Many moons ago we declared we had discovered the ‘perfect pizza recipe‘. Well after a few more years research we have upped our pizza game here at Chilliking HQ. If you have been wondering how to make great pizza at home then look no further.

I think you’d really struggle to make better pizza than this in a regular domestic oven. The recipe below makes 4 good size 12″ 9 (ish) pizzas.

This recipe uses a sourdough base which adds a huge amount of flavour to the base. I won’t go into how to make sourdough starter in this post – let me know if you’d like to know and I can cover that in a follow up post.

Pizza Dough Ingredients

• 200g active sourdough starter
• 500g strong bread flour
• 310g water
• 10g salt

To make the dough combine all of the ingredients in a bowl then cover with a cloth and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Next knead the dough for 15 minutes until silky smooth. This can be done by hand or in a food mixer with a dough hook (10 minutes on slow, 5 minutes on fast). Again cover the dough and allow it to proof for 3 hours.

Empty the dough onto a floured work surface and divide it into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball by drawing in the corners repeatedly to build some surface tension in the dough. Set the balls aside in a covered tray to proof for another 2-3 hours.

Usually i’ll make a double batch of dough and simply freeze one batch straight after shaping the dough balls. I usually take the dough balls out of the freezer first thing in the morning and they are ready to cook with at lunchtime or if kept somewhere cool will be fine hanging about until the evening.

To shape the dough use your fingers to spread the dough balls into a flat circle. Leave a thick crust around. the edge. The air in this crust will puff up during the cooking process. I then pick the dough up and droop it over the back of my hands, letting gravity stretch it out while i rotate the dough.

I use a mix of normal flour and semolina flour on the work surface and peel to stop the pizzas sticking.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

• 2 x tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 x small cloves of garlic
• 1 x tablespoon of dried oregano

To make the tomato sauce simply crush the garlic and simmer for a couple of minutes in olive oil. Add the tinned tomato and oregano. Simmer for 4-5 minutes then blend with a hand blender to a smooth consistency. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes to slightly reduce the sauce.

How to Prepare Your Oven

To make great pizza at home you need to cook it hot and fast. Below are a couple of tips i’ve found work really well to retain the heat while you’re cooking your pizzas.

1. When pre-heating the oven, I put a spare cast iron casserole dish and griddle pan into the bottom of the oven. These soak up the heat and prevent too much heat loss when you are opening/closing the oven to add/remove your pizzas.
2. I always cook the pizzas on a pizza stone.This helps to cook the pizza from beneath too and help get the base crispy. It also aids the overall heat retention in the oven like the tip above.

Cooking The Pizza

Leave your oven on full (240 degrees Celcius in my case) when cooking. I use a round thin chopping board (liberally dusted with semolina flour) as a peel to get the pizzas in the oven. To remove them I simply fish them out with a large chefs knife back onto the board. Because the crust/base goes slightly crispy this system works well and means you do not need a pizza peel.

In my oven the pizza take roughly 7 minutes to cook though exact timings will depend on your oven. How do you tell when the pizza is cooked? The crust should just be starting to get some black spots. Also when you lift one edge of the pizza up (with a knife or peel) the base should be slightly firm so it doesn’t droop or fold over immediately.

When it comes to toppings I find simplicity is the key. After adding the tomato sauce I add a sprinkle of parmesan before the mozzarella and a sprinkle of olive oil. Basil gets added after the cooking.

Knowing when to pot on chilli seedlings is not an exact science. I like to repot the chilli seedlings when they have developed their first true set of leaves like the seedlings pictured below.

My favourite method of planting chilli seedlings is to use module trays. This makes transplanting and potting on the seedlings much easier once they reach the appropriate size. This minimises any risk of damaging the root balls of the seedlings.

I raised the chilli seedlings pictured below on a south facing window sill. I planted the seed on the 24th February – germination took approximately 2 weeks.  Because I wasn’t using any artificial lights or growing these in a greenhouse the seedlings became a little leggy. This isn’t a big issue as when potting them on I like to pot them a little bit deeper in the soil. The photo below was taken roughly 1 month after sowing the seeds.

At the above stage I will typically pot the seedlings on in to pots about 3″ in diameter. By using module trays you can simply apply some pressure under the module and pop out the seedling along with the whole rootball ready for transplanting to the next pot. Next simply fill the remainder of the pot with some fresh compost and water them in to ensure the fresh compost gets in good contact with the seedlings roots.

