Indian Style Vegetable Tofu Pizza / Veggie Tofu Pizza / Vegetable Pizza / Veggie Pizza

Pizza remains a magic word all the time to make the kids smile. Though we don't regularly dine at Pizza restaurants, I like the idea of making pizza start from scratch at home, even the Pizza Base. My love towards Italian Cuisine is very special and I have been trying out different pestos and experimenting various kinds of Pasta, Soups in my kitchen with my testers ( my family of course!!!) at home. Somehow, I decided to inject the Indian flavor and taste into this vegetable pizza this time. So I made the Pizza Sauce on Indian Style and built the Pizza according to our home taste.  It came out very well and I assure you, my dear friends, its not a time consuming recipe at all if you have all the ingredients ready at one shot. Just  prepare the Pizza Dough before 5-6 hours with the yeast and keep it ready. By the time the dough sets up, keep all the other ingredients required for making the Pizza like the Sauce, vegetables, black pepper powder, Mozzarella cheese,etc., ready. Its a wise decision to prepare the Pizza Sauce in advance and store it in an airtight container and in refrigerator for later use. We can surprise the kids by giving them a quick Mini Cheese Pizza or any favourite pizza of their choice as an after school snack if the Pizza Sauce is readily available.

I used the All-Purpose Flour and the wheat flour in the ratio of 4:1 this time. This ratio is purely based on your taste and choice. You can either make a whole wheat pizza or can use both the wheat flour and all purpose flour equally. Generally, 2 cups of flour yield a large pizza. So decide your flour portion accordingly.

I replaced Paneer cubes with fresh Extra Firm Tofu Cubes. Try this out in your kitchen and let me know your feedback and suggestions. 

Ingredients

For the Pizza Dough

( This is to make 2 large pizza and a Medium sized cheese pizza. Adjust your portion for making a single large pizza )

All Purpose Flour - 4 Cups

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 Cup 

Salt - To Taste

Rapid Rising Yeast - 1 small packet. ( 1.5 tbsp )

Sugar - 1 tsp

Black Pepper Powder - 2 tsp 

Italian Seasoning Powder - 1 tsp

Garlic Powder - 1.5 tsp

Light Olive Oil - Between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup ( Reduce it to 1/4 cup while making a single large pizza )

Warm Milk - 3/4 cup ( Should not be too hot or too cold )

Water - Little for making the perfect dough.

For the Pizza Sauce

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Minced Garlic - 2 tsp

Shredded Onion - 1/4 cup

Shredded Green Bell Pepper / Capsicum - 1/4 cup

Tomato Puree - 2 cups

Salt - To Taste

Kasoor Methi Leaves - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp ( Could use red chili flakes instead )

Tandoor Masala Powder - 1.5 tsp ( I used Store made Tandoor Masala Powder )

Italian Seasoning Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Cumin / Dhana Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 Pinch

For the Pizza Toppings

Mozzarella Cheese Shredded - 3/4 cup ( For 1 Large Pizza )

Green Bell Peppers , Sliced Black Olives, Sliced fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Fresh Spinach Leaves, Sliced Red Onions, Pineapple Squares, Sliced Mushrooms, Fresh Coriander Leaves ( To Garnish and Flavor ).

Olive Oil - 2 tsp ( To Brush the Sides )

Method 

Pizza Sauce

In the frying pan, add oil first. When its heated, add the minced garlic, onion, green bell peppers and saute them well. Once the raw smell takes off, add all the powders,salt and sugar and  tomato puree and cook them well for 3-4 minutes on a medium heat. After it gets cooled, store them in an airtight container. For future use, its good to store the leftover sauce in the refrigerator.

Pizza Dough

First warm the milk in the microwave. Then add the yeast and sugar into the warm milk. Yeast gets activated nicely in warm milk and allow them to froth for 4-5 minutes. In a big mixing bowl, add the other ingredients for making the Pizza Dough and knead them thoroughly. While kneading, add the frosted yeast milk into the dough mixture too. Kneading at this stage really helps us to get a nice, fluffy pizza dough. Cover the pizza dough with a wet cloth and keep it in a warm place till it doubles in quantity. This process might get over between 1.5 to 2 hours which totally depends on how you knead the dough, proportions of the dough and the place where you kept.

Pizza Toppings

Keep all the vegetables that are required ready. Keep the shredded Mozzarella cheese ready too. Knead the dough once again so that the air bubbles get released equally in all directions. 

Preheat the Over to 400 Degrees first. 

Divide the dough equally for the number of pizzas you are going to make. Take the portion of the dough and spread it on the floured surface. You can either use the roller to spread the pizza dough or use your strong hands to make the pizza. I used the roller initially to spread it into round shape and later i used my hands to spread it out uniformly in all directions. 

If you wish a thin crust, spread the dough large enough and make it thin using your hands. 

Brush the top layer of the pizza with little oil. Apply the Pizza Sauce and spread them across uniformly. Leave quarter inch around the edges of the Pizza which could be brushed with little oil later before baking starts.

On top of the Pizza Sauce, spread the shredded Mozzarella Cheese evenly and generously. Don't finish the entire Mozzarella Cheese at this stage. Keep some for the final layer too.

On top of the Mozzarella Cheese, arrange the sliced / cut veggies, paneer cubes or Tofu cubes as you like. Sprinkle some more Mozzarella Cheese over the toppings and cover them. 

Similarly, make the rectangular thin  crust pizza with different toppings. I made a thin crust rectangular pizza with Pineapple, Black Olives, Jalapeno Peppers, Red Onions. Also, I made a medium size thick crust Cheese Pizza with a single topping of Black Olives. For the thick crust cheese pizza, I generously added more Cheese to balance the thickness. Keep the arranged pizzas for baking into the oven now. 

After 25 minutes, I noticed a slight brownish colour around the edges of the pizza. This indication clearly tells the completion process. Check all the pizzas in the oven for the completion individually. Slowly remove the pizzas from the oven and you would notice the nicely baked pizzas with melted cheese at their center. When its hot, slice the pizzas into desired shapes and distribute it to the kids happily. Sprinkle some hot red chilli flakes and Parmesan cheese on top of the Pizza slices and enjoy the Pizza Party with a side of strawberry lemonade.

Tips and Variations

• You can add any toppings to your pizza and you can totally drive your imaginations high while making this yummy treat to your kids.
• Use a good quality Mozzarella cheese to get a hot restaurant style pizza.
• Don't compromise on the pizza sauce at all. The quality of the pizza sauce upgrades the Pizza taste considerably well. 
• If you want to make it more healthy, make the Pizza Dough with whole wheat flour and enjoy.