Naan

 

Usually I garnish Naan with melted butter and chopped Parsley but I was making

 a yogurt mint sauce to accompany it so I thought I'd garnish with mint this time.

Sugar, Whole Yogurt, Flour, Yeast, Melted Butter, Milk & Salt

Ball of Naan Dough ready to be put in a bowl to rise

Using a cast iron pan since I don't own a tandoor oven.

Golden Brown and Delcious!

Brushed with butter and waiting to cut

My daughter has been asking me to put my Naan recipe on my blog for months and today is the day!  This is fairly easy to make and you can make the dough a day in advance and put it in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator and then bring it out a few hours before you want to make them.

I bake a lot so I buy those big containers of yeast from Costco.  Always buy yeast from a store that has high turnover so you know that it is fresh and ready to go.  Also, heat kills yeast, not cold.  So sometimes when people put water in to proof yeast they make it too hot and actually kill it.  With this recipe all the ingredients are added at room temperature.

Also, initially you make your dough with only about half of the flour.  Then you slowly, a half cup at a time, add the rest of the flour in.

NAAN

(I need to test the recipe on more time to get a good count on how many it makes because we started eating them before I started counting, but my guess is 8 to 10 circles of Naan)

2 cups unbleached flour (to begin.  You will add additional flour later)

2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup full fat plain yogurt (Fage 5% is my favorite)

1/4 cup melted butter

Additional 2 to 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 tablespoon Canola or Olive Oil for bowl for dough to rise as well as oil for the cast iron pan to cook the Naan.

Melted Butter to brush Naan after it is cooked.  

Chopped Parsley or Mint optional

Please two cups of flour in a large bowl.  Add salt and stir to combine.

Make a well in the middle of the flour and put the yeast, sugar and milk in the well and let sit for a moment until the yeast dissolves.  

Add the yogurt and melted butter and stir until you have a sticky ball of dough.

A half cup at a time add more flour to the bowl until it is comfortable to turn onto a board and knead.  Knead in the the remaining flour.  Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Oil a bowl and turn the dough around in the bowl so it is oiled on all sides.  Then place in a bowl with a large tea towel over it in a warm place to rise for about 3 hours.

When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead it for a few minutes.

Tear off 2 inch balls and roll out with a rolling pin on a floured board into a large circle.

Heat a cast iron skillet or heavy bottom pan or griddle too high.  Add oil to the pan or griddle.  

Place the flat circle of dough in the hot pan.  Wait for it to bubble and then flip it over.  You can brush the bread with melted butter or ghee at this time.  Flip over until it is browned on both sides.

Keep warm in an oven while you make the next round.

Serve with your favorite Indian food or eat it as you would any roll or bread.