Culpeper House

Here Lives A Man with a Pan

Sides

Naan Bread

Toby

Ingredients

  • 1 cup warm water (about 40C)
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 300g OO flour
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 tsp salt

Garlic Butter

  • 1/4 cup salted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • finely – chopped fresh parsley
  • (optional) flaky sea salt

Method

  1. Activate the yeast: Briefly stir together the warm water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  (Or see notes below about how to make the dough by hand.)  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and give it a quick stir, then let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
  2. Mix the dough: Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg.  Using the dough attachment, mix the dough on medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth.  (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.  If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour.)
  3. Let the dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl and use your hands to shape it into a ball.  Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) lightly with cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel.  Place the bowl in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let it rise for 1 hour until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
  4. (Optional) Make the garlic butter: During the last 10 minutes of the dough’s rise time, heat the butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat until melted.  Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Remove the pan from heat and stir in some chopped herbs, if desired.  (You can also strain out the garlic chunks if you prefer the garlic butter to be completely smooth.)
  5. Roll out the dough. Once the dough is ready to go, transfer it to a floured work surface and shape it into an even(ish) circle.  Cut the dough into 8 equally-sized wedges and roll each wedge into a ball with your hands.  Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball until it forms an oval about 1/4-inch thick.  (I recommend multi-tasking this process — rolling out the next dough ball while you cook one on the stove.)
  6. Cook the dough. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat until it is nice and hot.  Add a piece of the rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for 1 minute, or until the top of the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden.  Flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well, then transfer the dough to a clean plate.  (If you are making garlic naan, brush one or both side(s) of the dough with the garlic butter once the naan has cooked.)  Sprinkle the naan with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired. Then lightly cover the naan with a clean towel so that it stays warm.  Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked, adjusting the heat of the pan if needed to keep it hot (but not overly-hot so that it burns the bread).
  7. Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes

  • Use warm water: In order to properly activate the yeast, the water ideally needs to be around 40C. It should feel warm but not hot to the touch.
  • Flour: I use Italian OO flour, but any all purpose flour will work
  • Baking powder: To give the naan some extra rise and softness.
  • Salt: A hint of salt is added to the bread dough, but then I also like to sprinkle a bit of flaky sea salt on top of the naan just before serving.
  • Yogurt: Any type of plain yogurt (including plain Greek yogurt) will work.
  • Garlic butter (optional): Melted butter sautéed briefly with garlic and parsley, which you can brush on the warm dough after baking.
  • Be sure that the yeast is fresh: If the yeast does not bubble up and foam in the first steps of the recipe, it may be a bad batch or expired.
  • Don’t worry about making perfectly sized (or shaped) naan: It’s ok if the dough isn’t divided into eight perfectly equal-sized pieces. Just eyeball it and try to roll them out to the same thickness, more or less, and they will cook evenly. Also don’t stress about making perfectly-shaped ovals unless you want to. 😉
  • Thinner vs thicker pieces: I prefer my naan to be fairly thick and chewy, so I typically roll the dough out to be around 1/4-inch thick. But if you would like thinner naan with even more bubbles, you can roll yours out even thinner.
  • To make the dough by hand: Instead of using a stand mixer, complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, egg, and stir the mixture until combined.  Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth.  (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.  If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour as you knead.)