Butter Chicken Indian Pizza

harvest // blog issue 18

Authentic Indian Butter Chicken Pizza

Smoky Butter Chicken Masala Pizza. This chicken gravy recipe blends sweet, tangy, hot and vibrant aromatics. Juicy spicy chicken thighs are typically marinated the day before and roasted in our pizza oven to pre-cook. Looking for unique pizza recipes? This one is as exotic as it gets and we know you’re going to love it.

Image: Golden Indian Butter Chicken Pizza topped with Black Forbidden Rice

Our Indian Butter Chicken pizza is built with the spiced tomato butter sauce, used as a substitute for a sugo or tomato passata. Keep toppings simple with sliced green peppers and cotija or mozzarella cheese. Blast in the Ooni Pizza oven to achieve blistering goodness and top with fried forbidden rice. My Indian spiced yoghurt marinade is blended with an assortment of whole, dried spices. The resulting marinade is fiery, earthy, bitter and aromatic which once roasted delivers a truly authentic Indian taste to this pizza.

Note: We will be cooking the chicken twice for this recipe, so don’t go adding raw meat to your pizza. Be sure to use skin off chicken thighs, which ensure a juicy and tender topping to your pizza. This slightly more fat marbled meat is a little more forgiving to the extreme heat of your pizza oven.

🍽 Serves 2-4 | 🕒Prep: 24 Hours (Marinate Day Before) | Cook Time: 15 minutes | 🔪 Skill Level: Moderate

Ingredients

Spicy chicken marinade

1 lb boneless chicken thighs, skin off, cut in 2” x 2” dice

For the thigh marinade

4 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger, peeled

½ green chili, seeds remaining (to your taste)

½ cup low fat Greek yoghurt

2 tbsp chickpea flour

2 tspn Kashmiri chili powder

2 tspn whole cumin seeds

1 tspn whole cilantro seed

½ tspn ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick

1 lime, juice and zest

For the spiced Indian gravy

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

½ inch ginger, peeled and finely grated

½ green chili, cut lengthways, seeded

½ cinnamon stick

4-5 cloves, whole

6-8 cardamom pods, whole, crushed, seeds remaining

½ white onion, fine diced

1 tin tomato paste (small 3oz/ 90g tin)

1 tbsp Kashmiri power, heaping

1 tbsp cilantro (or coriander) seed

2 cups double cream (or full fat coconut milk)

1 tbsp honey

1 sprig fresh cilantro

½ tsp salt

½ lemon

To Serve

Black Forbidden Rice

Cotija Cheese and mozzarella

Wine Pairing Suggestion (below)

Favorite Store Bought (or home made) Pizza Base

Equipment

Chef’s Knife

Oven or Ooni Pizza Oven

1 x Mixing Bowl

6-8 Metal Skewers

1 x Medium Saucepot (Gravy)

1 Spice Grinder

Immersion Blender such as Braun Multiquick 9 (to create smooth tomato curry gravy).

Method

Cooking Indian chicken thighs

Warm whole spices in a small skillet over low heat until fragrant.
In an electric coffee or spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) pulverize cumin seed, cilantro seed, kashmiri chili and cinnamon stick, if using.
Separately in a bowl, combine Greek yoghurt with chickpea flour, lime juice, freshly ground spices and finely mince garlic, ginger and green chili. Mix well.
Remove chicken skin and dice into 2 inch cubes. Coat diced chicken thighs in marinade, massaging in well to tenderize.
Place 4-6 thigh pieces on each skewer, cover with cling film (Seran wrap) and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, remove thighs from the refrigerator and let sit for 30 minutes to bring to room temperature. Fire your pizza oven or ignite your oven broiler and preheat to 400ºF (205ºC) and grill skewers for 15-20 minutes, or until internal temperature of 165º (75ºC).

Spiced Indian Gravy Pizza Sauce (or Curry Sauce)

Warm whole spices in a small skillet over low heat until fragrant. In an electric coffee or spice grinder pulverize cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom and cilantro seed.
In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add ginger and chili and sauté on medium-high heat until fragrant.
Add diced (or sliced) onion and sweat until translucent (take your time, don’t brown your onions, slow “sweating” will bring out a sweetness to onions you never knew existed). Add tomato paste and all ground spices, stirring consistently to not burn.
Add cream and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 25-30 minutes on ultra low heat to reduce cream by one quarter. This will also integrate flavors. Finally, finish butter gravy with honey, fresh cilantro, salt and lemon to add liveliness.
Using an immersion blender such as your Braun multiquick, blend until ultra smooth. This will help create a consistent texture for topping pizza or serving curry.

Note: Make this gravy and store in an airtight container in the fridge and it will only intensify in flavor.

Building the best pizza recipe you’ve ever had.

Prepare pizza oven to top temperature. Tips for success coming soon including how to use an Ooni Pizza Oven.
When ready to roll, slice grilled chicken thighs or cubes into thin strips.
Spread 2 oz. of spiced gravy onto your favorite pizza base as a you would for a traditional pizza recipe. Add preferred cheese (for this recipe Mexican Cotija cheese provided a sharp saltiness and bite which nicely complements the richness of the gravy). We combine Mozzarella with the Cotija as it melts well to create the classic pizza texture.
Add sliced Green peppers and sliced chicken thighs.
Optional: You can add any other desired toppings as you please including sliced mushrooms, diced eggplant or marinated artichokes for added dimension.
Fire your pie in the oven for 90-120 seconds or until you’ve achieved your desired degree of cheese melt and chicken crispness.
Note: If preparing this butter chicken to enjoy as a curry over rice and veg, simply bring gravy to a simmer and add char broiled curry chicken thighs. I like to broil the thighs on ultra high heat, lending the most gnarly char along with serious flavor depth and attitude. Best of all, chicken thighs will almost always remain juicy and tender! What a treat!

Wine to Indian Pizza

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Opt for a wine with some fruit forwardness. Wines that pair well are those with a whisper of off dry (sweet) character or extra dosage to cool the hum of this mildly spiced curry. Our friend and Indian born winemaker Rajat Parr told us “wines that we think would naturally pair well, such as Champagne or Pinot Noir, can easily be lost alongside Indian flavors”. Raj suggested to us an alternative such as demi-sec sparkling, organic orange wine or pétillant naturel.

For a fun, delicious and evocative wine style, find California-made, Northern Italian-inspired Innate wines.