Naan
Ingredients
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1⁄4 cup warm water
1⁄2 cup nonfat plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour in bowl or pie plate, for dusting
1⁄4 cup butter, melted
Instructions
1. For the dough, dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water and set aside until frothy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the yogurt and oil.
2. Place the flour and salt in the food processor and process until mixed. With the motor running, pour the yeast mixture into the work bowl in a thin stream and process until the flour gathers into a ball and the sides of the processor are clean. (If the dough seems too sticky, add some more flour through the feeder tube, or add some more yogurt if the dough is dry and hard.) Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap or the lid of the bowl, and place in a warm draft-free spot until it doubles in volume, 3 to 4 hours. If keeping for a longer period, refrigerate the dough. (Note: Both times I’ve made this I’ve needed to add extra yogurt.)
3. To roll and cook, the naan breads, with clean, lightly oiled hands, divide the dough equally into 6 to 12 balls and cover with foil to prevent drying. Working with each ball of dough separately, place in the bowl with the dry flour, flatten it with your fingertips and coat well with the dry flour. Then transfer to a cutting board or any other clean flat surface and, with a rolling pin, roll into a 7- to 8- inch triangle. (If the dough sticks to the rolling surface, dust with more flour.)
4. Place on large baking trays or, if you have a separate broiler, place on the broiler trays - 3 to 4 per tray. With a basting brush or your fingers, lightly baste the top of each naan with water.
5. Preheat the oven to broil or preheat the broiler, and place the trays, one at a time, 4 to 5 inches below the heating element and broil until small brown spots appear on the top surface, about 1 minute. With spatula, carefully, turn each naan over and cook until the other side is golden, about 30 seconds. Transfer the naan breads to a platter, baste lightly with butter, if you wish, and serve hot.
Note: If you have a good cast iron pizza pan, or similar, heat this under the broiler and then transfer dough to pizza pan in oven instead of cooking on trays. This will help cook it on both sides at the same time better than a baking sheet.
Comments
This recipe is from 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra. The naan shown here has a little turmeric and fresh, minced garlic added to the butter baste at the end for garlicky naan. I feel like this is the first recipe I’ve tried to make naan at home and I’ve now made it twice. Both times it turned out great! I didn’t include minced garlic the second time, just a plain butter baste at the end. I’m pleased with both the texture and the flavor. Some day I’d like to try cooking this in the Big Green Egg at high temperature, but that might take a bit more planning and coordination than I’ve spent until this point.
Shown here with Basic Chicken Curry (Har-Roz ki Murgh Kari).
1,000 Indian Recipes