Tandoori vegetable paneer pizza ~ all homemade!

love Italian food. Love eating it and love cooking it. Love the different layers, flavors complex yet simple, exotic yet rustic - flavors that have stood the test of time - just like Indian food. You can sense the rich culture and the legacy from the food. When there is a mention of Italian food the first thing that comes to mind is of course the ever-popular Pizza. You guessed it, I love Pizza... a lot. Regardless of crust or toppings - pan, hand-tossed, deep dish, Brooklyn style, thin-crust even the bread and bagel pizza :). A soft chewy bread loaded with veggies and other toppings with a generous helping of cheese! Just can't stop raving. Coming to the US, I had my first ever pizza at Pizza Hut a few years ago... and boy.. I was completely hooked :-) India - at the time - was still coming of age as far as Italian food was concerned so I'd had pizza a couple of times, but this was different. Ahh the good old days.. we used to order delivery, be total couch potatoes and sit in front of the TV for hours watching the 24 hour marathons of Law and Order.

Our (Indian) love for indo-chinese is well known but another cuisine that has come in from across the shores and has been accepted with open arms is - Italian. With its pastas and pizza and other goodies and use of herbs, five star restaurants as well as hole-in-the-wall stores near every street now have some kind of “pizza” on their menu! It keeps the essence of pizza that is a thick bread smothered in tomato sauce topped with 'melty' cheese, but almost always has a local (desi) touch to it whether it be use of paneer or chicken! Lots of fusion recipes have been born, you can easily find paneer pizza even butter chicken pizza in any pizza hut franchise in India - I have few on my blog too. This time around I infused the classic smoky spicy exotic tandoori flavor to the pizza. The tandoori flavored pizza sauce together with the garlicky and crispy yet soft homemade pizza base was a total delight to bite into. The variety of texture added by the babycorn and paneer definitely makes it fun too. Hubs says this is the best he has ever had! A beautiful marriage of two of my favorite cuisines - a fusion food heaven!

Ingredients:

For the dough:  Makes 1 large pizza

All Purpose Flour ................ 2 cups

Rapid Rise Yeast ................ 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp
Oil ................................ 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp plus more for brushing (I use light olive oil)
Sugar .............................  3/4 tbsp
Salt ............................... 1 tsp

Black pepper .................... 1/2 tsp freshly ground

Garlic powder ................... 11/2 tsp
Warm milk ....................... 1/2 - 3/4 cup

For the tandoori pizza sauce (yields 1 cup)

1. Heat a tsp of olive oil in a pan. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1/4 of a small chopped onion with 2 tbsp chopped green bell pepper, saute till 2-3 minutes. Add a 10 oz can of crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and 1 tsp of Italian seasoning with 1 tsp tandoori masala and 1/4 tsp sugar, and little bit of red chilli powder or flakes. Lower the heat and let it simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes. Add 1 - 2 tsp of julienned fresh basil leaves and mix. Use in the recipe as directed.

Toppings ~

Paneer, Sliced Onion, tomato, spinach, babycorn, bell pepper, garlic cloves minced  or any other toppings of your choice.Tandoori masala  and chilli flakes for sprinkling

Mozzarella Cheese 1/4-1/2 cup shredded

Method: 

1. In a big bowl add the milk and yeast with sugar and let it froth for 5-7 min, add in the salt and oil. Mix. Add in flour, black pepper, garlic powder and mix, knead till it forms a smooth dough, about 2 minutes. Brush with oil and cover with a wet kitchen towel. Put in a warm place till it doubles in size or about 1 to 1 1/2 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

3.Take out the dough on a lightly floured surface and punch out the air. Spread it evenly on the surface. You can either roll the dough with a rolling pin or just spread it with your hands. Make small dents in the dough around the edge with the tip of your finger. Gently slide it onto a lightly greased large non-stick pizza pan.
4. Brush little  olive oil over the top of the dough. Spread about 1/4 cup of sauce over the base leaving a quarter inch around the edges.

5. Arrange the paneer and other topping. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pizza.

6.Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes or till crust gets a nice golden color and the cheese is melted. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle some tandoori masala on top. Garnish with fresh julienned cilantro or basil, let it stand for 10-15 minutes. Cut into wedges. ENJOY!
Notes:
1. Tandoori masala is easily available in the Indian grocery store. I use the MDH brand.
2. You can also use whole wheat flour for making the base in place of all purpose flour in this recipe.

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