Indian tandoori paneer pizza

Name: Indian tandoori paneer pizza
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 15 h 13 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Pan
Ingredients: 218 g King Arthur Bread Flour; 131 g water; 4.4 g salt; 1.1 g yeast; 11 g oil; 4 g sugar; 1 ball Pizza dough (see formula above); 90 g Plain yoghurt; 8 g Ginger (Grated); 2 cloves Garlic (Minced); 4 g Kashmiri chilli powder; 3 g Garam masala; 15 ml Lemon juice; pinch Salt; 300 g Paneer (Cut into 2 cm cubes); 250 g Low-moisture mozzarella (Shredded); 80 g Capsicum (Thinly sliced); 60 g Red onion (Thinly sliced — Pizza Hut's ingredient; Domino's text does not name onion); 60 g Mayonnaise; 10 leaves Mint leaves (Finely chopped); 5 ml Lemon juice

Tandoori paneer pizza, documented from two Indian chains — Domino's India and Pizza Hut India — rather than invented: a yoghurt-tandoori marinade on paneer that browns instead of melting, onion and capsicum, and an optional mint mayo finish, on a cold-fermented pan crust.

Recipe by Priya Patel · Published August 28, 2026

Prep + bake 48 min · Dough schedule 14 h 25 min · Total 15 h 13 min4 servings

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Tandoori paneer 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 base cooks through, cheese burning before the base cooks covers the fix; if the middle stays soggy under the paneer and marinade, see a soggy middle.

Where this comes from

Two companies sell a named tandoori paneer pizza 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, alongside makhani paneer and chicken tikka.

Domino's India sells the Indi Tandoori Paneer, described on its menu page in full: "Molten Cheese Indulgence with spicy tandoori paneer, capsicum, red paprika & mint mayo." That is a complete, four-element topping description, printed on the page itself.

Pizza Hut India sells the plain Tandoori Paneer, its description reading: "It's our signature. Spiced Paneer, Crunchy Onions & Green Capsicum, spicy Red Paprika with delicious Tandoori Sauce and Mozzarella cheese!"

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 (its Tandoori Paneer, for instance, also resolves at /menu/pizzas/tandoori-paneer-pan-personal), but the citation above uses 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.

What both agree on: paneer plus tandoori-style spicing as the whole pizza — not one ingredient among several unrelated ones — and capsicum or red paprika as a fixed vegetable co-topping. Onion is Pizza Hut's alone. Domino's own text — "Molten Cheese Indulgence with spicy tandoori paneer, capsicum, red paprika & mint mayo" — never mentions onion; Pizza Hut's names "Crunchy Onions" explicitly. Mint mayo is Domino's alone, the other direction: Pizza Hut's own text for its Tandoori Paneer names Spiced Paneer, Crunchy Onions, Green Capsicum, Red Paprika, Tandoori Sauce and Mozzarella — no mayonnaise of any kind. Both onion and mint mayo appear below as real, attributed single-chain elements, not defaults every version of this pizza carries.

What makes it that style

Three decisions define this pizza, each grounded in what the two chains actually print:

Paneer as the sole protein, treated for what it actually does under heat rather than what mozzarella does. Both chains name paneer as the pizza's whole topping, not a garnish alongside chicken or pepperoni. Paneer doesn't melt — its proteins are set by acid and heat during pressing, so instead of flowing the way mozzarella does, it browns at the edges and holds its cube shape through the bake. Searing it before it goes on the pizza, then tucking it under the cheese, is what keeps that browning without letting an 18-minute bake dry it out.
Tandoori spicing carried in a marinade on the paneer, not sprinkled as a dry seasoning. Both chains describe "tandoori" as flavoring the paneer itself (Domino's "spicy tandoori paneer") or a sauce ("delicious Tandoori Sauce" at Pizza Hut) rather than a spice dusted over the top. Neither chain publishes the actual marinade ratio, so the yoghurt-ginger-garlic-chilli-garam masala-lemon mixture above is a derivation — standard tandoori marinade practice, not something printed on a menu page.
Capsicum or red paprika as the fixed vegetable, onion attributed rather than assumed. Both chains name capsicum and red paprika. Onion is not one of them: Pizza Hut's own text names "Crunchy Onions" explicitly, but Domino's four-element description — "spicy tandoori paneer, capsicum, red paprika & mint mayo" — never mentions onion. It goes into this build as Pizza Hut's ingredient, attributed as such, not folded in as a fact both chains state. Mint mayo goes in as Domino's finish, attributed, the other direction: it is real at one confirmed chain and absent from the other's own printed description.

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

Dough formula in grams and baker's percentage
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)

Tandoori marinade

•90 g Plain yoghurt
•8 g Ginger — Grated
•2 cloves Garlic — Minced
•4 g Kashmiri chilli powder
•3 g Garam masala
•15 ml Lemon juice
•pinch Salt

Paneer

•300 g Paneer — Cut into 2 cm cubes

Toppings

•250 g Low-moisture mozzarella — Shredded
•80 g Capsicum — Thinly sliced
•60 g Red onion — Thinly sliced — Pizza Hut's ingredient; Domino's text does not name onion

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 same-day 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 13 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 tandoori marinade: combine the yoghurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, garam masala, lemon juice and salt. No chain publishes a marinade recipe — this ratio is standard tandoori practice, not something scraped from a menu page. Toss the paneer cubes in the marinade, reserving about 25 g for brushing the base later, cover and refrigerate alongside the dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
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
Sear the marinated paneer in a hot, lightly oiled pan for 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred at the edges. Paneer doesn't melt the way mozzarella does — it browns and holds its shape, so getting color on it now is what reads as grilled rather than merely warmed.
11
Uncover the risen dough and brush the reserved marinade thinly over the surface, leaving a bare rim. Scatter half the mozzarella, then the seared paneer, the capsicum and the onion, and finish with the rest of the mozzarella.
💡 Tuck the paneer cubes under the cheese rather than leaving them exposed on top — the cheese shields them from direct heat for the full bake, so they stay tender instead of drying out and going rubbery over 18 minutes.
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, not a same-day sequence.
→Paneer doesn't melt like mozzarella. Searing it first and tucking it under the cheese is what keeps it from drying out over an 18-minute bake.
→Mint mayo is Domino's finish, not Pizza Hut's — leave it off for a plainer, closer match to Pizza Hut's signature Tandoori Paneer.

🎬

How to Make Indian tandoori paneer pizza

Video coming soon

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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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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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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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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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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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