Indian chicken tikka pizza
Chicken tikka pizza, documented from two Indian chains — Domino's India and Pizza Hut India — rather than invented: yoghurt-marinated tikka chicken, tandoori sauce and onion, on a cold-fermented pan crust.
Recipe by Priya Patel · Published
Chicken tikka pizza is not this site's invention — it is a standing menu item at two separate Indian pizza chains, and this recipe documents what those chains actually sell rather than guessing at an "Indian pizza" from imagination. The crust underneath it is unrelated to the topping's origin: a King Arthur Bread Flour pan build at 12.7% protein, cold-fermented overnight the way any pan dough is, because a fusion topping does not change what the dough needs to do. If the cheese browns before the chicken underneath is done, a burnt base with undercooked toppings covers the fix; if a loaded slice sheds its toppings when you lift it, see toppings sliding off.
Where this comes from
Two companies sell a pizza named for chicken tikka specifically in India, which is the bar this site requires to call something a documented style rather than an invented one — the same bar every recipe in the fusion collection has to clear. This is one of three Indian fusion styles gathered at the India hub. The disagreement here runs deeper than it does for tandoori paneer or makhani paneer, because one chain disagrees with itself.
Domino's India sells the Indi Chicken Tikka, described on its menu page in full: "Molten Cheese Indulgence with wholesome flavour of tandoori masala topped with Chicken tikka, onion, red paprika & mint mayo."
Pizza Hut India sells two separate tikka-named pizzas. Its Chicken Tikka Ultimate Cheese reads: "Tandoori-spiced chicken tikka, onion, tomato, tandoori sauce, extra molten cheese and a melty gooey cheese crown on the crust, you'll want to Flip to the Cheese first." Its Spicy Tikka reads: "You must try our newly launched non-veg Spicy Tikka pizza, it is a delicious combination of Chicken tikka, onion, green chilies cooked with Mozzarella cheese & flavorful dressing in a tandoori sauce."
Domino's India has no per-product page for its pizza — its entire catalogue is inlined into the single /menu URL, with no product-detail route on the site at all, so that page is the only citation possible. Pizza Hut India's per-product pages are live, but the citations above use the category listing /menu/pizzas instead, because that single page carries every size and crust variant and is the URL that was archived — an editorial choice, not an absence, and not a claim that the two chains are symmetric on this point.
What all three items agree on: chicken tikka, named specifically rather than generic "tandoori chicken," and onion. That is the full three-way agreement — it does not extend to the base. Pizza Hut's two tikka items each name a tandoori sauce specifically ("tandoori sauce" on Chicken Tikka Ultimate Cheese, "in a tandoori sauce" on Spicy Tikka); Domino's names a tandoori masala instead ("wholesome flavour of tandoori masala") — a spice blend, not a sauce, and a different claim from Pizza Hut's. Both chains also sell a separate item named plainly "tandoori chicken" — this recipe documents only the tikka-named pizza, not that other item. Everything past chicken-tikka-plus-onion is one chain's, or one item's, own choice. Domino's names red paprika and a mint mayo finish that neither Pizza Hut item mentions. Pizza Hut's own two tikka items don't even agree with each other on the vegetable garnish: the Chicken Tikka Ultimate Cheese names tomato, while the Spicy Tikka names green chillies instead. That disagreement inside a single chain's own menu is the clearest evidence on this branch that the vegetable garnish is not a fixed part of the style — it's a choice each product made on its own.
What makes it that style
Three decisions define this pizza, each grounded in what the chains actually print:
- Chicken tikka — marinated, spiced and cooked hot before it ever meets the dough — as the specific preparation, not generic tandoori chicken. All three cited items name "chicken tikka" by that word, distinct from the "tandoori chicken" item both chains also sell separately. Tikka is yoghurt-marinated and grilled hot enough to char at the edges; that char is part of what the name promises, and it can only happen off the dough. An 18-minute pan bake will not cook raw marinated chicken through in time, and the yoghurt in the marinade would weep onto the base instead of clinging to the meat — so the chicken is seared through first, then goes on already cooked.
