Naan

Whilst naan bread is traditionally cooked in an Indian tandoor (earthern) oven, that need not deter you from making naan in your oven at home. An excellent alternative to an oven is a hooded gas BBQ. Naan bread is best served hot, accompanied with traditional Indian / Pakistani / Bangladeshi dishes. Naan goes well with curries, chicken, kebabs etc. Because the dough for naan bread needs to be made a couple of hours in advance of serving time, don’t forget to factor that into the meal planning!

Preparation Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 1  and a 1/2 tsps dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 and a 1/2 tsps sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 6 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) or melt an equal quantity of standard butter
• 3 tablespoons of plain yoghurt

Preparation

1. In a small bowl of warm water, add the dry yeast and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes or so, until the mixture begins to bubble up.
2. Mix flour and salt into a large mixing bowl (sift it if you are super fussy).
3. Add the yeast mixture, along with 6 tablespoons of ghee / melted butter, and the 3 tablespoons of yogurt.
4. Use your fingertips or a breadknife to mix all this into a soft dough.
5. Once mixed, flour a clean, flat surface (like your kitchen counter) and knead the dough till it is smooth and stretchy (elastic). This might take 8 – 10 minutes.
6. Grease a large bowl with a few drops of olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise – approximately 90 minutes. In that time, the  dough should double in volume.
7. Knock the dough back, and knead for a further 10 minutes.
8. Divide the dough into 8 portions and roll between your palms to form balls.
9. On a lightly floured surface, apply a rolling pin to each ball until you have a circle approximately 8 inches in diameter. Gently drag one edge of the circular dough to form the naan into the classic teardrop shape. If you prefer, you can also pat each naan into a circle with your hands.
10. Preheat your oven or BBQ to 200 C or 400F
11. The best surface to cook your naan bread on is a pizza stone. Failing that, lay a piece of aluminum foil in an oven tray and grease it lightly with a few drops of cooking oil.
12. Put in as many naans as you can without them touching each other.
13. Brush each Naan with some ghee.
14. Place in the oven / BBQ and cook till the Naan begins to puff up and becomes slightly brown. Flip the naan breads over and cook the other side.
15. Remove from oven and serve hot!

Naan Bread Recipe: Gallery

The following slideshow illustrates the various steps;