Knowing when to repot chilli seedlings is only half the battle. For the best success you need to provide them with sufficient light and heat. If your seedlings are leggy like the ones in the photo above it is a sure sign that the plants need some more light. In the case of the above plants. I moved them out to the greenhouse after potting them on to ensure they got a lot more light.

The Aji Lemon plant above appeared in the first photo above, approximately two months after being pricked out. I initially potted it into a 3″ pot before moving it up to it’s current 5″ pot.

Since I moved the plant to the greenhouse it has become more bushy. You can see more lateral shoots coming out between the main stem and the leave nodes. This is always a good sign the plant has enough light.

Freezing curry leaves is by far the best way of preserving them. Using the leaves dry tends to lose some of that delicate, aromatic fragrance that fresh curry leaves have. My preference is to freeze some whenever I have a supply of fresh curry leaves.

How to Freeze Fresh Curry Leaves

• Remove the leaves form the stalks
• Discard any spoilt leaves
• Wash thoroughly under cold water
• Spread the leaves out on some kitchen roll to dry
• Once dry simply place in a zip lock bag in the freezer

It is important to use a zip lock freezer bag to store the leaves in. Without a bag the leaves are prone to drying out and losing long term flavour.

To use frozen curry leaves simply remove as many as you need from the freezer and add to the pan. There is no need to defrost the leaves first.

Why not grow your own?

I’ve had mixed success in the past when it comes to taking cuttings from fresh curry leaves that have been bought from the local Indian supermarket. A few cuttings that I have made in the past have taken however the plants have never really prospered.

Much more successful was buying a small plant from a UK supplier (link here). The small plant arrived in the post in the depths of last winter and now spring is here it as started to put on some good growth!

We’ve talked before on the site about the different ways to make compost and covered the basics of how to compost properly.

Over the last few months we’ve received a few emails from readers asking whether plastic ‘dalek’ compost bins are any good. Well after a few failures, over the last couple of years I’ve been perfecting the art of making compost with plastic dalek compost bins. Below I’ll share the key things I did that enabled me to make perfect compost with a dalek.

Shred It

Size does matter. If you want to give your compost a big headstart then you’ll need to ensure the material you add to your bin is as small as possible. While fruit peelings, soft prunings and other ‘wet’ ingredients tend to break down very quickly meaning size is less important, slightly woody cuttings can take many years. The smaller you can get your ingredients at the start the quicker your compost will take to make.

A couple of years ago I was given an electric garden shredder ( like this) and it has transformed the speed with which my dalek churns out great compost. I now put all prunings/cuttings through the shredder before adding it to the compost bins. It only take a few minutes to do but as well as being incredibly satisfying it also shaves months off the composting time.

Similarly any paper or card I add goes through the old paper shredder in our office first and any vegetable scraps/peelings are chopped into small pieces before they’re added to the compost caddy in the kitchen.

To Much Green

One of the most common problems people have with their compost heaps is the addition of too much ‘green’ material. If your heap is made primarily of green plant cuttings, grass clippings and vegetable scraps then you’ll almost certainly struggle to make good compost.

The simple solution is to add more ‘brown’ material which is rich in carbon and is essential to speeding up the decomposition process. ‘Browns’ might take the form of shredded woody prunings, cardboard, dried leaves or shredded paper.

The ratio of brown to green doesn’t need to be complicated, as a rough guide I aim for a 50:50 ratio but usually end up with slightly more green. Of course browns tend to be dry so weigh much less than the wet greens. Don’t worry about it all too much.

In order to help get the balance right, whenever I take out the vegetable peelings/scraps from the kitchen I grab a few handfuls of shredded paper from our office. Likewise if I add some grass clippings from the lawn. I’ll be sure to throw in some brown leaves form the mulch pile to keep the balance.

Lack of Moisture

Another common problem with dalek composters is not enough moisture. The organisms that break down your waste need moisture in order to thrive. While the snugly fitting plastic lids do a great job at keeping the heat in your heap, they tend to not let any rain water into the pile. This can lead to a lack of moisture.

The way I diagnosed the problem was the discovery of a colony of ants living in the middle of one of our daleks. Ants avoid moisture and will only take up residence in a sheltered dry environment. If you reach into the middle of the heap, the compost should be ever so slightly damp to touch. It should not be sopping wet and heavy, but not dry and crumbly.

