Naan Aka Indian Flat Bread Recipes

NAAN (INDIAN FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a nice sized bowl.
• Stir in the beaten egg, yogurt and 2 tablespoons of the butter/ghee.
• Gradually stir in enough milk to make a soft dough.
• Knead dough very well.
• Lightly grease bowl and cover the dough with a damp cloth and place in a warm place for 2 hours.
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Knead dough on a floured surface for 2 or 3 minutes until smooth.
• Divide into 8 pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball, and then into ovals about 6 to 8 inches long.
• Grease a baking sheet with oil and brush both the sides of the rolled out Naan with oil.
• Sprinkle one side with poppy seeds if you wish to use them.
• Place the Naan on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 6 to 10 minutes until puffy and lightly golden brown.
• The bread puffs slightly, and will lightly brown on the sides.
• You can enjoy these Naan's plain or with your favorite Indian dish, such as a curry dish!

NAAN

Steps:

• In a large glass, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). Let it sit on your counter until it's frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.
• Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and add the kalonji and fennel seeds, if using, and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn't enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2 to 4 hours.
• When you're ready to roll, make sure you have two bowls on your counter: one with extra flour in it, and one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky-this is good! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of extra flour to keep them from sticking to each other.
• Shape the naan. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you've formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough's own weight will stretch it out a little. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough. (If you're making the gluten-free version, you'll have better luck pressing the dough out with your fingertips, than rolling.)
• Warm a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking. Make sure you have a lid large enough to fit the skillet and have a bowl of melted butter at the ready.
• Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to lightly dampen it. Gently lay it in the skillet and set your timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble.
• After about 1 minute, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, don't worry - that's typical of traditional naan! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more.
• Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with a bit of butter and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt. Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish. Repeat with the rest of the naans and serve.

OVEN-BAKED NAAN (LEAVENED INDIAN FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Add the dry yeast and sugar to the warm water and stir till the yeast is dissolved. Cover and leave aside for 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to froth. This indicates the yeast is active. Keep aside.
• Mix the flour and salt to taste and sift through a very fine sieve into a large mixing bowl.
• Next, add the yeast mixture, 3 tablespoons of ghee, and all the yogurt. Use your fingertips to mix all this into a soft dough.
• Once mixed, flour a clean, flat surface, and knead the dough till it is smooth and stretchy.
• Grease a large bowl with a few drops of vegetable oil and put the dough in it. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rest for about 90 minutes or till the dough doubles in volume.
• Punch the dough down and knead again for 10 minutes.
• Equally, divide the dough and roll between your palms to form 8 round balls.
• Lightly flour the same surface on which you kneaded the dough and roll out each ball until you have a circle, 7 to 8 inches in diameter (1/4-inch thick). Gently pull on one edge of the circle to form the naan into a teardrop shape. Do not pull too hard or you may tear the dough. Instead of rolling the dough out (with a rolling pin) you can also pat it into a circle with your hands.
• Preheat oven 400 F / 200 C / Mark 6. Lay a piece of aluminum foil ​on an oven tray (to cover) and grease it lightly with a few drops of vegetable oil.
• Place as many formed dough balls as will fit without touching each other on the tray.
• Brush each dough ball lightly with ghee, and sprinkle a pinch of onion seeds evenly over the surface.
• Place the tray in the oven and cook till the naan begins to puff out and lightly brown. Flip the naan and repeat.
• Remove from oven and serve hot in a foil-lined basket.

NAAN BREAD

Steps:

• Put warm water in a small bowl, add sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Set aside for 5-10 minutes or until it foams.
• Blend in the warm milk, yogurt and melted margarine. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Pour in the yeast/milk mixture all at once and work it into the flour, using your hands. Continue mixing, adding flour or water as needed, until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl.
• Knead for 6 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand in a warm place to rise for about 4 hours or until doubled in volume.
• Preheat oven to 550 degrees F (285 degrees C) or your oven's highest setting and set a rack in the lower third of the oven. Place a large pizza pan or iron griddle on the rack and preheat. Also preheat the broiler.
• Punch the dough down and knead briefly. Divide into six pieces and shape them into balls. Place them on an oiled plate and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let balls rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Roll out and stretch each ball until it is about 10 inches long and 5 inches wide. Remove the pizza pan from the oven, brush with oil and place one of pieces of bread on it.
• Bake at 550 degrees F (285 degrees C) for about 4 to 5 minutes until bread is puffed and has brown spots, then transfer to a wire rack, returning pizza pan to oven to keep hot. Place bread under broiler until 'charcoal' dots appear on the surface. Wrap finished bread in a towel while baking the remaining loaves. (If your pizza pan is big enough, try baking two loaves at the time.)

NAAN (INDIAN FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees). Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Place 4 1/2 cups flour, the salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade or in mixer with a dough hook. Mix to blend. Add yeast mixture, milk, yogurt, egg, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 3/4 cup warm water. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes in a processor, 5 to 8 minutes in a mixer, 8 to 10 minutes by hand. Dough should be soft but not too sticky. Add flour as needed.
• Place dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll them into balls, place them on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes.
• If using a tandoor, heat it to about 450 degrees. If using the oven, place a pizza stone on the bottom rack and heat oven to 450 degrees. If using a barbecue grill, set it up for direct grilling and heat to medium-high.
• Roll out a dough ball on a lightly floured work surface into a disk about 6 inches in diameter. Roll and stretch one end to make a teardrop shape. Brush off any excess flour. Repeat with remaining dough.
• If using a tandoor, drape one piece of dough over the round cloth pillow called a gadhi. Press the bread onto the hot clay wall. Cook the naan until the top is puffed, blistered and browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a skewer, gently pry the bread off the tandoor wall, taking care not to scratch the clay. Brush the top of the bread with ghee or melted butter, then place in a cloth-lined basket for serving. Repeat with remaining dough.
• If using an oven, turn on the broiler. Lay 1 or 2 pieces of dough on the pizza stone. Cook until the bottoms are browned and the tops blister, puff and are lightly toasted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from oven, brush tops with ghee or melted butter, and place in a cloth-lined basket for serving. Repeat with remaining dough.
• If using the grill, brush and oil the grate. Lightly brush top of dough with butter and place butter-side down on grate a few at a time (do not crowd the grate). Grill until the bottoms are browned and the tops start to puff and blister, 1 to 2 minutes. Lightly brush the tops with a little butter. Invert bread, and grill the other side until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a cloth-lined basket, brushing tops of each with any remaining butter.

NAAN AKA INDIAN FLAT BREAD

Steps:

• Combine 1 c flour, yeast, and salt, in a mixing bowl. Stir in water, buttermilk, egg, oil and honey one at a time. Beat until smooth in mixer.
• Stir in enough flour to form a soft sticky dough.
• Turn onto floured surface continuing to knead in flour to make dough smooth and elastic (this may require more than the 3-1/2 c listed)3-5 minute.
• Place in an oiled bowl turning once to coat.
• Cover and let rise till doubled - about 45 minutes.
• Punch down and shape into 16 equal balls.
• Roll out each to 1/4 inch thickness,place on greased cookie sheet (I used my fingers and just pulled them like pizza dough), brush with butter and sprinkle with one of the seed toppings.
• Cook 450 for 5-8 minutes.