As promised, here is the delicious Indian flatbread, naan, I served with the Chicken with Green Curry Sauce. From Andreas Recipes, this is the perfect accompaniment to any curry dish. I know I will be making this many, many more times. The bread is light and chewy and perfect for dipping in a delicious sauce. Yum!
Naan
adapted slightly from Andrea’s Recipes
14 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 egg
1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt (I only had vanilla yogurt and while it sounds like a bad substitution, I used it and the bread tasted fabulous!)
1/2 cup milk
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl by hand), stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and yeast. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, yogurt, and milk. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir for about 1 minute, until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet ingredients.
Increase machine speed to 2 (or by hand) and knead the dough until it is smooth and shiny. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.
Put a baking stone or heavy baking sheet on the lowest rack of your oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
Divide the dough into eight pieces and form into teardrop (mine were more like oval) shapes with your hands, about 6 to 8 inches across.
Cook two or three pieces at a time. Drop the dough onto the hot stone and shut the oven door, watching until they are just starting to turn brown in places, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove the naan and lay on a board. Serve warm with a nice curry. (The original recipe says to butter the naan with garlic butter after it comes out of the oven but I did this with the first batch and found it made the bread too greasy for my taste – we much preferred the bread soft and tender without the butter. Follow your tastes and do what you prefer!)
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with Kali-are there other measurements for the flour?
Mel, the Naan turned out great – it was a hit with the Spicy Peanut Thai Chicken. I took your advice and turned the cookie sheet upside down prior to cooking. It worked perfectly.Nate
that’s a soft-looking little sheet of heaven, melanie, and i’m very much enticed by it. thanks for sharing your recipe!
Kim – thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know about this recipe! It sounds like a success – and I agree, I couldn’t stop eating it either. I’m a sucker for anything bread!
THANKS SO MUCH for the info! I’m really excited to try this! LOVE the Chicken Tikka Masala and Honey Lime Enchiladas. They have been added to my rotation!
Is there another way to measure the flour since I don’t have a scale? I would LOVE to try this bread!!
I love naan!! I have never made it before!! Thanks for the inspiration!
Kali (and others requesting info on the flour amount) – thanks for asking about the flour. Usually one cup of flour is equal to about five ounces, so for this recipe, the measurement of flour would be right around 2 3/4 cups. As with all bread doughs, make sure to just add enough flour to make a soft dough – don’t overflour! So depending on the climate and other factors where you live, you could use a little less or more than the 2 3/4 cups (14 ounces of flour). I’ll edit the recipe to add the cup amount. Let me know if you have other questions!
We always attack the naan at Indian restaurants, but I’ve never made it myself!
Can’t wait to try my husband just love naan Thanks for sharing the recipe.
That looks soooooo yummy!!!
Your naan looks so much better than mine! Mine was tough and chewy. Yeast and I don’t always get along.
I made this last night and my family now calls it “crack bread” because they could not stop eating it
Thank you for the recipe!
Kali – thanks for your comment. I’m glad you like the masala and enchilada recipe. This naan would be great with the masala, now that I think about it!
I am so happy for this recipe. I had it on my list to find a good recipe for Naan. We have a family favorite Indian restraunt in Sandy (the Taste of Punjab) that serves the best naan. Everytime I eat it there, I think how much I would love to find a good recipe! So thanks Melanie!!
I made naan (almost this recipie) with the coconut curry rice and it was great. Then the next night I made it again per request but used it as the flat bread for Navajo Tacos. It was perrrrrfect. Thanks.
I made this last night with some Chicken Tikka Masala and it tasted great. Although it ended up more like a pita (puffed up with a “pocket” inside) rather than a flat naan. Maybe I did something wrong? Either way, it went great with the dinner.
mrfusion – I don’t think you did anything wrong. I’m not sure why it puffed up so much but sometimes that may be due to a oven that is hotter than it should be – pita breads are cooked in a really hot oven in order to create that pocket.