I remember the first time I tried Indian food. I fell in love with the naan bread we ordered. The soft, fluffy pancake shaped bread reminded me a lot of chinese breads like green onion/scallion pancakes.
Whenever I go out to eat Indian food, I look forward to ordering naan bread to help soak up any curry dishes we order. I love how the bread puffs up and bubbles at certain spots. It looks thin and frail, but manages to be soft and chewy and fluffy.
I recently saw a few recipes for homemade naan and thought I’d be fun to try it out. The end result was pretty tasty, though not as soft as the naan I usually eat at restaurants. I also felt like it ended up being a lot of work.
Since I have so many good Indian restaurants nearby I’m not sure I would make this again. But if you aren’t nearby a lot of Indian restaurants or you feel like making your own naan, you may want to try this recipe out.
Naan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a small bowl and heat to 110°F. Add in the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated. Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into a large bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
- Using the dough hook attachment, begin mixing at medium speed. Gradually add in small amounts of the remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours. (Don't worry that the dough won't rise as much as usual bread.)
- After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500°F. Sprinkle a pizza stone with some cornmeal and place the pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, one by one, roll out each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thin or thick you want your naan.
- Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water. Close the oven and bake the naan for about 4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed (some pieces will puff more than others) and brown spots begin to appear on the top.
- Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
My mom cooks them on a pan on the stove; wait for the pan to get hot, and brush it with butter. Then cook and flip, brush with butter, and put on a plate to hold the naan.
thanks!
These were delicious! I made a little change or two though and here is what I did. Since my children are allergic to milk, I used soymilk. AND, since many of the Naan recipes I have seen called for yogurt, I added some vinger to the warm soymilk and let it curdle a bit. sort of like buttermilk. The other change I implemented was to use 2 1/2 c. white wheat flour (freshly ground) and then just under 1 1/2 of white flour. I did not spritz them with water before baking-simply because I forgot. Honestly, they were much like a pita pocket. But oh sooooo delicious!! serving with Minted Rice and garbanzo curry tomorrow! 🙂 thanks!
So glad they turned out well for you. I’ve got to check out some other recipes before deciding which one is the best. But I love the idea of making my own naan.
The naan looks mighty tasty! I was wondering what you rolled the dough out on? Is that a mat measurements stenciled on it? I’ve been looking for one for myself and the one you’re using looks really neat!
It’s a pastry board. I love it. I’ve seen lighter mats with measurements but they can be slippery. This one is mad of wood, so it’s like a cutting board/pastry mat. The measurements are helpful and the board is great for rolling out dough.
This is the one I bought: https://www.amazon.com/Catskill-Craftsmen-Pastry-Baking-Graphics/dp/B00004RIXH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303882308&sr=8-1
Ohhh my! I love naan! This is going to be bad for me 😉
Great blog; happy I found you!
Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls
You can try using yogurt for the milk to make the naan tender and soft.
Thanks for the tip. I was a little surprised that the naan wasn’t as soft as I expected.
Ooh, make garlic naan next! I have a severe weakness for it.