We all love our cheesy pizzas. There is nothing healthy in a pizza, even if we are to include a truck load of vegetables. First, the crust is prepared with all-purpose flour that is bleached and processed to get the pure white color. Do you think it is healthy? Absolutely not. Some people have allergies towards yeast. And there are some who can’t resist the oozing cheese and there are some who can’t stand the cheese. With pizzas, it is always a battle between the taste and health. We need to draw a line somewhere and what if I told you, I have the perfect solution?! Yes I have.. Introducing my whole millet gluten free pizza crust 🙂
My amma is such a sport when it comes to food. Not only she appreciates anything that I prepare, she has a special liking towards non-Indian cuisines. Ever since I started preparing my own pizzas at home, she waits patiently to devour hot pizzas right out of the oven. There was only one problem though – she was allergic to all-purpose flour. As much as she loved the pizza, she could never have more than a bite of it. I was experimenting with whole wheat flour but then, if she was allergic to gluten – that left me with no choice. That’s when I thought, why not millets? They are healthy and are gluten free too. That’s how I ended up making gluten free millet crush for our pizzas.
I used two types of millets for my crust – Thinai (Foxtail Millet) and Varagu (Kodo Millet). These look like tiny little pearls and are packed with nutrients. From all the experiments I have had with them, this approach seemed to yield the best results. I soaked these millets in water for 1 hour, ground them into a smooth paste. Added a generous pinch of baking soda and salt. With few drops of oil, I cooked them as little pancakes and set them aside. My pizza crust was done! All I had to do was assemble them with my toppings and bake them. All done! Easy-peasy 🙂
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To make Millet Crust Pizza | Healthy Gluten Free Veggie Pizza
What I used –
For the Millet Pizza Crust -
- Thinai/Foxtail Millet, ½ cup
- Varagu/Kodu Millet, ½ cup
- Baking Soda, ½ tsp
- Salt, as required
- Oil, 1-2 teaspoon (for cooking the crusts)
- Water, if needed
For the Millet Crust Pizza –
- Onions, Green Capsicum Cubed, â…“ cup
- Sweetcorn Kernels, a few
- Pizza Sauce, â…“ cup
- Mozzarella Cheese, as required
How I made –
1. Soak the millets in enough water for at least an hour. In a mixer jar, add only the millets and grind into a smooth paste. If the batter is too thick, add few tbsp. of water. Remove it on to a bowl and add baking soda along with salt. Mix well.
2. Heat a flat pan. Pour a ladle full of the prepared batter – don’t spread it. Spread few drops of oil all around the crust. Within few secs, small dots start appearing on the crust. Gently flip it to the other side and cook for 10-20 secs. Remove it on a plate. Repeat the same with rest of the batter.
3. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C for about 5-7 mins. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place these prepared pizza crusts on the baking tray. Spread the pizza sauce all over the crust (leaving 5mm from the edges). Spread mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Place cubed onions, capsicum and sweetcorn all over the pizza. Bake/Grill at 180°C for about 7-10 mins, until the cheese is bubbly and the vegetables are toasted.
4. Serve hot with red chilli flakes and mixed Italian herbs on top!
Note –
- This recipe is for instant pizza where the batter and the pizza can be prepared on the same day. If you don’t want to use baking powder, ferment the batter in a warm place for 6-7hrs. This yields the same result as well.
- Don’t overcook the crust on the flat pan/tawa. As the crust is going to be baked, it is enough if it is just cooked.
- Any choice of vegetables can be added – onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, sweetcorn, olives, pineapple, jalapeno, bell peppers, paneer/cottage cheese or even cooked chicken pieces. Mix and match as desired.
- I used my regular pizza sauce recipe.
- Don’t overcrowd the pizza with a lot of veggie toppings.
- Leave about 5 mm space from the edges, which helps in easy handling of the pizza while eating.
- Oven timings and settings differ between different ovens. Keep an eye on the pizzas while baking them.
- There can be a few cracks over the edges of the pizza crust as it is gluten free, but that not hamper the taste 🙂
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Take these healthy mini-pizzas to Fiesta Friday #119. The co-hosts for this week are Ahila @ A Taste of Sri Lankan Cuisine and Diann @ Of Goats and Greens.
srividhya
Very nice. Love the idea of preparing the crust as pancakes. Interesting and great share. Thanks a lot CH.
CHCooks
Thanks Sri 🙂 It was fun experimenting this stuff!
Monika
One will never say no to these.. yummm ?
CHCooks
Oh yes 🙂 🙂
Osyth
The highspot of my weekend was finding the most wonderful Indian grocery only about 15 minutes drive from here. I am now in heaven. And pizza heaven seems like a good place to start!
CHCooks
Wow thats great 🙂
Life Diet Health
Ooo, a 100% millet base is one I haven't tried. 🙂 These look yummy! My millet doesn't state a type though, just millet? Do you think it will still work?
