Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

I don't eat to live. I live to eat.

Recipes

Crab Rangoon Pizza

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So this Crab Rangoon pizza is super cool and as much as I’d like to claim credit for such an amazing idea, it’s actually a thing that’s popped up in several different joints across the Midwest.

Unfortunately there’s no pizzeria that has this on their menu in my area (at least not to my knowledge) so I figured I’d give it a shot to try and make it at home.

Plus it’s an excuse to make homemade pizza and test it out in a cast-iron skillet.

The toppings that go on the pizza are pretty self-explanatory and I’m pretty sure it’s similar to what you’ll find in the few restaurants that serve it – we’re taking the classic cream cheese filling of a crab rangoon and spreading it on pizza dough, topping It with some shredded mozzarella, green onions, sweet chili sauce and wonton chips.

I was thinking that this pizza would be ridiculously heavy and knock me out after a slice, but surprisingly it wasn’t (I should also mention that back in my undergrad days I would easily eat 8-9 crab rangoons with my friends during finals week without thinking twice. Shoutout to Umama, Abhiya, Nadia for accompanying me for late-night Cravings).

There’s really not much else for me to say except that this literally is a pizza that tastes exactly like crab rangoon and that next time you want to try making homemade pizza, try this.

And if you don’t want to go through making your own pizza dough, just buy it from the store. This is not one of those recipes you need to fuss over by making everything from scratch. Bring it to your next Friday night get-together with friends, kick-back and enjoy!

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Crab Rangoon Pizza

Servings 2 large pizzas

Ingredients

  • 2 lb pizza dough
  • 2/3 cup imitation crab meat
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 2-3 green onions
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp grated garlic
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp lime juice (or to taste)
  • 2 cups shredded mozarella

Garnish

  • sweet chilli sauce
  • wonton chips optional

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 450 F.

  2. In a bowl combine the softened cream cheese, chopped green onions, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, lime juice. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside.

  3. Using a hand-toss method, rolling pin, or whatever technique you prefer roll out the dough to whatever thickness and size you like. I used an 8 inch cast iron skillet and was able to make 4 smaller pizzas, equivalent to 2 large ones.

  4. If using a cast-iron skillet, make sure to brush the pan with plenty of oil. Press the dough into the pan.

  5. Add the cream cheese mixture to the dough and spread evenly.

  6. Add the shredded mozzarella. Brush the outer crust lightly with oil and set in oven.

  7. Once top has melted and the cheese is lightly caramelized, remove from oven. Using a spatula check to see if the bottom is finished cooking. If it is still pale in color (which will likely occur if you made a thicker crust), then simply finish it off on the stove-top for a few minutes.

    (If using a pizza stone, then simply place pizza onto stone using peel and remove when crust is a golden brown.)

  8. Once pizza is ready, garnish with sweet chili sauce, wonton chips, and extra green onions.

Salted Jaggery Caramel Banana Pudding

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Banana pudding is one of my ALL TIME favorite desserts!

It’s pretty standard wherever you go– vanilla pudding mix, sliced bananas, some type of cookie base – usually vanilla wafers – topped with fluffy whipped cream. It’s simple yet heavenly.

My version does something a little special – I incorporate a salted caramel made with jaggery, a molasses-like Indian palm sugar and top with some crunchy peanut chikki – a peanut brittle made of jaggery.

I keep the other elements the same (after all if it ain’t  broke don’t fix it), only I add some cream cheese to the pudding to help balance out the sweetness.

The salted jaggery caramel is simple enough – unlike making regular caramel which is very easy to burn, I make a sauce using butter, water, and some heavy cream yielding a thick and luscious result.

This Salted Caramel Jaggery Banana Pudding is perfect for your next summertime gathering and a fun version of your favorite classic!

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Ingredients

  • 2-3 Bananas
  • 2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
  • 15-20 cookie of your choice (nila wafers, ginger snaps, chessmans)
  • 1 5 oz vanilla pudding mix package
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 8 oz block cream cheese
  • 1 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 peanut chikki bar optional

Jaggery Caramel Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1/3 cup jaggery (powder or cut very finely)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions

Jaggery Caramel Sauce

  1. In a small sauce pan, melt your butter. Add your sugar, water, salt, heavy cream. Combine and stir on medium-high heat. Bring to boil then lower the heat. Cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken while it cools.

Banana Pudding

  1. In a large bowl, empty your pudding mix. Add milk according to package instructions. Combine. Beat in softened cream cheese along with sweetened condensed milk until mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside.

  2. In a separate bowl, whip up one cup of heavy cream until soft peaks are formed. Incorporate about a 1/3 of the whipped cream into the pudding mix. The rest of the whipped cream will be used to top the pudding at the end.

Assembly

  1. Line a large casserole dish (ideally around 13 X 8), with your cookies. Add your pudding mixture on top.

  2. Add your sliced bananas. Before adding them squeeze a little bit of lemon or lime juice. This will help prevent browning.

  3. Continue layering – I usually get about three. Once you get to your final layer, add your whipped cream. Top with your salted jaggery caramel. Add pieces of your peanut chikki. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours in the fridge before serving.

Calamari Pakora

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This week I decided to combine two of my favorite fried foods – pakora and fried calamari. Calamari dusted in flour, salt, and pepper and dipped in marinara is pretty heavenly as is but I thought we could up the volume a bit by dipping the squid rings into a flavorful pakora batter.

Instead of doing just AP flour, I did a 1:1 ratio of regular to rice flour. The rice flour helps the calamari be extra crispy. For my spice mix, I did a combination of kasuri methi, coriander, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, chilli powder. I also added in a good amount of yogurt which you find in most pakora recipes along with a few curry leaves. I also chopped up a few serrano chilies to fry up along with the calamari rings.

These fry up super-fast and pair amazingly with a South Indian-Style Tomato Chutney – (my substitution for the marinara). I didn’t include the chutney recipe here but I plan to in the future. In any case, it’s made up of roma tomatoes, fresh tamarind pulp, cumin, mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

This calamari dish is a seafood lover’s dream. It’s the perfect summer appetizer that screams fusion food truck and pop-up appetizer all over it.

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Calamari Pakora

An Indian version of fried calamari made with a pakora batter

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 lb calamari squid
  • 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup Rice Flour
  • 1/3 cup yogurt
  • 1 1/4 cup water (or more)
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp kasuri methi
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Other Ingredients for the Fry

  • 2 jalapenos or serranos
  • 1/4 cup onion slices

Instructions

  1. Rinse your squid in cold water. Remove any dirt that may be lingering inside.

  2. Cut the squid into rings. Pat dry and set aside.

  3. Now start making the pakora batter. In a separate bowl, combine the AP flour, rice flour, and spices. Slowly mix in the yogurt and thin the batter out with some water. Start off with 3/4 cup and work your way up to 1 cup if needed. The batter should be the consistency of pancake batter.

  4. Now add in your calamari along with any other vegetable you'd like to fry up into the batter. Combine well.

  5. In a pot or pan, add at least an inch or so of oil for deep-frying. Once hot, add a handful of calamari at a time. Fry until golden brown. This should only take a minute or two.

  6. Remove with slotted spoon and onto a plate lined with paper towel. Serve the calamari with chutneys and hot sauces of your choice.