Chicken Tikka Pizza

Ingredients

• 350 g all-purpose flour (maida), plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp fine salt, for the dough
• 220 ml warm water
• 2 tbsp oil, for the dough
• 350 g boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
• 3 tbsp thick plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt, for the chicken
• 1 tbsp oil, for cooking the chicken
• 6 tbsp tomato pizza sauce or thick tomato passata
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 medium capsicum (bell pepper), thinly sliced
• 200 g mozzarella, grated
• 2 green chillies, sliced (optional)
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 3 tbsp yogurt mixed with 1 tbsp mint chutney, for drizzling

Instructions

1. Stir the flour, yeast, sugar and 1 tsp salt together in a large bowl. Add the warm water and 2 tbsp oil, then mix into a shaggy dough.
2. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and springy. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.
3. While the dough rises, mix the chicken with the yogurt, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, lemon juice and 1 tsp salt. Cover and refrigerate.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in a single layer, stirring occasionally, until browned at the edges and cooked through (74°C inside, no pink). Set aside; it should be fairly dry.
5. Place a baking tray or pizza stone on the top-middle oven rack and heat the oven to 240°C (or its highest setting) for at least 15 minutes.
6. Divide the risen dough in two. Roll or stretch each piece into a roughly 25 cm round on baking paper, leaving the edge slightly thicker.
7. Mix the pizza sauce with the oregano and spread it thinly over each base, leaving a 1.5 cm border. Scatter over half the mozzarella, then the onion, capsicum, chicken and chillies, then the remaining mozzarella.
8. Slide one pizza, still on its paper, onto the hot tray. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling with a few browned spots. Repeat with the second pizza.
9. Rest for 2 minutes, then top with fresh coriander and drizzle with the mint yogurt. Slice and serve hot.

Tips

• Cook the chicken until fairly dry. Wet chicken releases liquid in the oven and makes the base soggy.
• Preheating the tray gives a crisper base. If you have no stone, turn a heavy baking tray upside down and use that.
• Cut the chicken small and even so it cooks quickly and spreads evenly across the pizza.
• For a smoky tikka flavour, hold a hot charcoal piece in a small foil cup on the cooked chicken, add a drop of oil and cover for 2 minutes.