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 Submitted by gothicgirl on March 13, 2009 - 9:55am NaanFor the most part, I have had a lot of luck with bread recipes. If it does not work out the way I want on the first try I begin the tweaking process. It is not always fast but I get there in the end. I say for the most part because I have had one bread nemesis. One bread that, no matter how I tried, would never work out the way I wanted. That bread was the delicious Indian flat bread called naan.
Naan is my nemesis no longer. Now I have a recipe for naan that is tender, chewy, crispy, and soft all at once, and is terrific stuffed with curry. The recipe is adapted from one found here. Along with a good recipe I have a good cooking method. Naan is made, traditionally, in a tandoor oven which produces an insane amount of heat. If you want naan that has the right texture, the soft inside with the chewy exterior, you have to find a way to replicate a tandoor at home. I tried the grill with average results. I tried the stove, in a similar way that I cooked my tortillas, but it was not hot enough. I make pizza at home from time to time and have two very well seasoned pizza stones. On the internet I had read that some bakers use their pizza stones, in a smoking hot oven, to achieve a tender interior with a crisp exterior. It sounded promising, so I tried it. I heated the oven to 500 F with my pizza stone on the lowest rack of the oven. I let it heat for thirty minutes and then added one rolled out piece of naan. It was as close as I will ever get to perfect, and it is pretty darn close!
Another thing I discovered is that you need to have patience. Don't rush the naan. Give the dough a two hour ferment, then after they dough is divided give it the full half hour proof on the bench before rolling. Letting the dough develop will give you the taste and texture you want. Naan Yield 12 naan 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour Activate the yeast in the warm milk with the sugar added. Combine the flour and salt. Once the yeast is active, combine the yeast mixture with the flour mixture. Mix in a stand mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes, or knead by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Allow to rest for two hours, covered with a towel or plastic.
After the dough has rested turn it out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces and round them into balls. Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests heat your oven to 500 F and place a pizza stone, or cast iron skillet, on the bottom rack of the oven.
Once fully rested roll out the dough until it is about 6″ to 7″ wide. It should be fairly thin.
Moisten your hands with water, gently pass the dough between your hands to moisten gently, then lay on the hot pizza stone. Close the oven and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, or until puffed and beginning to get brown spots. Remove from the oven, brush lightly with ghee (or melted butter) and cover with a cloth. You may need to press the naan to release the air inside.
Serve warm. Posted at www.evilshenanigans.com - 2/27/2009
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Thank you gothicgirl,
Thank you gothicgirl, beautifully done!
Sylvia
Thank you!!
Thank you!
Beautiful looking naan, GG.
Beautiful looking naan, GG. And aren't they delicious?
-Elizabeth
P.S. We make our naan with plain yoghurt rather than milk and bake them in the barbecue whenever possible:
Bake naan in the barbecue: Preheat the barbecue to high. Place each shaped naan directly on the grill. Close the lid of the barbecue. Cook for about 2 minutes or so on one side. Using tongs, turn over when they have puffed. Continue to cook on the other side til they seem done. (complete baking takes about 5 minutes) Put the finished naan into a basket. Butter them while they're hot, if you want.
Thanks you!
Yogurt sounds like it would add a lot of flavor. I will have to try that. Thanks for the wonderful idea!!
I have grilled my naan before and it was very nice. I also used grilled naan as the base for a very tasty, and quickly eaten, pizza.
They sound great! One
They sound great! One question/comment though. The couple of times I've had naan (usually while traveling), I seem to remember it having a hand-stretched texture. You have rolled your dough resulting in the "pita" effect with a large air pocket. The naan I remember reminded me more of grilled pizza dough (softer, due to the fat in the recipe). I do not live in an area with any Indian restaurants so I could be way off base.
It depends ...
On a lot of factors. Naan in most Indian restraunts is cooked in a wood fired tandoor oven. When the dough hits the clay it cooks before it has a chance to really puff much. We are talking temps well over the range of a home oven.
As one commenter said, you can cook this on the grill. You will likely get more of the texture you describe that way. I rolled my naan dough pretty thin, but you could go thinner, if you wanted. I like a hearty naan that can soak up sauce, and be stuffed to max with grilled meats so I do not roll as thin as I could.
I hope this helps! If not, please let me know. I will try to clarify. Thanks!!
Rolled vs hand-stretched
I was wondering though which way of stretching is more "authentic". When I do pizza, I hand stretch - you would not roll a pizza dough and expect it to come out right. When I do pitas, I roll them - this removes almost all of the air pockets, and the pita then puffs up with a single giant air pocket in the middle. I was just wondering what the crumb/texture of naan is "supposed" to be. I always thought of naan as being essentially a pizza, without toppings, and made with fat in the dough to give it more flavor and a softer texture. What you have done is use a dough that somewhat resembles tortilla dough except using yeast instead of baking powder, then rolled it out so it bakes up like a pita.
Totally not trying to be nitpicky! I just love flatbread and I'm trying to organize the flatbread universe in my head. Making naan, tortillas, pitas, and pizza, is great for me because it stores so well, and I don't have time to make risen bread every day.
No worries ...
I understand the question. let's see if I can answer it. :)
I would say Naan is like a really soft pita. The crumb is fine, soft, and tender, but the outside is chewy and, when first baked, crisp.
This recipe creates a naan that can he seperated into two layers like a pita, but it is still chewy and rich. I would say this dough is more complex than pizza dough. There is some crispness to the crust when it first comes off the stone, but once brushed with ghee it softens up some.
I do not hand stretch the Naan simply because I have better luck rolling it out. Some people hand stretch it, and you can if you like. I seem to have better results, more even thickness, with my slim rolling pin.
Does any of that make any sense?
Question
The pictures look great. Although I have never tried naan, I can't wait to do it now and thank you for your recipe. One question I have is what is the desired temperature you would want to achieve to bake the naan. You mention that most home ovens are restricted to about 500 degrees, I have a "Big Green Egg" that I use as a grill that can achieve 700 degrees. I have a clay stone that I make pizza on in the egg and it's great. The yogurt sounds like a great idea also.
Thank you.
Crank it up!!
If you can get it hot, do it! Just be sure to watch them for cooking time. I have no idea how long they need in a 500+ oven/grill. Once they are puffing and starting to brown they are done. I know that one Indian friend said in a blazing hot tandoor oven they can cook in as quick as 20 seconds. As I have never tried that I can not attest to accuracy.
We stretch our naan dough
We stretch our naan dough rather than rolling it. We like that some of the naan is thin and some is thicker - soft bread vs. crispy.
And while I haven't seen it actually cooking in a tandoor, I suspect that it does puff there too. It's just that by the time it reaches the table, the air pocket has diminished.
-Elizabeth
I have been making this bread
I have been making this bread weekly since discovering the recipe. This week it will be used for lunch wraps with tuna salad. Last week it was falafel with homemade tahini. Delicious!
Yum Yum!
Yum, Avaserif (I don't know what you name is). Those look delicious and I adore falafel.
--Pamela
Made this last night...
... to go with tandoori chicken & mushroom curry. They rock, thanks so much!
I made ghee with a dozen cloves of garlic simmering with the butter for about an hour (skimming solids), and added a tablespoon of the ghee and a few tablespoons of the garlic cloves (mashed up) to the dough. I cooked them on a 500-degree bread stone, they puffed up beautifully. I did about a minute on each side, and just flipped them with tongs.
Half the dough is in the fridge in a baggie for tonight!