Aloo Methi (Potato Fenugreek) Pizza

 

 

 

On nights when I’m exhausted or lazy or simply un-motivated to make dinner, the inkling in my mind is to order a simple yet ‘cheesy’ pizza or fried rice from the chinese joint down the street. And whenever we give in to the cheesy deliciousness I wonder why I don’t make pizzas at home often. Different toppings, less cheese, whole wheat or whole grain crust – perfectly (almost) guilt-free homemade pizza. I have been wanting to make this pizza for a long time now and finally got to making one after getting my hands on some nice and fresh methi/fenugreek earlier this week.

 

‘Aloo Methi’ is a very popular side-dish in India and to me it goes really well with rotis/chapathis (whole wheat flat-bread). I love the versatility of ‘Fenugreek’ as it’s fresh leaves can be used as any green vegetable to make a side-dish or parathas, the seeds can be used to add some bitterness to pulusu/stews and its dried leaves popularly known as ‘Kasuri Methi’ can be used as a herb in dishes to get a beautiful flavor and aroma! And when it goes so well with flatbread how great would it be on a pizza? Exactly!

 

 

The pizza came out great! The nice, soft and lightly chewy crust with the aromatic and flavorful aloo methi on the top. Yum! Every bite had this pale bitterness of methi, a light spice kick from the spices and a hint of sweetness from the caramelized onions! I served it with some hot & sweet ketchup and hubby sure loved it. I guess I’m going to make pizzas with variety ingredients more often now.

 

Prep time: 15 to 20 mins to separate the methi leaves
Cook time: 15 mins for aloo methi and caramelized onions + 10 to 12 mins for the pizza
Serves: 2 or 3 ~ makes a large pizza

 

Recipe

 

For the Pizza Dough,

– Whole Wheat Flour – 1 cup
– All-Purpose Flour – 1 cup (You could use only whole wheat flour, I only had 1 cup left in my
kitchen….so used all purpose flour too)
– Instant Dry Yeast – 1 tsp
– Salt – 3/4th tsp
– Sugar – 1/2 tsp
– Oil – 2 tsps
– Water – 1 cup or as required
– Semolina – few tsps – for dusting the baking sheet

 

 

1. Take a wide mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients – whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Mix well. Add water slowly and knead till all the flour has come together as a dough. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until it is soft and stretchy. Add about 2 tsps of oil and knead the dough for another minute until the dough is well coated with the oil. Cover with a plastic wrap or foil.

2. If you are making the pizza right away, let the dough sit in a warm, dark place for at-least 1 hour letting the yeast do it’s work rising the dough. If you want to use the dough the next day, like what I did, simply knead the dough, cover with a plastic wrap and place it into a ziplock bag or leave it in the bowl and refrigerate it. The yeast still does it’s work, only the rate at which the dough rises in the refrigerater is slower. The next day, remove the dough atleast 1n1/2 hr to 2 hrs before you want to make the pizza.

 

For the Aloo Methi topping,

– Aloo/Potatoes – 2 medium-sized – boiled, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
– Methi/Fenugreek Leaves – 2 bunches – leaves separated, rinsed
– Onions – 1/2 cup
– Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
– Red Chilli powder/Paprika – 1 tsp
– Salt – 1n1/4th tsp

 

1. Take a wide non-stick pan and heat about 2 tsps of oil. Add finely chopped onions and saute until translucent. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder/paprika and saute for a couple of minutes.

2. Squeeze all the excess water from the rinsed methi leaves and add them to the pan. Saute for a couple of mins. In the meanwhile, take the potato cubes in a bowl with water and a pinch of salt and microwave for around 3 to 4 mins. Drain all the water and add the potatoes to the pan. Saute for a couple of mins and remove from stove.

 

For the Caramelized onions,

– Onions – 1/2 – sliced length-wise
– Salt – 1/2 tsp
– Sugar – 1 tsp

1. In a small pan, heat about a tsp of oil. Add the thinly sliced onions and saute for a couple of mins. Add salt and sugar and further saute until the onions are lighly brown. Remove from stove.

 

To assemble and bake the Pizza,

– Garlic – 1 clove
– Parmesan Cheese – 1/4th cup

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 450 deg F. Pre-heat your pizza stone (if using), else use a baking sheet like I did. Place a parchment paper or foil and simply dust it with semolina or cornmeal.

2. Roll out the dough on a generously floured surface into a circle. Take a garlic clove lightly grate it over the entire surface of the dough. This will give a nice aroma and flavor to the crust.

3. Start the layers. I first added grated parmesan cheese on the dough so that the crust comes out nice, soft and moist. Then, empty the aloo methi sauteed mixture onto the parmesan cheese. Spread it out evenly over the surface. I then added some caramelized onions on the top. Finish it off with another light layer of parmesan cheese.

4. Pop into the oven and let it bake for 10 to 12 mins until the edges of the crust are nice and brown.

 

 

Remove from oven, cut it and serve right away with more cheese or some ketchup!