Indian Pizza! Remember I promised you something exciting with the leftover Butter Chicken? Well, here it is – Butter Chicken, meet pizza. Pizza, meet Butter Chicken.
Are you skeptical? I was, too. But we ordered pizza with friends a while back, and they promised to the moon and back that the Butter Chicken Pizza at this restaurant was amazing, so we went with it – and it was so good! I knew right away I had to recreate it at home.
You start by pulling the chicken pieces out of the leftover curry. The curry sauce goes on the dough first, followed by handfuls of mozzarella, then some bell pepper, red onion, and pineapple (again, trust me). You shred up the chicken with two forks, add that, and bake it until gooey and bubbly and golden.
But what takes it over the top is this super-spicy, insanely addictive mint chutney to drizzle and dip. Mint, cilantro, ginger, garlic and chile get whizzed in the blender for a vibrant, herbacious complement to balance the richness of the pizza.
I made my pizza dough from scratch, but feel free to increase the weeknight-feasibility by using a storebought frozen ball, thawed overnight in the fridge, or even naan bread for individual pizzas.
I nestle a bag inside my biggest glass measuring cup to stabilize it and hold it open, then ladle the food in, seal it and label it with a sharpie (because even though I’m sure I’ll be able to tell what it is, I’ll inevitably thaw chili instead of spaghetti sauce). If it’s too hot to put right in the freezer, I cool it quickly by plunging the whole bag into an ice bath. Then I freeze it on top of a baking sheet so that it lies flat, and all my leftover soups, stews, curries, etc. stack neatly without taking up much space. And because the bags have a large surface area, thawing is super-quick – I just pop the bag into a sink of warm water, and it’s defrosted in about 20 minutes.
Other Delicious Pizza Recipes You’ll Love
Dive into the flavors of my Seafood Pizza, featuring succulent shrimp, scallops, and a sauce reminiscent of shrimp fettuccine alfredo. If you’re short on time but still craving homemade goodness, the Biscuit Dough Pizza is a fantastic shortcut that delivers cheesy comfort-food goodness in no time. And for a delightful twist, try the Grilled Zucchini Pizza, featuring smoky grilled zucchini slices atop a bed of delicious pizza goodness.
Butter Chicken Indian Pizza
Ingredients
For mint chutney:
- 1 cup mint
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 serrano chile very spicy, use half for less heat!
- ½ tsp kosher salt + more to taste
- ½ cup water
For pizza dough:
- 1 ¾ cup warm water
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 4 to 5 cups all purpose flour
- vegetable oil for bowl
For topping:
- approximately 2 cups leftover butter chicken chicken separated from sauce and shredded
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- thinly sliced bell pepper
- diced pineapple
- sliced red onion or shallot
- chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For mint chutney:
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
For pizza:
- Combine warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; let stand 10 minutes.
- Stir in oil and salt, then add 2 cups of the flour and beat on medium speed until smooth. Switch to dough hook, and beat in another 2 cups of flour. Knead the dough on low speed for 10 minutes, adding remaining 1 cup of flour as needed – your dough has enough flour when it sticks to the bottom of the bowl but releases from the sides.
- Remove the dough from the stand mixer and oil the bowl generously (no need to clean it); place the dough in the bowl, turning it around to coat on all sides with oil. Cover with a clean towel and put in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2 hours (an oven with just the light turned on works perfectly).
- Punch down the dough and divide in 2 even balls. Let rest 30 minutes (or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 1 day, or freeze up to 3 months – either way, bring to room temperature before proceeding).
- While the dough rests, place a baking stone or baking sheet on the bottom rack and preheat oven to 450ºF for 30 minutes. Prepare all your toppings while you wait, so that you can work quickly in the next step.
- Roll out first ball of dough on a sheet of floured parchment paper. Remove heated baking stone or sheet from the oven, and place dough on top, parchment and all. Working quickly, top dough with half the curry sauce, half the mozzarella, half the chicken, and remaining toppings. Bake on bottom rack for 10-15 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. Top with cilantro, if desired, and repeat with remaining pizza. Serve with chutney.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
OMG! Thanks for amazing recipe. I am going to make it this weekend! Just loved it… Please keep posting such recipes. Much love!
This indian pizza is sooo good. Whole family loved it as a way to use up a little butter chicken.