to deep fry them add a little corn flour to the mix. I prefer my tikkis without corn flour, and the absence of it in these makes the corn and aloo tikkis just melt in your mouth when you eat them. And why they are such a hit with everyone.

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Carrot, Cauliflower and Turnip Pickle

People from Punjab love their Achaar. Aloo parantha (flatbread stuffed with potatoes), ghar ka makhan (homemade white butter) and achaar is comfort food at its best for us.

What we call achaar is basically pickled vegetables. Our pickling is done with various spices and not just vinegar. Today I am sharing a punjabi recipe of a popular achaar in our parts of the world – gobhi, gajar and shalgam ka achaar (carrot, cauliflower and turnip pickle).

My grandmother was known for the pickles she made and every winter she would make this cauliflower, carrot and turnip pickle in bulk and send us back with jars of her famous pickle that we would enjoy for months.

When I started blogging (around the same time I started cooking), one of the recipes I wanted to share (and document for my own purpose) was my grandmother’s achaar recipe. One ambitious day I thought I will try it out and called my grandmom up to get the recipe. She explained it in as much details possible how she makes her famous pickle. She tried her best to explain it to me but somewhere I screwed up. I had decided the next time I am at my grandparents for a few days I will learn from her. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to and she passed away three years back.

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