Naan ~ Indian Flat Bread

Thankfully, GoodMan and I are not on a low carb diet because we both like bread. White, wheat, rye, or pumpernickel bread, raisin bread, beer bread, bagels, breadsticks, biscuits, tortillas, roti, and one of our favorites is naan. If you've never had naan I would describe it to you as a flat grilled bread somewhat like a pita bread, but without the pocket. 

The first time I saw naan was at the grocery store. It looked really good and I was looking for something different to serve with hummus. From the first time we tried it GoodMan and I were hooked. Naan is great eaten with soft foods like hummus, mujadara, and other foods you can scoop with bread. I did a little google research and this recipe is what I adapted from many sources.


Let me show you how I did it:

I started by "blooming" 1 package of yeast in 1 cup of warm water and 1/4 cup of sugar. This means put the ingredients together and let it sit for about 10 minutes until the mixture was foamy.

 I added 1/4 cup of milk, 1 beaten egg, 2 teaspoons salt, and about 4 cups of bread flour (enough to make a soft but not sticky dough). 

 Once the dough pulled away from the sides of the bowl, I set the mixer on the lowest setting and used it to knead the dough for 8 minutes. When that was done. I took it out of the bowl, greased the bowl and then put it back in the bowl, covered the bowl with a cloth and set it aside to rise for 1 hour. 

 Just before the hour of rising was up I finely chopped 4 cloves of garlic.

 When the hour was up I punched down the dough and then kneaded the freshly chopped garlic into the dough. Then I pinched off sections of the dough to form 16 balls ~ I usually divided it in half, each half in half again, and so on until I have 16 even pieces. I covered the tray of dough balls with a towel and set the tray aside for 30 minutes to let the dough balls rise again.

 When the time was up I heated up my cast iron grill pan to medium high and rolled out the first dough ball to a thin, uneven circle. When the pan was hot I added about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and put the bread dough on the hot grill pan.

 While the first side was down on the hot pan I brushed the uncooked side with softened butter.

 Within a minute or two the bread starts to bubble. That tells me it's time to flip the bread over.

 When I flip the bread over I brush the cooked side with butter and let it cook for another minute to make sure both sides have these lovely grill marks. As each piece of bread is cooked I put it in a warm oven as I cook the rest of the pieces of bread...it's hard to wait until all the bread is done to dig in...but I do my best...did I say there were 16 dough balls? Maybe I miscounted...maybe there were only 15 dough balls...hmmm weird.

This naan bread was really good with the mujadara and tzatziki I made that night for a meatless meal. We used the naan to scoop up a little of each item for the perfect bite. We did have some naan leftover so GoodMan made a naan/mujadara/tzatziki sandwich (sort of like a gyro or a taco) to work the next day, and I had peanut butter and jelly on naan for breakfast the next morning (even with a little garlic in the naan the pbj tasted great).

If you're looking for something new to try on your family this might just be the thing to try!

The official recipe for Naan:

1 package dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour (somewhere between 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups depending on humidity)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter, softened

Mix yeast, water and sugar in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes, until foamy.
Mix in milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Mix for 2 minutes. Add enough flour to make dough pull away from the side of the bowl. 
Turn mixer on lowest speed and knead for 8 minutes.
Put dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel to let rise for 1 hour.
Punch down dough and knead in minced garlic.
Break apart into 16 dough balls and set on a tray.
Cover tray with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
Heat a grill pan over medium high heat.
Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the hot pan.
Roll out one dough ball and place on the hot oiled grill pan.
Brush top of dough with softened butter.
When dough begins to bubble, flip over.
Brush cooked side with butter and cook another 1 minute or until the other side is browned and the bread is cooked through.
Put bread in a warm oven to rest while cooking the remaining dough balls.

What was the taste tester's bottom line?
We loved it! We ate it all and wanted to put it back on the menu as soon as we could!

The bottom line: I think more Indian food is in our future.