Marinated tandoori paneer pizza
I have 3 recipes that I am yet to post and those I did before this pizza. However, I simply couldn’t resist finishing this one up first. In a lot of ways, yesterday was a happy day including when I made this pizza and we all devoured into it. In general, it was a very fun kind of day all thanks to my SIL’s ligament tear. Oh yeah, that’s the only sad bit to all this. However, it is that one sad bit that gave all of us a lot more time with my manni & my niece Tash (so just in that sense I am not complaining about the whole thing). However, I feel really bad from my SIL since she’s literally unable to move with a huge cast on her feet and the kids have had 0 sensitivity about the whole thing and treating the crutch she has now as a toy! Of course, both are too young to be more understanding than that :). Adyant is quite attached to my SIL and the last 2 days has gotten more attached and wants to jump on her all the time (I want to insert that monkey closing eyes emoticon here). Tash is generally very attached to me and is happy when I chime in to feed her and stuff but she has been persistent that my manni do all that for her last 2 days. Call me evil, but I end up laughing looking at all this because the truth end of day stares and laughs right back at us – once you sign up to be a MOM, you are signing up for a duty that is 24 x 7 x 365 and I am simbly not exaggerating. As we speak, my mom is travelling from Chandigarh to Delhi to board a flight in the evening to Dubai. Yes people, I get my mom time for the next 2 weeks and I am absolutely absolutely thrilled with it. I fight with her a lot (poor woman) but I love her way way way too much!
It’s extremely rare to get dad in a frame and when he does end coming the frame, he happens to be the goofiest.
Anyways, to add a bit more fun to the fun we had on weekend, I made pizzas yesterday. The last time I made tandoori pizza by just sprinkling tandoori masala powder on the pizza, D wanted me to try marinating it and then using it on the pizza the next time I made it and I remembered that piece of suggestion. So, dutifully I tried it this time around and it was such a hit in our house hold. Of course, what I am realising with baking/ grilling for me is that when I make something once, I know what mistakes I have done or what I can in general do to make it better the next time. So, each time I try a repeat of a dish or a slight variant of a dish, it turns out even better than last time. The marinated tandoori paneer pizza this time was a killer hence for the 4 reasons stated below.
a) I made a really nice dough that rose very well
b) I got myself a round wooden pizza pan, so my pizza shape came out very well (looks do matter peeps. realising this increasingly)
c) The marination was really good and added a lot of flavour to the pizza.
d) I needed way less cheese than usual since the marination added some density that would have otherwise had to be compensated by cheese.
However, the next time around I am going to try a few things to see if it turns out even better
a) I am going to bake the base separately for longer (I didn’t have too much time yesterday honestly).
b) I am going to try and grill the marinade first separately (maybe more work but I am going to try to see if it enhances the taste even more).
Anywho, I definitely recommend that you guys try this out. With each bite, there is so much flavour bursting in your mouth quite literally :). This pizza was on the spicy side and so I made a simple pizza for the kids which also got over in no time.
- 1.5 cups wheat flour i used the baking brown flour
- 1.5 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant dry yeast
- 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup warm water
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 20-25 cubes frozen paneer
- 1 mediun capsicum (cubed)
- 1 big onion (cubed)
- 3-4 tbsp curd
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp tandoori masala powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese I used a mix of cheddar & mozarella
- 1/4 cup pizza/ pasta sauce
- 1 tsp wheat flour for dusting
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In a wide bowl, add all the dry ingredients - wheat flour, sugar, salt, instant yeast and give it a quick mix.
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To this, add the olive oil & warm water & mix well. Note - Reserve the 1/8 cup water and add that bit by bit since depending on the flour, you may not need it all.
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End result will be a slightly sticky, pliable dough. Set this aside for an hour covering the bowl with a lid/ plate/ wet towel.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the curd, chilli powder, garam masala powder, tandoori masala powder, coriander powder & salt.
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Pour this all over a bowl comprising the cubed veggies & ensure all the veggies are coated well in the marinade. Set this aside for an hour too.
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After an hour of resting, the dough would have doubled up in it's quantity. Knead it for a few minutes to punch out the air.
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In a flat surface, dust some flour and roll the dough flat either using your hands or a rolling pin.
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Prick some holes on the base using a fork & bake it for 4-5 minutes in a preheated oven at 200c.
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Take the base out and spread the pizza sauce on it.
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Transfer the marinated paneer & veggies on to the pizza and spread it out. Use your hand to do this so as to leave out any excess marinade.
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Bake this for another 10-15 minutes.
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Finally add the cheese on top & bake for another 5 minutes (I did the top-bottom heating at this stage for the cheese to melt & brown).
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Take out the pizza and let it cool for a few minutes before you slice and devour on it (You may say a prayer or 2 to try and eat less).
- Ensure you do not transfer any excess marinade to the pizza so that the pizza doesn't get too soggy.
- I usually prefer baking for a few minutes at each stage (including baking the base a bit separately) again so as not to have a very soggy pizza.
- For the first time I used my hands to roll out the pizza base. I bought a round wooden pizza pan recently and I just had to roll it out till the end of the pan. Result was a pretty looking round pizza.
- This measurement calls for a thin large pizza or a thick medium pizza. I did it the thick way this time.
Stepwise pictures
For the dough
In a wide bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast and mix well.
To this, add the oil & warm water and combine well to get a slightly sticky but pliable dough.
Set it aside for an hour covering with a lid after which the quantity would have doubled up.
For the marinade
In a small bowl, whisk together some curd, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, tandoori masala powder & salt.
Pour it over a bowl containing the cubed veggies & ensure all the veggies are coated in the marinade. Set it aside for an hour.
For the tandoori pizza
Rollout the pizza dough on a flat surface dusted with some flour and prick some holes on it using a fork. Bake this for 5 minutes in a preheated oven at 200c.
Spread the pizza sauce on the base now. Just leave a little gap around the ends.
Place and spread the marinated veggies (squeeze out the excess marinade) on the base. Bake this for 12-15 minutes at 200c.
Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes (I used the top-down heat at this point to get a nice golden finish on the cheese).
Let the pizza cool down a bit once you get it out of the oven before slicing and devouring it.
