Monday

Indian Spiced Pizza



Pizza used to be our weekend food for a long time till it suddenly struck me that majority of cheese has animal rennet. it is one of those things you know..but sometimes does not hit you. Now the only time i can eat pizza is when i make it..and i always stock up on vegetarian mozzarella and freeze it and when i make pizza dough i make extra and freeze it too. So when Nandita announced left-overs for WBB i decided to make pizza as brunch instead of dinner.

What are the left-overs??..they were the leftover pizza dough from last time and my leftover marinara sauce that i make Indian style.

Here is the recipe.

The pizza dough is a straight lift-of from my recipe book 'Bread'. Unless one of you comes with a gun to my head..i am going to pass on posting the looong recipe of the dough



Here is the Indian marinara recipe - makes 16 oz jar.



Diced organic Tomato Can - 1 (12 oz)
Onion - 1/2 medium,diced
Garlic- 4 pods
Green Chilly - 4
Ginger - 2"
Jeera - 1 tsp.
Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Kasoori methi - 1 tsp.
Salt -to taste
Oil- 1 tsp.

1. In a large pan, fry the onions,green chillies,garlic and ginger with one tsp of oil.
2. When the onions start to brown a little, add the tomatoes and cook till the the tomatoes get a little mushy.
3.Now, add the turmeric,red-chilly powder,salt and kasoori methi and let this cook for 5 mts.
4. Cool this mixture and puree this (chunky style)in a bender. Transfer into a large jar or two medium jars and use when needed.

Veggies for the pizza.

I wanted 5 veggies of different colors for the pizza..do not ask me why..but i can be crazy sometimes.

Broccoli - 1 cup - floret ts
Red bell pepper - 1/2 cup - diced
Olives - 1/4 cup - sliced
Carrots - 1/2 cup - diced
Corn - 1 cup
Panch phoran - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Stir-fry all the above and cook till there is a bite to the broccoli.

Other:

Mozzarella - 6 oz (i got the one with vegetarian rennet)(i froze the balance cheese after cutting them in cubes)

Olive oil- 1 tsp.

Pizza Assembling.

1.Preheat oven to 450 F.
2.Brush the olive oil on the pan u r planning to make the pizza
3.Strech the darn pizza dough over ur pizza crisper..in my case cookie sheet..( i had a pizza crisper..but i threw it out..that is another story ;)
4.Ladle some tomato sauce, the scatter the veggies..smother with the cheese blocks and cook for 15-17 mts.
5. When the pizza is done, cut them in wedges or squares and take the largest piece and pretend that u eat less than ur spouse ;) coz u had only 2 pcs...while he had 3!!



This is off to Nandita of the famous
Saffron Trail who is hosting the WBB this time around.....and sorry Nandita i am a day late....

39 comments:

Siri said...

Absolutely yummy Rajitha :D and the pic is mouth watering dear. Even I love pizza when its colorful hehe..awesome entry for the event..:D

Namratha said...

This is sooo cool Rajitha, Desi style Marinara sauce....simply awesome! I gotta try this one, will be a lovely break for my taste buds from the regular Marinara :)

Bong Mom said...

See only yesterday a strict vegetarian was asking me "Yeh veggie Pizza hai na ?" I joked and said "You never know". Hope she does not read this :)

Your home made pizza looks great

Laavanya said...

What a pretty pizza pie that is. I like to make an indianized spicy sauce too for pizza.

Sreelu said...

Rajitha, you are a daring baker, I see quite good baking recipes here.Pizza looks so good and delicious

Anonymous said...

Drool....
Pizza looks great Indian sauce and all veggies...Looks delicious.
I'll try your sauce next time I make pizza.
Thanks for the information on cheese I didn't know that it was animal rennet.

Shweta said...

That looks great! I have never tried making pizza base at home. I'll try your recipe with store-bought pizza base (I know its no match but... Ok you may call me lazy :P)

Bharathy said...

I see pizza rain in blogosphere!..was hunting for a good indianised one..Your is Perfect!..will surely try!
Thanks for contributing to my sister nag's event too..:)

sra said...

Looks nice and bright!

Latha Narasimhan said...

I too made pizza for dinner yesterday!:) I use the ready made pizza base, amul mozerella cheese and the topping as I like. I dint take pictures as I am very moody and these days I dont feel like taking pics of all that I cook!:))
Yours looks spicy and yummy!:)) I like to eat what others cook! :))

Latha Narasimhan said...

Rajitha dear, I just read your reply to my comment in cook books post!:) Would you believe, I am really writing one! And just this morning I decided to post pics of my hand written note book and a cake book my father bought 27 years back for just Rs.50.

Apple said...

Wowwww....This looks so delicious...Mine always gets over baked...