As a general rule if you think your heap is too dry throw in a bucket of rain water (which is chlorine free) before replacing the lid. Going forward, whenever you add more material (especially dry matter like shredded paper, dry leaves etc) give the heap a good soak with a watering can.

Of course, when you do get the moisture levels right in a dalek, the fact that they are plastic and have airtight lids means they do a great job of keeping the moisture in and at the right level.

More Oxygen Required

When using a dalek, getting enough oxygen to the compost can be a challenge. Where a traditional compost pile isn’t airtight and can simply be forked over, a darlek typically requires emptying and reloading…or so I thought.

After some research I discovered compost turners. They are like a giant corkscrew that you simply turn into the center of the pile and lift up which stirs the pile and introduces lots of air to the center of the pile. I try to give each dalek a turn once a week to ensure both an even mix of material as well as a good supply of oxygen throughout.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Using the above tips my darleks typically turn out quality compost in less than 6 months, often much less. While some gardeners dismiss the effectiveness of daleks for composting, from my experience that’s usually the conclusion when you’re not doing it right.

If you make a few changes like those outlined above there’s no reason your daleks shouldn’t be producing great quality compost. If space is limited their small footprint and portability gives them many advantages of a traditional open compost heap. There’s no reason why you can’t use great homemade compost when putting together your potting medium.

About three years ago we planted a small redcurrant bush in the garden. It had been given to us by a family member as a small cutting. For the last two years we’ve been teased by a huge crop of juicy redcurrants that we’ve been about to pick only to be beaten to the fruit by the local wildlife. The main suspects in this currant crime are the over weight pigeons that tend to pilfer half of the bird feed we leave out.

This year I’m determined to outwit the pigeons and ensure we get to enjoy the glut of red currants we should have every summer. I don’t really have the space or inclination for a large, expensive fruit cage with aluminum frame so instead started researching cheaper, more DIY approaches.

After much searching I found these excellent Figo Cane connectors. They are soft rubber connectors that allow you to easily connect standard bamboo canes together. Their real advantage compared to other similar products I found is that they allow you to easily connect canes with quite differing thicknesses.

Once the connectors arrived the cage was quickly built  by forming a square roughly a bit larger than the foot print of the bush. Next I simply cut the four vertical canes to size, pushed them into the ground and connected the square ‘top’. Next I simply wrapped the cage in netting and made some improvised pegs from metal wire in order to stop the birds from creeping under the net.

Finally I secured the netting to the canes with some cable ties. Time will tell but the cage looks very secure, has a slim profile so it should survive strong wind and most importantly I see no reason how any pesky pigeons will be able to get at our precious red currants.

If you want an authentic taste of Mexican food, look no further than the quesadilla. This delicious black bean quesadilla recipe is incredibly quick to make. It can usually be made out of purely store cupboard ingredients.

The recipe only take a few minutes to make. This makes it ideal for a quick midweek supper or perfect to make when you are entertaining.

Bean Paste Ingredients

• 1 tin of black beans
• 1 teaspoon of roasted/ground cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• pinch of salt
• 1 handful of chopped fresh coriander

Salsa Ingredients

• 2 chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 finely sliced onion
• 1 x clove of garlic
• 1 x red chillie
• 1 x handful of fresh coriander
• Juice form 1/2 lime

Other ingredients

• Corn tortillas
• Sour cream for garnish
• Grated cheddar cheese

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients for the past into a food mixer and blend to a rough paste.

2. Roughly chop the salsa ingredients and mix in a bowl

3. Add 2 spoonfuls of the paste and a handful of cheddar to the centre of a tortilla then spread evenly to within 3cm of the edges.

4. Fold the tortilla in half, press down and cook on a hot griddle pan (no oil needed) until slightly charred. Turn over and cook the other side.

5. Serve with the salsa either on the side or placed inside each tortilla.

If you’re time crunched you can even freeze these quesadillas. Simply stack them before cooking them with baking parchment paper between them and freeze them in a Tupperware box. To cook them simply cook slowly from frozen until the middle is defrosted and the tortillas a crispy on the outside.

For an extra touch serve with a bowl of our famous habanero salsa on the side for that authentic Mexican flavour.

The purpose of this recipe is to make a simple, healthy dal dish with the least possible effort involved. No oil, no ghee just a simple tasty dish that would happily grace the table of any Indian family.

