Naan

Bergy's Note:

This is the perfect East Indian bread to serve with Tandoori Chicken or other lentil & curry dishes. It took me a couple of times to get them the way I wanted but it was worth the patience. The trick is to have just the right amount of flour in the dough , The 3 1/2 cups works for me but it depends how dry your flour is.If you wish you can add different flavors to the naan, garlic for one. There are many recipes for Naan this is a Punjabi recipe from the cookbook "The Complete Asian Cookbook" by Charmaine Solomon, an expert on all Asian cooking

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 small l ...

• 1 (8 g) packet dried yeast
• ¾ cup lukewarm water
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ cup yogurt
• 1 egg , beaten
• ¼ cup melted ghee or ¼ cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 ½ cups flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter or 3 tablespoons ghee to grease the bowl & brush the shaped naan bread
• 3 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional) or 3 tablespoons cumin (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small warm bowl (not hot) pour in the 1/4 cup water and sprinkle on the yeast.
2. Add 1 tsp sugar and stir, leave in a warm place for 10 minutes or until it starts to froth (if it does not froth your yeast is not working and start over check expiry date of the yeast)
3. Stir yogurt until smooth and mix in the remaining 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 cup water,egg, melted ghee and salt.
4. Stir in the yeast mixture.
5. In another bowl put in 2 cups flour, make a well in the center and pour in liquid (Use mixer with dough hook) mix until you have a smooth dough.
6. Slowly add remaining flour until you have a stiff dough, use dough hook and knead for 7-8 minutes or knead by hand for 10-12 minutes until the dough is elastic& smooth.
7. Form dough into a ball and place in a greased warm bowl, turn the dough over so the top is greased too, cover with a damp tea towel and keep in a warm place (I usually put it in the oven with my oven light on).
8. When it has doubled in size punch down, divide into 8 balls and let it rest for 10 minutes.
9. Pat dough into circles making them thinner in the centre and thicker around the rim.
10. Pull one end outwards making a teardrop shape or pull both ends outward making an oblong shape.
11. They should be about 8" long and about 3-4" wide.
12. Brush with melted ghee (butter)
13. Bake in 450f oven for about 10 minutes or until golden and puffed.

Reviews

[love4culinary]

This is a great recipe, however it wasnt like the naan that I was looking for. These were really yummy. I found it a little hard to work with the dough...but overall they were great. I definitely suggest using ghee over butter... they just arent the same when made with butter (thats all I have at the moment so had to use butter). I enjoyed them with a few different meals. Thanks!!

[Arctides Regalis]

It was pretty good. It certainly isn't authentic naan, but it tastes pretty close. I did underestimate how much you need to flatten the dough to get it to come out like real naan. Doesn't help that I didn't have a oven stone. Everyone still liked it.

[Chef #278512]

I am married to an Indian and have been cooking Indian food for 11 years. Real Naan does NOT have yeast or yogurt in it. Simply flour and milk and baked in a clay oven (or here in the U.S., use a pizza stone)