FH said...

Ooohhh!! Delicious! I heard that in California,they make Tanddori Chicken Pizza. We just get the normal Pizza here.Looks great Rajitha.

Padma said...

Lovely and incredible, home made pizza sauce is yummy with all Indian flavors in it!

Finla said...

Pizza looks super delicious. I woudn't mind to have a xtra large piece. I know i know i am GREEDY :-)))

TBC said...

Can I have a slice of that?

Manjula said...

Indian marinara? Thats a great idea. I make mini pizza on the pita bread. WIll give this a try soon.

Rajitha said...

siri..see u get the craziness for color :)

namratha - i was fed up of eating the same type oregano..basil!..and pizza is quite bland..this gives a good kick ;)

sandeepa - aram se jhoot bol diya ;) ha ha...thanks!!

laavanya- i know..i like indian everything!

sreelu - oh please..u r embarrasing me.. (don't stop tho...)

madhu- thnks..glad to be of help. u have to read all the ingredients for the cheese when you buy, the ingredient should read vegetarian/vegetal/non-animal rennet or microbial renett...if it says just renett or enzymes..it may be animal...

shweta- lazy lazy girl ;) just kidding..have done it many a time..

bharathy - u are such a sweet sis!! love it when you are looking out for ur younger sis :)

sra- thanks..

latha- i hope you get the enthu back soon..it happens to all of us..for me i get bored to write it down..but reading all the comments makes me happy..so i guess i gotta write ;)..and good for you! i will definately buy ur book..will go to ur site to chk out the cake book :)

apple - hmm..reduce the heat by a couple of degrees or reduce the time...thnks:)

asha- people in cali got all the luck i tell u..

padma- thnks..i always make extra..so that i can put on pasta too..

happy cook - u know you are always welcome..X-tra large u say..
(wanna fight with me for it ;)

tbc- now when did you start asking for permission girl....mera khana tera khana samaj ;) he he

manjula - pita pizza..never made it but have heard about it..post it, i will follow ur direction :)

bee said...

pizza for brunch? why not? i can eat pizza four times a day. lovely looking indian pizza, this. in the bay area, CA, there's a place called "presto pizza", with desi versions of pizza. we used to love those. and there's one called zante's in san francisco. same concept.

Swaruchy said...

I am drooling over the pizza dear...looks yummmmmmm :-)

Kribha said...

Your pizza rocks. I love your sauce too. That picture is tingling my taste buds already. Btw, what is Panch phoran?

Unknown said...

Yummy!!!

Anonymous said...

oh wow... that looks sooo yummy I can almost forget the fact that it is completely vegetarian :)

Rajitha said...

bee- zante...zante...zante... it is now embedded in my memory..which truely sucks! thanks god i write a blog, i will be back for the name in future..thanks :)


sirisha - thnks :)

kribha - glad u think it rocks girl! panch phoran is a mix of spices predominantly used in bengali and oriya cooking. It is an equal mix of methi,rai,jeera,saunf and kalonji.

pushpa- thnks..

sig- now..now..now..aren't we being naughty huh!! ;)

Kajal said...

I want this small piece of your post my dear.........delicious pizza. I am jealous to you!!!!!!!!!!!

sdf said...

Lovely combo of veggies.. I can even eat it for breakfast :)

Kumudha said...

I too loved pizza filled with cheese ,when I was a vegetarian.

Now, I enjoy pizzas without cheese, and it is incredibly tasty!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... pizza. Thats all I can see and say.

Rajitha said...

kajal- take a big pc. girl..and u jealous..u make awesome food..i am jealous of urs :)

ani - me too ;)

kumudha- i'm sure it does :)

hima - ha ha :) i'm the same

Rajesh &Shankari said...

Desi style marinara is a great twist..

Lissie said...

delicious veg pizza! awesome pictures!! thanks for visiting my blog.

A, mama of twins said...

lovely site Rajitha!
Thanks for visiting mine and pizza looks yummy

Shweta said...

Rajitha, I just added your lovely blog to my blogroll, hope that is okay :)

TBC said...

o.k. where are you? pretending to be busy;-)

Rajitha said...

shankari - i have gotten bored with eaating bland pizza :)

lissie - thnks :)

archana - thnks :)

shweta - thnks for adding me...

tbc- damn it! you startin to know me too well...i know! i was pretending to be busy he he ;)

Rachel said...

Hey I love pizzas too..I make them at home too..cheaper and healthier

check out and try my version of the sauce i use on the base..

Rajitha said...

rachel - thanks for dropping in..will chk out urs too :)

AnuSriram said...

Looks gr8! wonderful pizza! Like all your recipes.

Rajitha said...

thnks anu...will chk ur site too :)