As with all dal recipes the longer and slower you cook them the better the end result. As a result I now tend to make most of my dal recipes, including this one using a slow cooker. A slow cooker perfectly replicates the traditional way of cooking dal overnight on the dying embers of a tandoor clay oven.

Mung Dal Ingredients

• 1 x cup of green mung dal
• 1 x teaspoon of ground cumin seeds
• 1 x teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 x chopped tomatoes
• 1 x green chilli sliced in half

 Directions

1. Wash and soak the dal overnight before placing in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.

2. Cook for 24 hours in the slow cooker on ‘medium’ or until the dal is tender and is very soft to bite.

3. Serve with fresh naan, chapati or rice and yogurt.

With so few ingredients this recipe takes only 2-3 minutes actual preparation. All of the heavy lifting is done by the slow cooker so you just need to make sure you plan ahead a day or two beforehand.

When it comes to Indian food you’re usually either a rice or a bread person, personally bread wins every time for me. The paratha I’ve had in India or restaurants here in the UK tend to be delicious but incredibly unhealthy. More often than not they’re brushed with Ghee (clarified Butter) which in my opinion makes them too greasy.

The following recipe uses no oil or ghee so they are much healthier. They’re pretty quick to prepare and well worth the effort.

To Make the Dough

• 1 cup of flour (i use 1/2 wholemeal, 1/2 strong white flour)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 pinch of salt

1. Simply place the flour into a large mixing bowl (use a stand mixer if you have one), add the salt then slowly add the water until a nice dough forms.

2. Continue to knead for 5 minutes.

3. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

To Make the Filling

• 6 floury potatoes
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin seeds
• 2 chopped fresh green chillies
• 1 handful of chopped coriander

4. Boil the potatoes, drain and place in a large bowl.

5. Mash together with the ground cumin, coriander leaves and chopped chillies.

6. Allow to cool.

To Make the Paratha!

7. Simply take a golf ball sized piece of dough and roll flat to about 3mm thick.

8. Place a desert spoon amount of the potato mix into the centre and fold in the excess dough all around to form a parcel.

9. Flip over and gently roll out the parcel until about  4mm thick.

10. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side in a medium hot non stick frying pan

Paratha are best served fresh so be sure to start serving them to your guests as soon as the first one is done. Traditionally they are just served with some fresh natural yogurt (check out our recipe for home made yogurt), maybe some matter paneer or chilli and coriander chutney.

Egg curry (or Anda Masala as it is known in India) is one of those dishes that sounds a little bit wrong to a western palette but is in fact a great dish. Quick to prepare, cheap and incredibly healthy, what’s not to like?  This dish is based on a North Indian recipe a friend showed me.

While the masala sauce is onion and tomato based (no coconut oil like many South Indian egg curry recipes) the eggs seem to bring an almost creamy taste to the dish. This works equally well as a vegetarian main dish as it does a side.

The following recipe will serve 2 people if served as a main or 4-6 as a side dish.

Egg Curry Ingredients

• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 1 and a half finely chopped onions
• 1 piece of cinnamon bark (2 inches long)
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of ground coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• 1 fresh green chilli (cut diagonally in half)
• 2 large tomatoes (skinned, peeled and pureed)
• 1 cup of water
• Fresh coriander to garnish

To hard boil the eggs place them in a saucepan of cold water over a high heat. As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil switch off the heat and place the lid on the pan. Leave to stand for 9 minutes before rinsing the eggs under lots of cold water in order to stop the cooking process. Once cooled fully peel the eggs and leave them to soak in cold water while preparing the gravy.

An easy way of de-skinning and pureeing the tomatoes is to cut them in half and grate them over a bowl. Do this in advance while the eggs are boiling.

Next up, the masala sauce.

Add the cumin seeds to a pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium heat.

As soon as the seeds start to brown slightly add the chopped onions and cinnamon bark. Stir regularly over a medium heat, cooking down the onions until they start to brown. Don’t rush cooking the onions as this is the key part in any Indian curry and imparts amazing flavour in to the final sauce.

Once the onions are just starting to brown, add the chilli powder, ground coriander seeds, turmeric, garlic, green chilli and salt. Fry this off for a minute or two – it will likely go very dry in the pan.

Add the pureed tomato and cook for a further minute stirring regularly before adding the water. Turn the heat down, place the lid on the pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Finally remove the lid, slice the eggs in half and carefully place them in the pan, sliced side up. Carefully spoon some masala over the eggs and simmer gently for another 5 minutes before serving with some fresh coriander.