- Onion as the only fixed element all three cited items name — the base itself is a choice, made and attributed. Pizza Hut's two tikka items each name a tandoori sauce specifically; Domino's names a tandoori masala, a spice blend, instead. A spice blend with no liquid or fat carrier isn't a spreadable pizza base the way a sauce is, so this recipe follows Pizza Hut's build — a tandoori sauce spread thin under the toppings — rather than trying to spread a dry masala across the dough. That is presented as Pizza Hut's ingredient, attributed, not as a claim all three cited items name a sauce.
- The vegetable garnish as an open choice, not a shared fact. Domino's names red paprika. Pizza Hut's Chicken Tikka Ultimate Cheese names tomato. Pizza Hut's own Spicy Tikka names green chillies instead — a different choice from its sibling product at the same chain. All three go into the ingredient list above as separate, attributed options rather than one blended topping list that would imply an agreement none of the sources actually state. Mint mayo is Domino's finish alone; neither Pizza Hut item mentions it.
If the base cooks unevenly under a dense topping load, an unevenly cooked base is the fix to check before blaming the oven.
Flour: King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7% protein) — read the review
Dough Formula
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|
| Flour (12.7% protein) | 218 g | 100.0% |
| Water | 131 g | 60.1% |
| Salt | 4.4 g | 2.0% |
| Yeast | 1.1 g | 0.5% |
| Oil | 11 g | 5.0% |
| Sugar | 4 g | 1.8% |
Makes 1 ball of ≈370 g
Ingredients
Dough
- •1 ball Pizza dough (see formula above)
Tikka marinade
- •100 g Plain yoghurt
- •8 g Ginger — Grated
- •2 cloves Garlic — Minced
- •4 g Kashmiri chilli powder
- •3 g Garam masala
- •2 g Ground turmeric
- •15 ml Lemon juice
- •10 ml Vegetable oil
- •pinch Salt
Chicken
- •350 g Boneless chicken thigh — Cut into 2 cm pieces
Toppings
- •250 g Low-moisture mozzarella — Shredded
- •90 g Tandoori sauce — Store-bought or homemade — Pizza Hut's base; Domino's names a tandoori masala (a spice blend) instead
- •60 g Red onion — Thinly sliced
Vegetable garnish (choose one — attributed below)
- •40 g Red paprika — Thinly sliced — Domino's choice
- •50 g Tomato — Thinly sliced — Pizza Hut's Chicken Tikka Ultimate Cheese choice
- •15 g Green chillies — Thinly sliced — Pizza Hut's Spicy Tikka choice
Mint mayo finish (optional — Domino's, not Pizza Hut)
- •60 g Mayonnaise
- •10 leaves Mint leaves — Finely chopped
- •5 ml Lemon juice
Instructions
- 1
Whisk the yeast into the flour. Add water at 30-32°C (86-90°F), the oil and the sugar, and stir with a spatula until no dry flour remains.
- 2
Sprinkle the salt over the top and knead 5-6 minutes, by hand or machine, until the dough is smooth. A pan crust doesn't need the long development a room-temperature dough would — the cold ferment below does most of the work.
- 3
Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment at room temperature for about 1 hour, until slightly puffy.
- 4
Oil the dough, transfer it to a tightly covered container and refrigerate for 12 hours.
💡 This is the ferment the calculator's Pan schedule is built on — the 15 h 23 min this page states is prep and cook time plus that schedule, not a rounding artifact. Skipping or shortening it leaves a dense, under-developed crust instead of a pan pizza's open, bready crumb.
- 5
While the dough is in the fridge, mix the tikka marinade: combine the yoghurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric, lemon juice, oil and salt. No chain publishes a marinade recipe — this ratio is standard tikka practice, not something scraped from a menu page. Toss the chicken pieces in the marinade, cover and refrigerate alongside the dough for at least 4 hours, or overnight — this runs in parallel with the dough's 12-hour fridge stage, so it adds nothing to the clock.
- 6
Take the dough out of the fridge — it should look puffy and have expanded — and let it sit while you oil a cast iron pan or sheet pan.
