The most versatile of breads. What can’t it do?
Ingredients:
Per 8 naan:
- 1 cup warm water (I put it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds)
- 2 tablespoons honey (in a pinch, you can substitute with maple syrup)
- 1 (2.25 teaspoon) package active dry yeast
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra to flour the surface, and you may need some more to bring it to the right consistency if needed too)
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
For the garlic butter:
- 3 tablespoons butter (I use vegan butter due to lactose intolerance and it tastes pretty much the same as regular butter)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 jalapeno (I used a 1/2 tablespoon of jalapeno paste)
- chopped fresh cilantro
- dried parsley
Instructions:
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Yeast activation! In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the warm water and the honey, and then add the packet of yeast and mix again. Cover with a cloth and let the yeast activate for about 10 minutes. If the mixture isn’t foamy at this point, your yeast may be dead, and I would suggest replacing it and re-doing this step.
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Uncover the yeast mixture and add flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg. Mix in the bowl for a minute or two until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
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Lightly flour a clean surface and move the dough over there. Knead for a few minutes and make sure the dough is the right consistency - it should be a little sticky, but not unmanageably sticky. I have had to add up to an additional 1/2 cup of flour in this step to get the dough to become less liquid. The way that I test this is by shaping the dough into a ball and rolling it in circles - if the dough is sticking to the surface and separating as you roll, it’s too sticky. It might stick to the surface a little bit, but it shouldn’t separate. When your dough is ready to go, shape it into a ball.
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Grease a large clean mixing bowl and move the dough over here. Flip the dough once to make sure that the oil covers the whole dough, cover the mixing bowl with a cloth, and let it rise in a warm area for 1-1.5 hours. For the warm area, you can put it by a window if it’s sunny out. Alternatively, you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turn it off once it preheats, put the mixing bowl with the dough in there, and leave the oven door slightly open.
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After the dough has risen, deflate it and move it to your lightly floured surface.
Is there anything more satisfying than deflating a risen ball of dough?
- Reshape the dough into a ball and divide into 8 equally sized balls.
- Make the garlic butter: melt the butter and mix all of the ingredients together.
- Ready to roll and go! Sprinkle a little bit of flour on the top of one of the divided dough balls, and use a rolling pin to roll it out to an oval-rectangular shape. Lightly sprinkling with flour before rolling prevents the dough from sticking to the pin.
- Set a cast iron skillet or a non-stick pan to medium-high heat and lightly grease with butter. When the pan is hot, move the rolled out dough over there and let it cook for about 1 minute until you see bubbles at the top.
- When you see the bubbles, it’s time to flip and cook the other side for about another minute. While the second side is cooking, add a little bit of the garlic butter mixture to the cooked side. When the second side turns golden brown and is cooked, transfer to a plate and brush some of the garlic butter onto the other side of the naan while it’s still hot.
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Repeat the process with the remaining 7 naan doughs. I recommend rolling out the next dough while the previous dough is cooking on the stove for time efficiency.
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To serve the naan, the options are limitless but here are a few of my favorites:
- eat traditionally with indian stews or curries
- naan pizza
- cut into small pieces and eat with hummus
- naan tacos
- naan wrap