Fusion Cookout!: Home-Made Cottage Cheese Pizza (Indian Style)

Hey from EL The Cook!

Today we foray into Fusion Cooking!

Fantastical and brave, this style of cooking integrates two or more different types of cuisine into a single exceptional dish, usually loved by all.

Today we explore the magical dish "The Indian Pizza"

The traditional pizza is generally thin crust with minimalist ingredients. In India, pizza is decorated with a generous dose of spice and well known indian ingredients such as  cottage cheese, tandoori chicken and lamb.

Heres how you do an Indian Cottage Cheese Pizza!


INGREDIENTS: ( Serves 4)

Cook time : - 1 hour( 30 minutes cook time, 30 minutes inactive)

• 2 Large Red Onions (chopped fine)
• 4 Large Tomatoes (Pureed)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Yellow, Green and Red Bell Pepper,diced
• 7-8 baby corns,diced
• 10 button mushrooms, diced
• 1 green chili, sliced in half
• 8 wheat bread pizza bases from your local bakery
• 250 gm cottage cheese
• 50 gm fresh yogurt/dahi
• 50 gm Parmesan Cheese

SEASONING:

• Fresh Coriander
• Parsley flakes
• 10 gm tomato ketchup
• 7-8 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 
• Salt & Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Butter

KITCHEN EQUIPMENT:

• Chefs Knife
• Heavy metal skillet
• Spatula
• Serving platters
• Indian Electric Tandoor
• Cheese grater
• Mixer grinder

METHOD:

A) Marinade for the Cottage Cheese:

• To 50 gm fresh dahi, add a teaspoon of turmeric, chilli powder , salt and black pepper.
• Dice the pieces of cottage cheese to 1cm each and add to the marinade.
• Marinade for 30 minutes.

B) Pizza Base Sauce:

This sauce is the most important part of this dish. It is the base flavor of the pizza, so getting this element of the dish right is of prime importance. It also takes the longest to cook.

• Place 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet and place 7-8 cloves of minced garlic and the sliced chili. Leave this on high heat for 5 minutes, to make the fresh chili & burnt garlic oil.
• Add in the chopped onion and the sugar. Caramelize the onion well as this gives color to your sauce
• Add in the pureed tomatoes and leave to simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the tomato ketchup and a teaspoon of parsley flakes
• Now, leave to simmer for 30 minutes.

C) Assembly:

• Grill the pizza bases in the tandoor for 2 minutes.
• Add the pizza base sauce as the bottom-most layer of the pizza
• Add the bell peppers,  mushrooms and baby corn all diced to decorate the top most layer
• Add a generous quantity of cheese as a topping
• Glaze with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil
• Place in tandoor for 10 minutes or an oven at 220°C
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes

The Indian Pizza, with aromas of fresh spices and an explosion of color, this dish truly satisfies the senses of a true Indian!

Try this at home to get a true flavor of fusion cuisine!