- 7
Press the dough into the pan, stretching and pushing it to the edges. If it springs back before reaching the corners, wait 10 minutes and press again.
- 8
Cover loosely and let the dough do its final proof in the pan at room temperature for about 1 hour, until doubled and puffy.
- 9
Heat the oven to 245°C (475°F) with a baking steel on the lowest rack for 45-60 minutes. The pan sits directly on the steel once it goes in.
- 10
Thread or scatter the marinated chicken onto a hot, lightly oiled grill pan or skillet and cook 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred at the edges and cooked through to an internal temperature of at least 74°C (165°F).
💡 The chicken has to be fully cooked before it ever meets the dough. An 18-minute pan bake gets the cheese golden long before raw marinated chicken would cook through, and the yoghurt in the marinade would weep onto the base instead of clinging to the meat — cooking it separately first solves both problems at once.
- 11
Uncover the risen dough and spread the tandoori sauce thinly over the surface, leaving a bare rim. Scatter half the mozzarella, then the cooked chicken, the onion, your chosen vegetable garnish, and finish with the rest of the mozzarella.
- 12
Slide the pan onto the steel and bake 16-18 minutes, until the cheese is deep golden and the edges have pulled away from the pan. Rotate the pan halfway through if your oven runs hot on one side.
- 13
If using the mint mayo finish, stir the chopped mint and lemon juice into the mayonnaise. Rest the pizza 3-4 minutes in the pan, then finish with a crosshatch drizzle of the mint mayo, or serve as is. Slice and serve.
Tips
- →The dough goes into the fridge as one piece for 12 hours before it is pressed into the pan — matching the site's calculator schedule for Pan. The chicken marinates over that same window, so it costs no extra time.
- →Cook the chicken through before it goes anywhere near the dough — an 18-minute bake will not cook raw marinated chicken, and its yoghurt would weep onto the base if it tried.
- →The vegetable garnish is an open choice, not a fixed rule — red paprika, tomato and green chillies are each one chain's own printed choice, not a shared industry standard.
How to Make Indian chicken tikka pizza
Video coming soon
Shop this bake
Flour
King Arthur Bread Flour
The first bag to buy if you bake in a domestic oven. At 12.7% protein with added amylase on the label it gives you chew and colour at 250 °C, which is exactly what an unmalted 00 will not.
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Check price on Amazon →Read the review →Ingredient
Polly-O Low Moisture Whole Milk Mozzarella
Thick enough to cube for a Detroit rim, where shreds burn to lace — and four ingredients against a coating of rice flour, cellulose and natamycin that no bake removes.
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Check price on Amazon →Read the review →Ingredient
SAF Instant Yeast
Instant, so it goes in dry with the flour: no warm-water step means no step at which the yeast can be cooked, which is where an active-dry dough most often dies.
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Check price on Amazon →Read the review →Equipment
Original Baking Steel
6.4 mm is the home compromise: enough stored heat to bake two pies back to back, in a slab that will never crack the way a cordierite stone eventually does.
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Check price on Amazon →Read the review →Equipment
Greater Goods Single Sensor Baking Scale
One model behind one listing, on the maker's own page: 5 kg (11 lb) of capacity, reading down to 1 g. What the listing sends is what the maker documents — rarer here than it ought to be.
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Check price on Amazon →Read the buying guide →
If this goes wrong
Pizza base burnt but toppings undercooked
Your floor is far hotter than your dome. Move the steel or stone up towards the roof, add top heat with the grill element, and take the sugar and oil out of a dough that is going onto a very hot surface.
Toppings slide off when slicing
Molten cheese is a liquid and cannot grip anything until it cools back through roughly 55–65 °C (130–150 °F). Rest the pizza 2–3 minutes, cut down through it rather than dragging a wheel across it, and stop building a layer of oil and water between the cheese and the dough.
Pizza cooks unevenly (one side burns)
No oven heats evenly across its floor, and the pizza does not move on its own. Find your hot spot, centre the slab with a gap all round for air to circulate, and turn the pizza 180° at roughly 60% of the bake.
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