Tandoori Pizza

This tandoori pizza is so flavourful and enjoyable, topped with tandoori chicken, cheese, bell peppers, onion, and coriander leaves. While the recipe does take some time to prepare, the results are definitely worth it!

For our recipe, we have used the Lermioglu T55 Pizza Flour (Double Zero), provided to us by one of our partners, Kek Shop. This pizza flour is ideal for baking pizzas as double zero flour is ground much finer, making the dough smooth and more elastic for stretching.

Serving size: 1 pizza

Ingredients:

For the pizza dough

• ½ cup lukewarm water
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp instant dry yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ½ cup Lermioglu Pizza Flour (Double Zero) (around 220g)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp olive oil (for rubbing on the bowl)

For the tandoori chicken

• 200g boneless chicken (cut to small ½ inch pieces)
• 1 ½ tbsp tandoori masala
• 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ¾ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp cumin powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp red food colouring
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for pan frying)

For the tandoori pizza sauce

• 1 tbsp pizza sauce
• 1 tbsp chilli sauce
• ½ tsp tandoori masala
• ¼ tsp dried oregano

For topping the pizza and assembling

• ¼ tsp corn flour (to dust the tray)
• ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tbsp thinly sliced red bell peppers (1 ½-inch slices)
• ¼ small onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 tbsp sliced green olives (optional)
• 1 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves

Instructions:  

1. To make the pizza dough, add ½ cup lukewarm water to a large bowl, along with ½ tsp instant dry yeast and 2 tsp sugar, mix to combine with a spoon. Then add in 1 tbsp olive oil along with 1 ½ cup Lermioglu Double zero pizza flour and ¼ tsp salt. Give it a good mix using a large spoon until it comes together in a sticky rough dough.
2. Dust a clean surface with a little flour and place the dough on top of it and start kneading. To knead, keep folding the dough onto itself for 10 minutes. If it is too sticky, so you can add just a little bit more flour (like a quarter tablespoon). Constantly move the dough around so it doesn’t stick too much on the surface. When kneaded, the dough should look smooth and feel just a little bit sticky (not too much that it sticks fully to your fingers).
3. Rub ½ tsp of olive oil on the insides of a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let the dough rise for 1 and ½ hours or until it doubles in size (place in warm place like inside of a turned off oven).
4. In the meantime, prepare the chicken. Add 200g boneless chicken (cut to small ½ inch pieces), 1 ½ tbsp of the tandoori masala, 1 tbsp plain yoghurt, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp olive oil, ¾ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp cumin powder, ¼ tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp red food colouring to a bowl.
5. Give it a good mix with a spoon, making sure that all of the chicken pieces are well coated. Cover the bowl (we have used plastic food wrap) and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight to let the chicken marinate.
6. When the 1 and ½ hours is up, lightly flour a clean surface, place the dough on it, punch it down a few times, and then knead the dough gently for around a minute. Then put it back in the oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let the dough rise again for another 30 minutes.
7. To cook the marinated chicken, heat up a small pot with 1 tbsp olive oil for around 30 seconds on medium high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 6 to 7 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Then on low heat, cook for one more minute. Set aside.
8. Preheat the oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes. Line a baking tray with baking paper and evenly spread the tandoori chicken on it. Place it in the top rack of the oven and bake for 7 minutes or until darker in colour. This is to give it a nice colour and a deeper flavour.
9. Then prepare a tray for baking the pizza. We used a 17-inch by 14-inch tray lined with baking paper and sprinkled around ¼ tsp corn flour on it. You can skip the corn flour if you don’t have it, but it really does make the pizza’s bottom very nice and crispy.
10. After the second rising time is over, dust your fingers with a little bit of flour and punch down the dough. Take the dough out, place on a lightly floured surface, and either by using your fingers or your rolling pin, shape it into a circle (make sure it is nice and even, so it bakes evenly). Aim for a diameter of around 10 and ½ inches.
11. Place this on your tray. Fold the edges of the circle so that they form a slightly raised edge. You can stretch the dough more from the middle to bring a nice round shape. Then poke small holes all over the dough using a fork (this will keep the dough flat and let the steam out when baking).
12. Preheat the oven at 230 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Bake the pizza dough for around 8 to 9 minutes or until a bit fluffy and lightly browned. Take it out of the oven to assemble the pizza.
13. To make the tandoori pizza sauce, in a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp pizza sauce, 1 tbsp chilli sauce, ½ tsp tandoori masala, ¼ tsp dried oregano. Spread the pizza sauce on the dough.
14. Then top with ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, the cooked chicken, 2 tbsp thinly sliced red bell peppers (1 ½-inch slices) and ¼ small onion (thinly sliced) in that order. Optionally you can add 1 tbsp sliced green olives.
15. Preheat the oven again at 230 degrees Celsius for 4 to 5 minutes. Place the pizza tray on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake at 230 degrees Celsius for 13 minutes or until the crust and cheese looks golden.
16. Once the pizza is out of the oven, add 1 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves on top, cut and serve once cooled for 8 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!