Aish Cooks

This post has been in the making for a while now. But I am super pleased with the end result. And so is D, cause I am finally done with the experiments 🙂

But seriously, you’ll be glad I took my time. Now that all the leg work’s been done, you can rest easy and just make the perfect homemade naan without looking any further! In a nutshell: yogurt really helps keep the naan soft, so don’t skimp on that; yeast’d naans taste much better than the one with the baking powder/soda variation; sticky, really sticky dough makes the best naan; investing in a pizza stone/pan is a very good idea if you plan on making naan as a regular deal! Don’t get deterred by the length of the post or and the long list of steps… once you get the hang of it, its easier than making phulkas or rotis. It’s already been the longest ‘quiet period’ here on the blog, so I do not want to risk delaying this post any further lest stuff gets in the way again. So here we go!

Garlic & Cilantro Naan

Original recipe at IndianRecipeVideo

Prep Time: 35 minutes to 1+ hours depending on choice of rising agent | Cooking Time: 8 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

(see Notes section below the recipe for substitutions)

Dough

1. 2 cups, all purpose flour
2. 1 tsp yeast (rapid rise or regular yeast)
3. 1 tbsp sugar or honey
4. 1 tbsp melted butter or ghee or vegetable/olive oil
5. 1/3 cup water, lukewarm (not hot)
6. 1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
7. salt to taste

Topping

1. 1 tbsp minced garlic
2. few springs cilantro, finely chopped

Method:

Step 1: Prepare the dough

1. Optional step -activate the yeast: In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast with warm water and sugar or honey. Cover with a lid or moist kitchen towel and set aside for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is frothy-looking. If you are skipping this step, just combine all the ingredients for dough together at the same time.
2. After activating the yeast, add the flour, salt, yogurt and melted butter/ghee to the yeast mixture.
3. Combine the ingredients well to form a sticky dough.
4. 1st rise: Cover with a lid or kitchen towel and set aside for 1st rise – 15 mins for rapid rise yeast, 30 minutes for regular active yeast.
5. 2nd rise: After the 1st rise, oil your palms and give the dough another mix. You can either divide the dough into equal sized portions of 4-5 balls to make individual naans or keep it together as 1 big ball to make a large pizza-size naan. Cover with lid or kitchen towel and set aside for 2nd rise – 15 minutes for rapid rise yeast, 1-2 hours for regular active yeast.
6. The yeast would have almost doubled in volume at the end of the 2nd rise, and the dough gets a little easier to handle as well (although still very sticky and elastic).

Step 2: Prepare the naan

1. Dust some flour on the counter or any flat surface and place the sticky dough/dough balls on it.
2. Knead the dough it for 2-3 minutes, until it is no longer very sticky but still soft and elastic.
3. If making small individual naans, roll each ball of dough using some flour dusting into round/oval or triangular shape – stretch with your palms to elongate the naan if the edges are too thick. The naan should be rolled to be a little thicker than regular rotis – almost like parathas (about 1 cm thickness or a little less). Place these naans onto a slightly oiled/greased baking tray.
4. If making a single large naan on a pizza-pan, roll the large ball of dough a little bit to flatten it out, then place it on a greased pizza pan or baking sheet and pull/stretch along the edges until the naan is flat and thin.
5. Brush / rub some olive oil over the naan to develop a nice color when cooking it.
6. Spread the chopped cilantro and minced garlic over the rolled naan dough.

Damaging the dough while pulling does not make any difference to the naan, nor does the naan have to be evenly flat. It can even be fully flattened out by stretching without using a rolling pin.

Step 4: Cook the naan

Baking method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees (do not set on broil, set to bake only).
2. Bake for about 8 minutes, keeping an eye on the naan as the top can get too brown or burn easily in the last few seconds if it is done cooking.
3. Large bubbles will start forming all over the surface of the naan. After a while, the top layer will begin to develop brown color as well.
4. Browning should happen at the end of this cooking duration, but if it does not and you’d like more browning you can set the oven on broil and cook for 30-60 seconds [do not overcook on broil – it would take very less time for browning on broil setting].
5. Remove from the oven and brush ghee/butter over the naan.
6. Cut into smaller slices of naan using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

Stove-top method:

1. Heat a girdle or saucepan on high until fully hot.
2. Place the naan on the hot girdle and cook with a lid on until you start seeing bubbles on the surface of the naan.
3. Flip and cook for a few more seconds for some browning on the other side.
4. Remove from heat. Rub butter/ghee over the naan.

Serve immediately, or store in a hot pack if serving shortly. Naan does not preserve well in the refrigerator and turns somewhat sour overnight. However, left over naan can be wrapped in foil (air-tight) and stored in the freezer.

Notes:

1. All purpose flour can be substituted with wheat flour completely or partially (half & half). Although, for restaurant-style naan all-purpose flour is the better choice.
2. Yeast can be substituted with baking powder and baking soda (1 tsp baking powder can be replaced with 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda). I personally prefer the flavor of yeasted naan, it tastes better.
3. Yogurt can be substituted with egg (1 cup yogurt = 1 egg).
4. Other topping options: kalonji or nigella seeds, jeera or cumin seeds, raisins/sultanas.