Without a second thought, I love everything Indian while I appreciate the culture and surroundings around me. This desi heart always crave for one dish off the menu that I must have eaten a gazillion times and no shame in accepting that I will be that person on the table to order butter chicken everytime I spot it on the menu of different restaurants.
I make Butter Chicken regularly at home. Usually it doesn’t get passed on to next day; but whenever it does, I turn the gravy into our next best food item – pizza! Without a guilt, because we believe in recycling and making wonderful food memories with a virtue that both the cuisines are pillowy comforting. And the perfect thing to do is to make pizza bread from the scratch involving those tiny hands running around in your home. Imagine a homemade pizza crust, with your favorite toppings and no frills and no fuss.
To be sincere, bread making initially induced quite a stress in me especially the yeast proofing part where the temperature needs to be perfect. But now I don’t have it any other way! Once you begin to try, yeast becomes the least possible trouble, for you realize how to adjust the water to correct temp with continuous trial and error. I have seen my mom do breads in groups as there was no craze of internet in those days – that way she got to know more of processes and inputs from the members; and if she went wrong somewhere, there was always someone to correct her. I don’t have the luxury to cook in large groups here, so the only way I started to learn from is by watching multiple videos online teaching me key elements to baking bread from the scratch. Since then, there is no stopping a little part of myself to do pizzas, focaccia and mini breads at home. I still fail everytime I indulge in a sourdough bread although it hasn’t hampered my spirit not to keep trying.
I have made the pizza crust using Grand Mills All Purpose Flour available in yellow packets in leading supermarket across UAE; however you can swap all-purpose with their wheat flour. It results in classic crisp base that is super easy to stretch out thin.
If you make this recipe, kindly share your photos and feedback with the #thoughtsoverchai on Instagram and Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!
Butter Chicken Pizza
- Difficulty: Medium
Pizza crust recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver.
Ingredients:
- Pre made Butter Chicken gravy – 2 cups, (recipe here)
- Mozzarella – 1/3 cup
- Parmesan – 1/3 cup
For pizza dough:
- Grand Mills All Purpose Flour – 1 1/2 cup
- Dry active yeast – 1 tbsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp- 1/4 tsp or to taste
- Olive oil – 2 tbsps
- 4 tbsp, water (or more if required)
Method :
- Place warm water (around 40 Degrees C), yeast and sugar in a small bowl to ferment. As the foam starts to float on top, yeast is active and ready to use. If it doesn’t, discard and start again, making sure the water is at right temperature (not too hot nor too cold)
- In a kneading bowl, pour the yeast-water mix, salt, olive oil and flour. Knead the dough for 3-4 mins and another 5-10 minutes on the kitchen counter until a soft and smooth dough is formed. It should spring back when touched with a finger. Make into a ball, brush with olive oil and cover the dough in the same bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 200 Degrees C and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle the parchment paper with flour so that the dough doesn’t stick. Tip the dough onto a prepared baking sheet and using your hands or a rolling-pin, roll out the dough into any shape you desire, having a thickness of 1-2 inches. Spoon out butter chicken to cover the dough, leaving an inch from the sides. Add cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust turn golden brown and cheese start to melt. Slice and serve hot.
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Disclosure : I am commissioned by Grand Mills to try their products and share my views. Regardless, I will only recommend those products I personally use and believe in. As always, above story and opinion remain my own.