Pizza party: Tips and tricks to make the best pizza at home

When Melroy D'mello returned from New York City in 2019 with his son, Kabir after a short trip, the Mulund resident realised his son had fallen in love with the New York-style pizza. Soon after, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt and that meant Kabir couldn't enjoy his favourite pizza, one that his father wanted to get for him but couldn't because of the lockdown. "While getting that kind of pizza may be possible in town and Bandra, we couldn't find what we wanted in our side of town in Mulund," he shares. That is when D'mello decided to do his own research about making it at home, and found that it wasn't too difficult.

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic has happened, there are a lot more people visibly cooking at home. While some have stuck to the basics, there are others who have taken it up a notch by making their favourite dishes, which they would have usually eaten at a restaurant but are now making at home. Among these are many dishes, but pizza has been a crowd-favourite, that this writer has seen appear on a lot more social media stories and posts, than ever before.

Upon enquiring, he found that these people don't have any formal training but are actually just experimenting and learning from their mistakes. "I am not a professional chef. I do it because it is very therapeutic when you make pizza at home. I have also bought this special rubber sheet to flatten the dough. You get more and more involved in it and then realise, ‘I need more of this and more of that'," says an enthusiastic D'mello.

Craving for the right pizza
The Mumbaikar, who is the co-founder of a city-based language service provider company, is just one of many in the city making his pizza at home. He does it only so that his son can enjoy them in his comfort space. D'mello explains, "I figured the recipe from the internet. Since it takes a while to knead the dough, I bought a stand mixer, which made it easier because then it is about putting the right amount of yeast - how much is too much and how much actually works." On days, when he has to make the pizza, the Mulund resident simply borrows the oven from his mother, who doesn't live too far away, and herself uses it to bake cakes. As for the father-son duo, it has become a bonding activity because the 13-year-old would participate in the making process by giving his feedback. "He would tell me if it was too strong or if it was not as thin as the New York style." D'mello admits that the duo still hasn't perfected it but believes they are on the right path.

Elsewhere in the city, Teresa Rodrigues, a city-based publicist also took to making pizzas around the same time as D'mello because she didn't have access to the kind of pizzas she wanted during the pandemic. She explains, "I love Neapolitan pizza and the ones you usually get in city restaurants or cafes are the flat ones. Since it was hard to go out to restaurants during the pandemic to get a decent pizza, I thought of trying it myself." Rodrigues, who has experimented with making pizza three times till now, has had success in the first two times, and even though the last was a failure, that hasn't stopped her from trying to get the recipe right.
Like D'mello, she looked for the right recipes. The 32-year-old has tried different recipes every single time to find the perfect fit, after reading the comments to see how users are reacting to them. "The first time was a recipe that required the dough to be fermented for eight hours. The next time, which turned out perfect, was a recipe on YouTube by this Italian, Vito Iacopelli, who uses a method called ‘Poolish', that requires you to prepare your dough 24 hours in advance. It seemed like the most full-proof way," she adds.

Melroy D'mello started making pizzas at home during the Covid-19 pandemic for his son, who loved New York-style pizzas. Photo Courtesy: Melroy D'mello

Topping it all
Getting the dough right is essential but so are the toppings. As far as the Vasaikar is concerned, she likes to keep her toppings simple and makes sure to not add too much to the Italian dish. While others may want to put many toppings, Rodrigues shares, "I prefer a maximum of two toppings apart from the cheese and sauce, so that would be pepperoni and other vegetables like onion, mushroom, red or yellow capsicum. I like my pizzas simple and don't overburden them with too much meat or toppings."

It is no different for D'mello. The fact that Kabir likes his pizza toppings simply means that the 43-year-old, has made sure to not put too many toppings on the pizza. It is usually either marinara and cheese, or it is tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni. For those who are particular about the cheese they use, he recommends using the ball-shaped mozzarella that is usually sold by city artisanal cheesemakers, and one that comes along with the water around it, which isn't shredded but torn into and used for topping.

Since the pizza-making is planned, D'mello always has the ingredients in place. In fact, it is this very process of trying to get the perfect combination that has now become a ritual for him and his son. At the end of the day, he says, it is about how rewarding the whole process is. "What goes in versus what comes out is vastly different. It goes in as three-four separate ingredients but comes out as one cohesive beautiful thing," says D'mello.

Raising the dough
However, the challenge seems to lie in the dough for many. As for the New York-style pizza, D'mello says ageing is the key. The dough isn't to be worked on immediately but in fact kept in a fridge for 3-4 days to puff it up. While the pizza-making enthusiast may sound like he has figured it out, there are still certain aspects of the process he would like to learn -- how to deal with the yeast and work with it better. Even Rodrigues admits she faces certain challenges while making pizza. Since she didn't end up following the instructions exactly the third time, due to work commitments, the time to turn the dough into a pizza had passed because the dough had risen and fallen. Now, she hopes to perfect it soon and learning how to deal with the dough is first on her agenda.

Chef Parikshit Joshi of city-based restaurant Someplace Else in Bandra Kurla Complex, says there are several mistakes that people experience while making pizza at home. While using the right ingredients is important, he says one should also focus on preheating the oven, followed by getting the accurate measurement of ingredients while making the dough. "People think there is a need to buy pizza bases from the market. However, fresh pizza bases can be baked at home even in an OTG oven. If you don't have an OTG, you can make it on a tawa too," he adds.

Tips and tricks to make your pizza

Invest in a stand mixer
If one makes pizza regularly, then it is advisable to invest in a stand mixer because most of the time is spent in kneading the dough and since it is time-consuming, this can save time. An affordable stand mixer is ideal because it can also be used to make chapatis.

Plan in advance
Planning about the day you are going to enjoy the pizza can help age the dough better.

Invest in a kitchen thermometer
Investing in a kitchen thermometer, he says, can help check the temperature of the water when the yeast is activated to see if it neither gets too hot or cold.

Resting the dough very well and proofing it well

Measuring the ingredients properly
The ingredients used for the pizza must be measured correctly so that the yeast is added in the right amount and the dough can rise well.

Prick the rolled pizza base
Pricking the pizza base will prevent the pizza from puffing.

Avoid too much sauce and toppings
Don't apply too much sauce or add too many toppings otherwise the pizza will become soggy.

Keep it simple
Keeping it simple and baking it well can give the pizza a delicious crust

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