Today's All About Nitish Kumar and His Pizza

16 year-old World Cup cricketer Nitish Kumar of Canada

It is all about Nitish Kumar today, but there are a few things I need to get off my chest first.  I suppose it's a good day if you're a Zimbabwe or West Indies cricket fan!  Zimbabwe just obliterated Canada yesterday, and the Windies punished the Dutch with their batting and bowling prowess.  It certainly was not a good day for the minnows!

Zimbabwe are lookin' good with Ray Price leading the bowling attack, and with a bit of work, Chris Mpofu's going to have one killer quick seamer.  Taibu, the fabulously chatty wicket-keeper (my fave wk now), scored a great big 98 runs before being caught out by Davison.  I can't wait to see these guys back in test cricket!  They will definetly add a new dimension to international cricketdom.

And before I get to Nitish Kumar and his pizza, let's talk about how the Windies made orange squash out of the Dutch. 

The Netherlands Cricket Team, after Roach's hat-trick.

Kemar Roach got this World Cup's first hat-trick, and ended up getting an almost obscene 6 wickets for 27.  Gayle scored 80 runs, Smith scored 53 and Pollard scored 60.  Nice work, lads!  So while the Dutch played relatively well in their earlier warm-up matches, they were not up to task yesterday.  But good on the Windies!

And now let's get the the big point of today's post.  Canada batsman Nitish Kumar is the youngest player ever in a World Cup.  He is only 16.  He needed special permission from his school to leave his classes for a month to play in the World Cup.  He opened Canada's innings with John Davison (who batted #1) who also happens to the oldest player in the World Cup at 40 years of age.  Strangely, it was Nitish who showed more maturity with his batting; Davison tried to belt one out and got clean bowled by Price.

Kumar only scored one run, but let's remember something:  Would you have been able to play any sport knowing that MILLIONS of people would be watching your every move when you were just 16?  Probably not...you probably would have been in bathroom being sick to your stomach!  Let's get real here, people!  I used to almost get sick before singing at a school concert!  So a great big huge "Good on ya" goes out to Nitish...I hope you keep on doing well in cricket and become a massive international cricket star!  You deserve it, kiddo!!

Today's cooking is for the young'uns who might not have any kitchen experience.  Home-made pizza dough is easy to make, and there is no need to buy any canned sauces or tomato paste.  We'll make our own fresh tomato sauce; and after this you'll never want a take-away pizza again!

Nitish Kumar's Pizza

Ingredients for Dough
about 3 cups white all-purpose flour, or use a mix of white and whole wheat flour
about 1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon of instant yeast (the kind you don't need soak in water first)
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Ingredients for Sauce
2 or three tomatoes
a handful of basil leaves
oregano
salt
a bit of olive oil
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
salt
red chili powder

Toppings ( you can really use anything you like.  Experiment; these are just some suggestions)
strong cheddar cheese, shredded
any kind of cooked meat
sliced tomatoes
mushrooms
olives
anchovies
feta cheese
mozzarella cheese
hunter beef
sliced garlic
sliced onions
spinach
sliced capsicums (bell peppers)
chopped green chilies

First of all, make the dough.  The entire process is going to take about an hour or so.  Put half of the flour in a bowl, and add the salt, sugar, and yeast, and give it a stir.
Add the warm water (not hot) and the olive oil,  and stir until everything is well mixed and there are no bumps.
Gradually add the rest of the flour until you have a dough you can knead with your hands.  The dough should be slightly sticky...it's too dry if it doesn't stick to your hands at all.
Knead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both hands, folding the dough, turning it 90 degrees and pressing down on it again.  Keep on repeating this for about 10 minutes, and you'll have a smooth, satiny ball.

Now place the dough in a large oiled bowl, make sure the dough gets a little oil all over it.  This will prevent it from sticking to the side while rising.  Put a damp cloth over the bowl, and let the dough rise about 30 minutes in a warm place.

While you're waiting for the dough to rise, make your sauce.

Put all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.  Adjust the salt according to your taste.

Now check your dough.  It should be double in size.  Give it a punch, and knead it again for a couple of minutes, then roll it out and place on an oiled pizza pan or a baking sheet.  Use your fingers to stretch the dough out to the corners.  Cover with a damp towel, and let rise for at least 15 minutes.    You may find you have too much dough, especially if you like a thin crust.  No worries, just wrap up the left-over dough and freeze it for later use.

While the dough is rising for the second time, get your topping ingredients ready.  Keep in mind that if you're using raw vegetables as toppings, water will leak out during cooking and might make the dough soggy.  Do not use too many raw veggies.

After about 15 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 F or 200 C. 
Poke some holes in the dough with a fork.
Spread a little olive oil on the dough.
Evenly spread the tomato sauce you've just made over the dough.
Add your toppings, and cover with your choice of cheeses.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until the edges of the dough are golden brown and the toppings are cooked, and the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately and watch the World Cup cricket.

And there you go, a great home-made pizza which requires a little bit of work, but totally worth it and totally delicious.  Give this a try, and let me know how it goes!

Have a good one, and let's all wish Nitish a long and happy career in cricket.

Happy cricket, happy cooking!