Homemade Pizza

Getting the Pizza right, at home, is a challenge I am sure most of us love. My mother loves pizzas with wheat flour base and a thin crust at that. Thought would bite the bullet and try it out this weekend!! 
Above all, I followed the Tawa style of cooking, so no oven used here, unless you want to !!

WHEAT FLOUR PIZZA

Ingredients : (Makes six x 6 inch pizzas)
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups (or add 1 cup maida + 1 cup atta)
Instant Dry yeast - 2 tsps (Use curd if you do not wish to use yeast)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Curd - 1 tbsp

Tomato sauce :
Olive oil - 2 tbsps
Tomato puree - 1 1/2 cups
Salt to taste
Chili flakes - 1 tsp
Garlic powder - 1 tsp
Dried herbs such as oregano
(You can also use any dry masala of your choice, eg, Garam masala, Tawa Fry, etc to give it an Indian touch!!)

Pizza Topping :
Chopped Capsicum - 1 cup
Sliced Onions - 1 cup
Paneer cubes - 1/2 cup
Grated Mozzarella cheese + any other extra cheese - as required
(One can add any topping of choice apart from these)

Method :

1. Soak yeast in a bowl along with luke warm water, sugar and 1 tsp salt. Stir and leave aside for 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.

2. Meanwhile sift together the flour and salt in a clean bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
[Note : If you do not wish to use yeast, you can use 1 tsp Baking Pwd, 1 tsp Baking Soda and required curd to knead the dough]

3. Add 1 tbsp curd and knead into a soft but firm dough using sufficient water. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm corner for about 1 1/2 hours or till it doubles in size.

4. Take the dough on a floured counter and punch it lightly. Roll into a cylinder and divide into 6 equal portions. Roll the portions out into pizza bases of desired thickness. Prick all over gently with a fork.

5. Heat a tawa on medium heat. Place the pizza base on the tawa, cover with a lid and cook on 1 side only for about 4-5 minutes. Remove and keep aside. Repeat with other bases as well.

6. For the sauce - heat olive oil in a pan and add the tomato puree. Let simmer on low to medium flame for about 4-5 minutes. We do not want to over-cook the sauce as it will be cooked once more with the pizza.
Add garlic powder, chili flakes, salt to taste and any other dry spice/masala you want to add. Finally add the dried herbs, stir for 1 minute and remove.
[I also tend to blanch the vegetables (except tomato and onion) a little, i.e, about 1/2 cooked so that they are easier to digest, especially for elders and children.]

7. Spread about 1 tbsp sauce on the cooked side of the pizza. Arrange the rest of the toppings leaving 1 cm space from the edges. Finally sprinkle grated cheese, you can be really generous here as a pizza without enough cheese isnt much fun :)

8. Place the prepared pizza base back on the tawa so that the uncooked side is directly on the pan now. Cover - cook on low heat for about 7-8 minutes or till cheese starts bubbling and becomes golden brown. At this point you can use the oven (normal or micro) as well. I used a combination of both so the pizzas got done faster!!

9. Remove the finished pizzas on to the serving plate, cut and serve :)