Ready-to-Bake Whole Wheat Pizza in Bangalore: Finishing It at Home

Our Wholewheat Pizzas section has a one-line description on the menu: you do the last ten minutes. It's a fair summary. We make the whole wheat base and put the topping on. You bake it at home, so it reaches the table hot, not after half an hour in a delivery box.

Here's what you get, and how to get a good result from whatever oven you have.

What you get

There are two ready-to-bake pizzas and a box of plain bases.

• [Ready-to-bake Vegetarian Pizza](/product/ready-to-bake-vegetarian-pizza-wholewheat), ₹350: a whole wheat base with a vegetable topping.
• [Ready-to-bake Chicken 9" Pizza](/product/ready-to-bake-chicken-9-pizza-wholewheat), ₹350: a whole wheat base with a chicken topping.
• [Wholewheat Pizza Bases](/product/wholewheat-pizza-bases): plain bases for your own toppings, in a box of 4 (₹120), 6 (₹180) or 10 (₹300).

The bases sit in our Breads of the Day section, and bread is baked to the next-day schedule. So order bases a day ahead. The ready-to-bake pizzas follow the usual rule: order before 12 noon and they reach you the same evening, between 4 and 5 PM. We're closed on Mondays.

Before it goes in

• Keep it in the fridge until you're ready to bake, especially the chicken one.
• Preheat properly. This is the step people skip, and it's the one that matters most. A cold oven gives you a pale, chewy base.
• Add what you like. Extra cheese, a few chilli flakes or some fresh vegetables are all fair game.

Finishing it in an oven

We can't give one time and temperature that suits every kitchen. Ovens vary a great deal, and so do thermostats. Treat what follows as a starting point, and adjust after your first pizza.

• Most home ovens do well hot: somewhere around 220 to 250°C, or as high as yours goes, preheated for a good 15 minutes.
• Heat the tray too. Put the baking tray, or a pizza stone if you have one, in while the oven preheats. A hot surface crisps the underside.
• Use the lower-middle shelf, so the base gets as much heat as the top.
• Start checking at about 8 minutes. Many pizzas are done somewhere between 8 and 15, but keep an eye on it rather than trusting the clock.

It's ready when the edge is firm and browned, the underside is firm and lightly spotted when you lift it with a spatula, and the topping is sizzling. With the chicken pizza, make sure it's piping hot all the way through before serving.

In an OTG

Plenty of Bengaluru kitchens bake in an OTG. The same ideas apply, with a few quirks.

• Preheat with both elements on, around 200 to 230°C.
• Use the lower rack, closer to the bottom element.
• Turn it halfway. Most OTGs have hot spots, and the back often runs hotter than the front.
• Watch the top. If the topping browns before the base is crisp, move the tray lower, or switch to the bottom element for the last few minutes.

In an air fryer

A 9-inch pizza won't fit most air fryer baskets, so this works best for halves, quarters or the plain bases cut to size. Most air fryers do well around 180 to 200°C. Start checking after 4 or 5 minutes, since the heating element sits close to the food and the top can scorch quickly. The fan can also lift loose toppings, so press them down lightly first.

A plain microwave isn't a good choice. It leaves the base soft and chewy. If your microwave has a convection mode, treat it like a small oven.

Topping the plain bases

The bases are there for your own ideas. A few that work well:

• Tomato, cheese and basil. A thin layer of sauce, plenty of cheese, basil added after baking.
• Paneer tikka and onion. Marinate the paneer in curd and spices an hour ahead.
• Mushroom and corn. Sauté the mushrooms first, so they don't release water onto the base.
• Leftover tandoori chicken from last night's dinner, with sliced onion and capsicum.
• Garlic flatbread. Butter, garlic and herbs, and nothing else, to go with soup or pasta.

Two general rules. Keep the sauce thin, because a wet base won't crisp. Don't pile on toppings, since a whole wheat base does best with a lighter load.

Storing them until you bake

• Ready-to-bake pizzas: in the fridge, and bake them soon. The day they arrive is best. With the chicken pizza especially, don't let it hang about. If you'd like to freeze one, ask us first.
• Plain bases: the fridge if you'll use them in the next day or so, the freezer if not. There's more on storing bread in our guide to keeping cake and bread fresh.

Why whole wheat behaves a little differently

Whole wheat flour keeps the bran and germ that maida loses. That changes how a pizza base behaves in the oven.

• It's denser. Bran interferes with gluten a little, so the crust is less stretchy and less airy than a maida base.
• It's darker from the start. You can't judge doneness by colour alone. Check the underside and the feel of the edge instead.
• It can dry out. Overbaked whole wheat turns hard rather than crisp. Pull it out as soon as it's done, and brush the edge with a little oil if you like it softer.
• It tastes of something. The nutty flavour suits bold toppings like tandoori paneer, mushrooms and chilli.

Our guide to maida, atta and gluten-free goes into the flour itself. And if you're buying whole wheat regularly, the whole wheat bakes page puts everything in one place.