Eating naan’s used to be treat that I got whenever I ordered out for Indian food. Store bought naan’s were massive disappointments, and I was worried that making them myself would turn out to poorly as well. Obviously I’d be missing an important tool for making authentic naan, a tandoori oven, so how good could it be?
Pretty good, actually. While they lack the distinct oval shape of traditional naan, the taste and texture are pretty spot on. Probably the trickiest part of making naan, if you’re used to making bread, is that the dough is considerably softer when leaving to rise. This makes it easy to overestimate the flour necessary, so just leave the dough softer than you’re used to. If it’s still too sticky to handle after rising, you can knead in a bit more flour and leave to rest for another 5 minutes.
I’d recommend a cast iron skillet for cooking the naan, unless you happen to have a tandoori oven available. Using a cast iron allows for faster cooking, but a standard frying pan will get the job done. These are best served soon after cooking, but they will stay good for a couple days if kept in an airtight container in room temperature.
- 150ml milk
- 1tsp sugar
- 2 tsp yeast
- 260g flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 90g yoghurt
- 1 tbsp oil
- butter, melted
- Warm milk to ~43°C and combine with sugar and yeast. Set aside until yeast starts to froth, about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add all the ingredients and mix on slow with the dough-hook attachment until the dough start to come together. If it looks too dry, add some oil and if it seems too wet add some flour. Allow to mix until the dough becomes pliable.
- Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise covered for 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worksurface and divide into 4 pieces.
- Roll out each piece of dough into a flat disk.
- Heat and lightly oil a cast iron pan and start frying the naan on medium high heat. Bake the naan until almost burned before turning over. It should take about 2 minutes per side. Once baked lightly brush both sides with melted butter.
Naan Bread
- 150 ml milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp yeast
- 260 g flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 90 g yoghurt
- 1 tbsp oil
- butter (melted)
- Warm milk to ~43°C and combine with sugar and yeast. Set aside until yeast starts to froth, about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add all the ingredients and mix on slow with the dough-hook attachment until the dough start to come together. If it looks too dry, add some oil and if it seems too wet add some flour. Allow to mix until the dough becomes pliable.
- Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise covered for 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worksurface and divide into 4 pieces.
- Roll out each piece of dough into a flat disk.
- Heat and lightly oil a cast iron pan and start frying the naan on medium high heat. Bake the naan until almost burned before turning over. It should take about 2 minutes per side. Once baked lightly brush both sides with melted butter.
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