EAT: TANDOORI PIZZA WITH TOMATO CHILLI SALSA + CUCUMBER CORIANDER SALAD

MAKES 2 LARGE PIZZAS | PREP 15 MINS + 20 MINS MARINATING TIME | COOKING 25 MINS | VEGETARIAN

The first time my father took me to a Indian pizza restaurant, I was skeptical. It seemed a strange idea to serve curry on a pizza base. But it didn't take long for me to be convinced that this was a union made in heaven. I'm not a big fan of cheesy pizzas (believe me when I tell you that there is such thing as too much cheese), and this was a way of combining two of my favourite things.

This pizza is one of those sensory delights - beautiful for the eyes (look at all those colours!), tantalising for the nose (it smells amazing!) and amazing for the tastebuds (oh my!). It has the tandoori heat, the cooling of the cucumber and yoghurt, the tart of the tomatoes and chilli, the crunch of the almonds and cashews, and the softness of the mushrooms. Eat with a knife and fork (yes, it's a bit fancy, if you want it to be).

INGREDIENTS
prepared pizza dough (I use Fat Mum Slim's 2 ingredient pizza dough)
3 tbsp tandoori paste (I use Sharwood's)
4 tbsp light natural yoghurt
300g mushrooms, sliced (hate mushrooms? replace with 300g chicken breast)
1 small spanish onion, sliced finely
1 tbsp extra light olive oil, for frying
3 tbsp tomato chutney
1 1/2 tbsp cashews, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tbsp almonds, roughly chopped

TOMATO CHILLI SALSA
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar (or 1 tsp rice malt syrup)

CUCUMBER CORIANDER SALAD
1/2 lebanese cucumber, finely chopped
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
2 tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped
2 tsp sugar (or 2 tsp rice malt syrup)

METHOD
1 Mix together Tandoori Paste with yoghurt.
2 Pour Tandoori mixture over mushrooms and toss well to coat. Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes (or while you make the pizza dough).
3 Place oil in a frypan and sauté onion for 2-3 minutes.
4 Roll out a quantity of pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface to make two large pizzas. Placed onto lightly greased pizza trays.
5 Spread the pizza base with tomato chutney. Top with Tandoori-coated mushrooms and fried onions.
6 Bake at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until pizzas are cooked and pizza bases are golden brown.
7 Meanwhile, mix salsa topping ingredients in separate bowls. Sprinkle tomato mixture on top of the cooked pizza and serve with cucumber dressing and chopped nuts.