Relish These Khapli Atta Italian-Style

Pizza Fritta

At Home With Assorted Toppings

Quick Summary

Love pizza dough, to a fault? Then you will love this khapli atta pizza fritta, a deep-fried Neapolitan street food; the crust is light, puffed up, and crispy. The Italians make it two ways: one just like a calzone picmet, with the dough folded and fried, and the other flat, just like pizza with toppings. Deep frying eliminates the need for gluten to work extra hard to give many baked treats that voluminous rise, so this is where the nutrient-dense khapli atta finds its place.

Deep Dive

Khapli atta pizza fritta works on the same principle as the Neapolitan original, a disc of pizza dough fried in hot oil until it puffs and turns golden, but khapli's lower gluten means the dough needs a slightly different hand: a longer knead, a marginally thicker roll, and closer attention to oil temperature to get that same pillowy puff. Get the dough right, and everything else, from classic Italian toppings to Indian-style stuffings, is just assembly.

Pizza fritta was born in post-war Naples, when mozzarella and wood for pizza ovens both became too expensive for street vendors to rely on, so frying dough in a pot of oil became the cheaper, faster alternative. Like mentioned above, it comes in two forms, and both start from the same enriched, yeasted dough, which is really where all the technique lives: 

• Montanara: a plain disc fried first and topped afterwards like a mini pizza

• Calzone-like pizza fritta: a filled, folded pocket sealed and fried, traditionally stuffed with ricotta, provolone, and salami. 

Baking Begins with Good Quality Atta

This article considers the properties of Aashirvaad Chakki Khapli Atta, while talking about pizza fritta, which is milled from Khapli or Emmer wheat, an ancient low-gluten wheat grown mainly across Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. Three chapatis made from it provide close to 34% of the day's fibre requirement and around 23% of the RDA for protein, along with iron and Vitamin B1. For more on why this grain behaves so differently in enriched or fried doughs, see how it behaves when making brioche bread and missi roti.

Getting the Khapli Atta Dough Right

Because khapli atta carries less gluten than the typical whole wheat flour or maida, the dough needs adjustments at almost every stage:

• Start with slightly more water than a standard pizza dough calls for. Make sure to add gradually and factor in that khapli atta, since it has its bran intact, will absorb water as it rests.

• Knead longer than you would with maida, 12-15 minutes, to build up what little gluten khapli wheat has to offer.

• A tablespoon or two of oil worked into the dough keeps it pliable and easier to roll without tearing, which is especially useful given khapli's dense nature.

• Give ample time for the dough to rise, which might not be a full rise, especially if you are using khapli atta without blending it with refined flour. Then follow with a short second rest after dividing into portions.

• Roll slightly thicker than you would for a maida-based pizza fritta, closer to 1/4 inch. Khapli wheat's weaker gluten network holds steam less efficiently, so a touch more mass helps the disc puff rather than stay flat.

• Let each rolled disc rest for 10 minutes. This relaxes the dough and prevents it from shrinking back or tearing during frying.

Visual Cues to Watch for While Deep-Frying

Getting the oil temperature right is important for starters, and you can read it almost entirely by plain vision:

• The moment the dough touches the oil, you should see a steady stream of small, frequent bubbles forming around it. No bubbling at all means the oil is too cool, and the dough will absorb oil rather than fry quickly.

• The oil's surface should shimmer gently. If it's visibly smoking, it has exceeded a safe frying temperature and needs to cool slightly before you continue.

• A properly hydrated, well-rested khapli dough should start puffing within 15-20 seconds of hitting the oil. If it lies flat, the oil is too cool, or the dough wasn't rested enough after rolling.

• Large, slow-forming bubbles suggest the oil is too hot, and the outside will brown before the inside cooks; small, rapid bubbles mean the temperature is on track.

• The dough should go from pale to golden over 2-3 minutes per side, not flash to deep brown in under a minute, which usually means the oil is running too hot.

Frying the Pizza Fritta

Heat oil to roughly 175-190°C. Use the spoon-basting technique, ladling hot oil over the dough as it fries, to help it puff evenly on both sides at once. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side until deep golden, then drain on a wire rack rather than paper towels, which can trap steam and soften the crisp base. If you're making the folded, stuffed version, crimp the edges firmly before frying so the filling doesn't leak into the oil.

Indian-Style Stuffing and Topping Ideas

A khapli atta base takes well to fillings with a bit of spice and moisture control, since anything too wet risks a soggy interior once fried:

• Paneer tikka: Marinate and then pan-char the paneer cubes with onion and capsicum (use minced), for the perfect Indo-Italian fusion pizza fritta.

• Achaari vegetables: Sauté mixed vegetables and toss in pickle-style mustard and fennel spice mix, for a tangy filling or topping.

• Keema and onion: A drier spiced minced mutton, chicken or pork cooked in the typical masala, think keema samosa, goes well with khapli atta's nutty flavour.

• Masala potato and peas: Same logic as samosa, with the stuffed version tasting better than a topped version. Go for a dry aloo sabzi with peas in it.

• Tomato and mozzarella: For a montanara-style pizza fritta, fry the dough disc, then top with a tomato sauce, not ketchup and cheese and finish briefly under a hot grill to melt.

Air-Fried Khapli Atta Pizza Fritta

For a version with far less oil and consequently fewer calories, roll the khapli dough slightly thinner than the deep-fried version and pre-cook it plain in the air fryer at around 200°C for 3-4 minutes before flipping, adding toppings, and cooking for another 4-5 minutes until golden. It won't puff as dramatically as the deep-fried version, since there's no hot oil to trigger rapid steam expansion, but brushing both sides with oil before air frying helps it crisp up more like the real thing.

Deep-Fried vs. Air-Fried Khapli Atta Pizza Fritta

Khapli Atta was Made for Pizza Fritta

Where not much rise is involved, khapli atta truly shines as the base ingredient. It has a robust character that also refuses to be tamed, being grainy and nuttier than typical attas because it retains the entire contents of a wheat kernel through the stone-ground, aka ‘chakki’ method, used to make it. So, try khapli wheat for fried delights like the pizza fritta and experiment with more international flavours.