Traditional Naan Bread Recipes

SUPER EASY NAAN BREAD

Steps:

• Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until foamy.
• Add salt and flour. Mix thoroughly. Knead dough on a floured workspace about 20 times and form into a tight ball. Put dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel.
• Put in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes. Dough won't rise much, but it doesn't need to.
• Turn dough out onto a floured workspace. Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll out with a rolling pin to about 1/8" thick.
• Grill naan pieces on a grill or electric griddle. In a pinch, a frying pan sprayed with some nonstick cooking spray will work. Grill for 1-2 minutes on each side.
• This recipe yields a very soft, chewey naan. Just the way I like it!

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.)

TRADITIONAL NAAN BREAD

Steps:

• Whisk warm milk/water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved.
• Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.
• Sift flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee and the yogurt.
• Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
• Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size.
• Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes.
• Divide dough into 6 pieces.
• Roll each piece out into 8 inch round nans.
• Cover an oven tray with foil and grease the foil.
• Brush the nan with a little of the remaining ghee and sprinkle with some of the kalonji.
• Cook Nan one at a time under a very hot grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned.

NAAN

Steps:

• Add yeast and sugar to warm water and mix well. Cover and keep aside for 5 minutes or until foamy.
• In the large bowl of a stand mixer, mix flour and salt well. Add oil and continue mixing.
• Add yogurt and egg to yeast and water mixture. Whisk well.
• Add the mixture to the flour slowly and knead into a soft dough ball.
• Cover and keep in a warm place for about one hour or until it has doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 550 F (290˚C) with a pizza stone on the highest rack inside. Once the dough has risen, lightly oil hands, punch down the dough and knead. Dust with additional flour if needed.
• Divide dough into small portions and roll it out on a floured surface. Place the rolled naans aside on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Place 3 rolled naans onto the hot pizza stone. Bake for about 4 minutes until naans are light golden brown.
• Remove from oven and smear on melted butter or ghee (optional), or a mixture of ghee, crushed garlic and chopped cilantro for garlic naans.
• Keep naan breads in a container until ready to serve. They are best served hot.

NAAN BREAD (THE BEST RECIPE)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, add the sugar, warm water, and yeast together. Stir to combine well. The yeast should be activated when it becomes foamy, about 10 minutes. Transfer the flour to a flat surface and make a well in the middle. Add the yeast mixture, yoghurt, salt and oil, knead the dough until the surface becomes smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place (for example: beside the stovetop or warm oven). The dough should double in size, about 1 hour.
• Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll the dough to a 8" circle using a rolling spin.
• Heat up a skillet (cast-iron preferred) over high heat and lightly grease the surface with some oil to avoid the dough from sticking to the skillet. Place the dough on the skillet. When it puffs up and bubbles and burnt spots appear, flip it over and cook the other side. Repeat the same until all dough are done.
• Brush the naan with the melted butter, serve warm.

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.

ORIGINAL INDIAN NAAN BREAD

Steps:

• Sieve the flour.
• Add water, yogurt, egg yeast, nigella and salt to make a soft dough.
• If dough sticks too much then use little bit of oil on hand and then punch into dough.
• Top with oil.
• Let rest covered 15-20 minutes.
• Divide dough into 8-10 portion and form balls with little flour.
• Let rest 20 minutes.
• Now to make naan, set oven at broil.
• Roll oval shape out of dough: flat your balls and toss to make them bigger.
• Put 2 naans on the baking tray and place it into stove (make better naan on stove top) and flip it after about 2 min (you have to check!). On the other side they need now about 30-40 seconds (check!).
• Repeat with the other naans.
• Keep them covered with a towel and serve warm.
• Note: If you like, after taking it out apply some butter on them. And they are ready to eat.

EASY NAAN

Steps:

• Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Let stand until bubbly and frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Place dough into a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Punch down dough and knead well. For garlic naan, knead in garlic at this point.
• Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of golf balls. Roll into balls, cover with a clean cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Roll out 2 balls of dough into elongated ovals. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and cook under the broiler until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Brush butter on both sides and flip. Continue broiling until the second side is firm and golden, 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining dough.

EASY NAAN BREAD

Steps:

• Put the flour in a large bowl, then add the sugar, baking powder and 1½ tsp salt. Add the seeds, if you like. Lightly whisk to disperse the ingredients evenly throughout the flour.
• Add 1 tbsp of the melted butter, followed by the natural yogurt. Mix together with your hands. Once the yogurt and butter have been absorbed, gradually add 180-200ml water, 50ml at a time. Mix between additions, until it begins to come together into a dough. The water amount will depend on the consistency of the yogurt and butter - stop adding when you have a ball of dough.
• Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead thoroughly for 5 mins until smooth and elastic. Put in an oiled mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for at least 1 hr. The dough will not rise but it is important to let it rest as this helps to make the naans less chewy and more fluffy.
• If making the garlic butter, mix the garlic with the remaining 1 tbsp melted butter and the coriander. Set aside.
• Divide the dough into eight, 10 or 12 even-sized pieces, depending on how big you want the naans. Roll into round balls, then return to the bowl, covered with a tea towel.
• Roll one of the dough balls out on a lightly floured surface into a round, oval or teardrop shape - roll with a diagonal motion to get an oval. Flip the dough over and repeat on the other side.
• Heat a frying pan. Dry fry the dough over a medium high heat until it begins to puff up and the underside browns in places. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove the cooked naan from the pan. Spoon a little of the garlic butter over the naan, if using. Sprinkle over some coriander, if you like. Cover with a tea towel while you repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough.

NAAN-LIKE EASY FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cumin seeds, and sugar together in a large bowl.
• Combine milk and 1 tablespoon oil in a small saucepan; heat over medium heat until warm, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir into flour mixture until small clumps form. Knead dough, adding more flour by the tablespoon if needed, until it is soft and smooth. Let dough rest, about 3 minutes.
• Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Pressed into flat circles on a floured work surface.
• Brush a large skillet with remaining 1 tablespoon oil; heat over medium-high heat. Cook circles of dough one at a time until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.