Guest Post - 37 : Today's Guest - Priya Mahadevan

Today, we have Priya Mahadevan from "Now Serving..." is with us. She holds Masters Degree in Journalism and Communication. She worked as a political reporter for Delhi based Newspaper. Let us hear from her now...

Nithu's Kicthen : Priya, please tell us about you.

Priya Mahadevan : I am stay-at-home mother of three beautiful children who define me. But I do have a few creative outlets that keep me occupied recently, a result of post partum blues after my third child, who is 2 years old and keeps me plenty occupied, I have my own food blog of vegetarian recipes. (priyasnowserving.blogspot.com). I have a Masters Degree in Journalism and Communication from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Before moving to the US, I was a political reporter for a Delhi based newspaper. I wrote several personal columns on various subjects. Besides that, I also wrote several human interest stories and interviewed several political figures for the Sunday edition of the newspaper.

I am an immigrant who has adapted to life in the US and longs to one day in the near future return to my home country. Dealing with everyday struggles of trying to maintain Indian culture in a western world. My blog is my most recent creative outlet towards keeping our traditions alive - something to pass on to my children

Nithu's Kitchen : What does your blog focus?

Priya Mahadevan : My blog focus on healthy vegetarian recipes- on a daily basis that can be prepared under 45 minutes - start to finish...I also like to prepare dishes for festive events, which don't fall under that category sometimes, but they are delicious and so part f our tradition

Nithu's Kicthen : Apart from blogging, what are your other interests.

Priya Mahadevan : I write poetry and other musings. I teach a weekly yoga class to women in my neighborhood.I teach Indian classical dance and also learn it; my students and I have performed on several occasions in and around Charlottesville and I have given several lecture-demonstrations in local colleges and in surrounding cities. I am also involved with the Indian Association of Charlottesville in the capacity of cultural coordinator. Until this year I have been involved in my children’s school PTOs for about 6 years in different capacities; PTO president for 2 years; 4 years doing the Fall fundraiser; 4 years of Yearbook; Assemblies etc

Nithu's Kitchen : Tell us about your biggest achievements.

Priya Mahadevan : My biggest achievement is my beautiful family. I was born surrounded by love and continue to be. Oustide of that, I have had the honor of meeting and working for Mother Teresa on a small project and briefly interviewing Edmund Hillary the first man to scale MT Everest. I am a world traveler.My travel has also inspired my cooking :-)

Nithu's Kitchen : What are your future aspirations?

Priya Mahadevan : To be a successful author and publish some body of writing worth reading. It could end up being a collection of my recipes :-) To work towards empowerment teenagers to help them make right decisions for themselves. I have many countries and places that I have yet to see before I die

Nithu's Kitchen : We know, you have planned to share Whole Wheat Pizza with us today. Do you have any specific reason to share this recipe with us.

Priya Mahadevan : Pizza seems to be a universal favorite and most countries have adopted their own style of making them, for instance, paneer pizzas in India. I have had the pleasure of tasting Pizza in Italy and I find it so much more healthy and appetizing than the cheese-smothered American Pizzas - So I wanted to figure out a way to keep it healthy yet enjoy it to the max,. Hence the whole wheat and very thin crust:-) I also attempted to give the dough some personality and make it like a masala naan using Italian herbs and seasoning.

Ingredients and Preparation of the crust :-

3 cups of Chakki atta in which I added dry ground 1 teaspoonful each of black pepper; basil; oregano; rosemary; garlic; 3 red cayenne dry peppers; I also used a spoon full of pesto and wild garlic powders.

In a food processor, add the flour, the ground spices, 1-1/2 pouches of yeast, and three teaspoons of olive oil. Dry spin ingredients around for a minute to evenly mix the spices and yeast into the flour. Then add (about 2 cups of water) - I just poured as I kneaded (pun intended) Remove from the processor, and put it on a clean counter and knead some more! Put it in a bowl and keep closed for 10 minutes, allowing the dough to rise.

For the sauce :

2 cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes ground.

Add a little salt, fresh garlic and basil to the sauce and allow it to cook. Keep ready

I also used Classico's Alfredo sauce for a couple of them

Toppings :

Fresh Mozzarella - 12 slices halved can be subbed with paneer)

1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar

2 green bell peppers

1 red onion

3 green chillies

1 pack of fresh white mushrooms

1 pack of green leaf spinach

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cook for 12-15 minutes and now, your Pizza is ready:-)

Nithu's Kitchen : Thank you Priya. We enjoyed talking to you.

Priya Mahadevan : You are running a fine ship, Nithu and I am happy and honored to be presented to the food blogging world by you :-)

Friends, hope you all like Priya Mahadevan's delicious Whole Wheat Pizza. If you are interested to be featured as Nithu's Kitchen's Guest, please drop a mail to nithuskitchen[at]gmail[dot]com.