CHCooks
Thanks much 🙂 I think any millet would work! Try with a small batch may be?
Hilda
Very clever solution. I will definitely give this a try.
CHCooks
Thanks Hilda 🙂
goatsandgreens
I'm always looking for gluten-free, tree-nut-free pizza crust recipes (especially tree-nut free!) -- this looks like on the money!
Never was aware that there's more than one type of millet! Thanks for sharing at the Fiesta!
CHCooks
Great to know that you found this recipe useful 🙂 Yeah, there are a few types of millets - probably will come up with a post.
Bharani
wow such a healthy , tasty and interesting recipe....
CHCooks
Thanks Bharani 🙂
Freda @ Aromatic essence
Such a healthy and guilt free treat! Nice one, dear 🙂
CHCooks
Thanks much Freda 🙂
perspectivesandprejudices
This looks awesome! I recently discovered millets too and I've been making a lot of stir-fries with them. Should try this! 🙂
CHCooks
Thanks P 🙂 Do try this!
Laura
Can't wait to try this. I have a quick question. In the ingredient list for the crust you have "baking soda" listed and in the listed instruction you say "baking powder". Which one should I use?
Thanks!
chcooks
Opps, sorry Laura - it is baking soda. I make the correction now. Pls do let me know if you get to try this 🙂
Anantha
Superb, Healthy and Yummy, Thanx
mrtonyduarte
Made these yesterday. I threw 1c millet into my Vitamix with 2 Tbs flax to make flour then added water. Used half Baking Powder and half Baking Soda (just to avoid any possible taste of either.) Think I made them too thick, though (when I poured on to my cast iron griddle). I cooked in oven for about 8 min at 200, topped and cooked for another 8 min, and everything seemed undercooked (though still edible.) My toppings were too boring, but the potential is there. So I'll try again. I'm going to keep them thick and use a higher heat. I may also try skipping the griddle since I'll be using a higher heat. I'm cooking on a SilPat silicon sheet in the oven - that worked fine too. It may take a few more tries, but I think that this will become my "go to" crust (since I'm trying to avoid oils - as Dr Esselstyn recommends based on his data from the healthiest societies.)
chcooks
Thanks for giving it a try 🙂
mrtonyduarte
I've now made this recipe well over a dozen times. My wife and I absolutely love it since it is healthy and oil-free and the millet crust is easy to make. This is the way I now make your pizzas:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• 1 cup millet + 2 Tbs flaxseeds into my Vitamix blender to make millet flour
I spin up the variable speed, remove container to shake, and repeat a couple of times. Doesn't need to be perfect flour, just good enough. (no presoak of millet)
• Pour flour into Pyrex measuring cup prefilled with 1 1/4 cup of water, add ½ tsp Baking Powder and 1 tsp salt.
I use a butter/table knife to get the flour out of the blender and then to stir with the water. Letting it sit for about 5 minutes is important to improve texture for pouring.
• Pour crust/batter onto a ½ sheet pan lined with silicon SilPat baking mat.
Easier for me to make one big pizza than smaller rounds. (No precook of batter on my cast-iron griddle.) The crust is "thin and watery", but I like a minimal crust under my veggie pizza.
• Bake crust for 25 minutes - till just firm and starting to brown at edges, then add toppings
• Bake for another 18 –20 minutes (pre-thaw any frozen toppings.)
This recipe is very fast, the oven is still cold by the time I'm ready to put the crust in the oven. I use Trader-Joes organic pizza sauce (no oil!) And I emphasize fruit and veggie toppings – so lots of pineapple, mushrooms, broccoli, olives, basil flakes, red pepper flakes. I use frozen fruits and veggies – giving them a short time in the microwave before putting them on the pizza. This pizza is absolutely great heaped with mushrooms and pineapple. Thanks again for your great original recipe - I expect to be eating these pizzas for the rest of my life.
annupamaa k
Can we use millet flours instead and make pancakes ??
chcooks
Yes, you can 🙂
Sara
Does it yield a crispy crust?
Ramya
The bottom is crispy but it is soft otherwise.
Narasimha Setra
Very well described and easy to understand. I was thinking of pizza made out of millets, after visiting ur site I felt this could be done and in a different way.
I was thinking of making millet pizza directly on the pizza pan instead of pouring as dosa batter. But ur idea is also good and will give it a try.
Informative and good explanation!
I respect your time and energy in creating this helpful website.
milee
I have been looking for a millet based pizza recipe. Will definitely give this a try.
Ramya
Sure, thanks 🙂
Travis Pehlke
Did you just blend the millet seeds after soaked? Were they still hard after soaking?
Ramya
Yes, I blend the soaked millet - they become soft on soaking and are easy to blend 🙂