Veg Pizzaવેજ પિઝા
A shop-bought base, a quick homemade sauce, vegetables and cheese. It works in a covered pan if you have no oven, which is how most Indian homes make it.
Ingredients
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- 2 ready pizza bases
- Sauce: 3 tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp oregano, a pinch of sugar, salt
- 1 capsicum, 1 onion, tomato and sweetcorn, thinly sliced
- 1½ cups grated mozzarella or processed cheese
- Oregano and chilli flakes
- Oil or butter
Method
- Blanch the tomatoes for 2 minutes, peel them and blend with the garlic.
- Cook the purée with oregano, sugar and salt for 8-10 minutes until thick.
- Spread the sauce on the base, arrange the vegetables and cover with cheese.
- Oven: 200°C for 10-12 minutes. Pan: covered, on low heat, 10-12 minutes until the cheese melts.
- Scatter oregano and chilli flakes, slice and serve hot.
Tips
- A thin sauce makes a soggy base; cook it down properly.
- In a pan, keep the heat low so the base doesn't burn before the cheese melts.
Storing and reheating
Pizza is for eating hot. Leftover slices keep two days in the fridge; reheat them covered on a low tawa for four or five minutes, which crisps the base and melts the cheese again. A microwave leaves the base rubbery. The sauce keeps a week in the fridge and three months in the freezer, so it is worth making a bigger batch.
What you can swap
- No ready base? Thick bread slices, pav or a thick homemade roti all work. If using roti, cook one side on the tawa first.
- Grated processed cheese cubes stand in for mozzarella. You lose the stretch but the flavour is fine. A mix of both gives the best result.
- In place of oregano, use dried basil or Italian seasoning. Do not reach for coriander-cumin powder or garam masala; it ends up tasting like a sabji.
- Instead of sweetcorn: boiled peas, thinly sliced mushrooms, olives, or thin potato slices parboiled first.
What to serve with it
An evening snack or a children's birthday dish, with chilli flakes, oregano and tomato ketchup. In plenty of homes the tawa version has replaced ordering in on a Friday or Saturday night.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not reverse the order of cheese and vegetables. Sauce, then vegetables, then cheese. Cheese underneath leaves the vegetables dry and scorched on top.
- Do not cut the vegetables thick. Thick pieces will not cook in ten or twelve minutes and raw capsicum dominates everything.
- Do not put wet vegetables on. Pat them dry after washing, or water pools under the cheese and the base goes soggy.
- Resist piling on extra toppings and extra cheese. An overloaded pizza will not cook through in the middle and folds over when you lift a slice.
Questions people ask
How do I make pizza on a tawa without an oven?
Heat a heavy-bottomed tawa or kadai on low for five minutes, put the base on and cover it. Low heat and a lid are both essential, since the lid traps the steam that melts the cheese. A trivet or a layer of salt underneath stops the base burning.
The cheese melts but does not stretch. Why?
Processed cheese cubes do not stretch; that pull is a mozzarella property. Use shop-bought pizza cheese or a mozzarella block and grate it coarsely. Grated cheese also matters because chunks or slices melt unevenly and leave bare patches.
My sauce came out thin. What now?
Keep cooking it uncovered until a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a clear track. In a hurry, stir in a tablespoon of tomato purée or ketchup. Thin sauce soaks into the base, so do not skip this.
