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Pizza

Styles You Knead To Try Using Khapli Wheat Flour

Quick Summary

The pizza is not much of a concern for the health-conscious foodie and their RDA, as much as its crust is. While maida is not inherently evil as it is made out to be, it does lack fibre, something that whole wheat flours like khapli atta have. The bran is what adds the fibre that is discarded for maida. So, how does one go about recreating famous pizza styles like Neapolitan and Chicago deep dish pizzas with kapli atta? Read on to find out, plus what makes khapli atta so good.

Deep Dive

Grandma was always hip; she was just born in the wrong era, just like the case of khapli atta. Older than your grandparents, perhaps even your great-great-grandmother, the wheat’s fate is much like ragi, bajra and jowar – just like not finding your grandmother cool. Khapli wheat existed in India thousands of years ago, but could never become popular as modern wheat took over. As eating healthy is cool again, ancient grains like khapli wheat are being spotlighted, for good reason.

One of khapli atta’s biggest strengths is its high dietary fibre, which plays an important role in supporting healthy digestion and can help you feel fuller for longer after meals. For those trying to eat more mindfully or reduce unnecessary snacking, choosing a fibre-rich grain can help bring meaningful changes to your lifestyle. Research also suggests that whole grains like emmer wheat contribute to better digestive health.

Khapli Wheat Flour in Pizza Dough

Khapli wheat's gluten is weaker than the typical flour used to make pizza dough, or even whole wheat. This means the dough won't stretch as thin or hold as much gas as a high-protein ‘00’ or bread flour would. Aashirvaad Chakki Khapli Atta still contains gluten and is not gluten-free. This does not mean you cannot use a whole grain, with its bran and germ intact, to make pizza; you can, but you need to know about the grain’s properties to work with it, not against it. Here’s how to handle a kahpli wheat dough: 

• Increase the resting or bulk fermentation time, so the flour's fibre and starch can hydrate before it can be shaped into the pizza base.

• Handle the dough with patting or careful stretching motions rather than the aggressive slap-and-fold used for high-gluten Neapolitan dough.

• Favour pan-baked and thicker styles where the dough is pressed rather than thrown around, since khapli's lower elasticity makes it better suited to something built in a tin than to hand-tossed, paper-thin bases.

• Slightly increase hydration, take a call while making the dough, to compensate for the flour's higher fibre content, which absorbs more water than refined wheat.

Pizza Styles to Make with Khapli Atta

With these tips in mind, using khapli atta will be a breeze, but if the low extensibility frustrates you, you should use a blend of khapli wheat flour and bread flour.

1. Neapolitan Pizza

A thin-crust style from Naples, Neapolitan pizza uses a soft, highly extensible dough hydrated between 56-63%, which is hand-stretched only. Rolling pins are forbidden, and the dough is baked for under 90 seconds at extremely high heat. Because khapli's gluten network is weaker, recreating Neapolitan-style extensibility at home calls for a longer autolyse-style rest – resting after mixing the flour and water, then adding the leavening agent, or rather yeast, and salt – before shaping with your hand using a gentler and more gradual stretch by hand, to avoid tearing the base.

2. Chicago Deep Dish

Deep-dish pizza is pressed, not stretched, into a tall, buttered pan (hence the name) and layered with the cheese going first, followed by the toppings, before a thick tomato sauce goes on top. This is one of the easiest pizza crusts that can be made with khapli wheat flour, since the dough is hand-pressed into the pan rather than stretched into a thinner crust.

3. Sicilian Pizza

Sicilian-style pizza descends from sfincione, a thick, spongy Sicilian flatbread that is dressed with olive oil, onions, and sheep milk cheese. It uses a thick dough, which is also a hallmark of focaccia, with hydration reaching up to 70%. Read more about flour hydration right here. It is baked in a greased pan until crunchy outside and soft within. Since the dough is pressed into a pan rather than hand-stretched, khapli's fibre-rich, lower-gluten structure suits this format well, provided the dough gets enough resting time to relax before it's pressed to the pan's edges.

4. Panzerotti

Panzerotti are small, half-moon-shaped stuffed pockets from Naples’ Apulia, filled with tomato and mozzarella and deep-fried rather than baked, distinguishing them from the larger, oven-baked calzone. Because portions are small and the dough is folded rather than stretched wide like the typical pizza dough, khapli dough is at an advantage here. Just make sure that the dough rests long enough to seal well at the edges, since a drier, less elastic dough can crack if folded without ample resting time.

5. Roman Pizza Al Taglio

This Roman sheet pizza is known for high-hydration dough, often 75-90%, combined with a multi-day cold fermentation that produces a light, airy crumb and a crisp base. Khapli flour's higher water absorption (owing to its fibre content) pairs naturally with this style's already-high hydration need, though the dough will need extra rest time between folds to build whatever structure its gluten can offer, since it won't develop the same open, bubbly crumb as a high-protein Italian ‘00’ flour.

6. Detroit-Style Pizza

Detroit pizza is baked in rectangular steel pans with cheese pushed all the way to the edges, which is how this kind of pizza has a crisp, caramelised cheese border and a finish of sauce stripes on top, rather than underneath. Like the deep dish and Sicilian styles, this pan-pressed style is quite compatible with khapli dough's lower extensibility, since the dough is patted into the pan's corners rather than being stretched.

7. New York-Style Pizza

New York-style pizza is known for a large, thin, foldable slice with a crisp yet pliable crust, made with flour with strong gluten and moderate hydration requirements, to make room for hand-stretching. Recreating this style with khapli wheat flour benefits from a smaller pie size and a shorter hand-stretch, since a large, thin, foldable base demands more gluten elasticity than khapli wheat's weaker structure comfortably provides. Use a blend of khapli wheat and ‘00’ flour for this pizza. You should go for a slightly thicker form to preserve the technique and style of this pizza, without risking tears.

8. Calzone

Calzone is essentially an inverted pizza, with the dough folded over a filling and sealed, then baked (unlike the fried panzerotti). It has a thicker crust that's cut with slits to release steam. Because the dough is folded rather than stretched wide and thin, khapli dough can be used seamlessly here, comfortably so. Make sure the dough is patted out gently rather than pulled taut.

Pizza Styles and Khapli Dough Compatibility

Make Your Guilt Pleasure Not-So-Guilty With Khapli Wheat

A little effort goes a long way to upgrade your pizza-eating experience, as khapli wheat flour has more nutritional advantages and will make your homemade pizza a hit among people with varying diets. Its higher fibre content supports slower digestion and better satiety, while its lower glycemic index makes it a more blood-sugar-friendly base than refined maida. For families already using Aashirvaad Khapli Atta for rotis and parathas, extending it to pizza night is the perfect next step.