Kheema Calzone

Makes 1 (12 inch) pie

Do you day dream about food like I do? Well, today I was so engrossed thinking of Aai’s (my mother’s)  kheema pizza, that I traveled through space and time and could almost smell the aroma that filled the home as the pizza baked in the oven…..Aai used to make the dough from scratch too…….I was salivating as I remembered the taste, aroma and texture of that incredibly delectable pizza…..and recalling the party my taste buds had as I took a big bite out of the warm,toasty scrumptious pizza……

 And then I remembered! I had store bought pizza dough! And before I knew it, I started to make the kheema filling. I  decided to make Kheema Calzones for dinner.

Kheema is ground meat. I used ground chicken in this recipe but you could use any ground meat of your choice. This is a quick stir fried kheema recipe Aai taught me. She always marinated the meat  but I was in a hurry to eat the calzone. It does taste better when the meat is marinated. So if you plan ahead to make these, yours will taste even better with the marinated meat. I omitted the chili powder  and added Gochujang sauce in this recipe simply because I am crazy about this Korean sauce with its deep flavor and balance of the hot,sweet and vinegary taste.Hence this is an Indian, Korean and Italian fusion recipe 🙂

For the kheema filling-

• 1½ tablespoons cooking oil- I used canola oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 fat garlic clove, grated or 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated or 1/4 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon store bought garam masala powder (mine does not have chili powder added to it)
• 1 pound ground chicken, such as Purdue’s all natural ground chicken
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, defrosted. I used the Laxmi brand frozen peas.
• salt to taste
•  juice of 1/2  a small lime or 1 tablespoon bottled lime juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons Gochujang sauce (or  to taste) This sauce is hot!.. and yummy( Sorry, I cannot read the brand written in Korean)
• a handful of cilantro leaves, washed and chopped

For the Calzone-

• 1 package (16 oz) of store bought pizza dough, such as Trader Joe’s plain  pizza dough. Leave it covered at room temperature.
• ¾ cup shredded cheese – I used a combination of Kraft shredded sharp cheddar and Kraft shredded Mexican four cheese
• extra virgin olive oil to lightly grease the baking tray and to brush the top of the calzone before baking.
• a pinch of sea salt to sprinkle on the top of the calzone (optional)
• a few thin onion slices for the top (optional)

To make the Calzones-

Start by preparing the filling-

1. Heat the canola oil over medium high heat and add the minced onion. Stir fry the onion for a couple of minutes, or until translucent. Add the grated or minced garlic and ginger, stir for a few seconds to get rid of their raw flavor.
2. Turn the heat to medium, add the turmeric and garam masala powders, stir and add the ground chicken, green peas, and salt. Stir it well to coat the chicken and peas with the spice mixture.
3. Brown the meat, stirring and breaking up the clumps for about 4 to 5 minutes. I like my ground meat really browned so I stir fried it for 5 minutes.
4. Add the lime juice, the gochujang sauce and the cilantro leaves, stir to combine. Lower the heat to low, cover the pan and let the kheema cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked.
5. Remove from heat and it let cool.
6. While the Kheema cools, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease the baking tray with the extra virgin olive oil.
7. Divide the pizza dough into 2 approximately equal parts and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into 2 circles, each  approximately 12 inches in diameter.
8. Transfer one circle to the lightly greased tray. Top with the kheema and the shredded cheese mix leaving a ½ inch border around the circumference of the dough.
9. Top with the other circle of dough and pinch edges of both the dough circles together. Brush the top of the calzone with the extra virgin olive oil, and top with the optional sea salt and onion.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Serve with additional gochujang sauce, marinara sauce or curry ketchup.

For dinner, I just made a simple salad with this calzone. Hope  the aroma of this Kheema Calzone fills your kitchen too! Enjoy!

Love,

Sandhya