One of my favorite food memories was the first time I tried Indian food. It is super popular in Japan, so when we moved to Okinawa, a big portion of our restaurant options were Indian restaurants. When you walk past an Indian restaurant, you are immediately greeted with the very strong and distinct scent of the spices they use. At the time, it made me nervous for some reason. I didn’t know if I would like it and I had no idea what I would order if I did go in anyways. I can’t even put into words how happy I am that we did end up venturing into an Indian restaurant one evening! Now the smell and taste of Indian food floods my minds with warm, soothing thoughts and I consider it to be one of my favorite comfort foods.
If I had to pick a favorite Indian dish, I think it would be Tikka Masala. Over the past few years, I have perfected my own recipe (coming soon!) for this beautiful dish, but tonight, we are concentrating on Tikka Masalas dance partner… naan bread. To be honest, when I think about which dishes are my favorite, I actually imagine what sauces taste best when scooped up with a big piece of naan bread. Because of naan, you really don’t even need utensils! Just tear off a big pillowy piece of goodness and use it in place of a fork. It is a lovely substitution…
The first step is to add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast to 3/4 cup of warm water. The water should be about body temperature, not too hot. Whisk in the sugar and yeast and set it aside for about ten minutes or so. It should look nice and frothy on top when it is ready to go. If your yeast mixture does not get frothy, then your yeast may have expired, so try again! If the water is warm and you feed it a bit of sugar, it should wake right up!
In a large bowl, add two cups of all purpose flour, two teaspoons of sugar, one teaspoon of salt and a big pinch of dried garlic flakes. Whisk to combine and dig a small well in the center of the flour. Once the yeast is ready, add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 3 tablespoons of plain full fat Greek yogurt. Full fat yogurt gives a different texture than low fat, so I would stick with the full fat for this recipe. Whisk the yeast, yogurt and oil together and pour it into the center of your flour mixture.
Begin combining the wet and dry ingredients with a fork and as soon as a loose dough begins to form, dip your fingers into a bit of flour and gently knead. The reason that I call for three cups of flour in this recipe is that I have found that I often need quite a bit more flour in order to bring the dough from too wet to something that I can work with. This dough should be soft and sticky, but not so wet that it won’t pull out easily from the bowl. Add flour a bit at a time until you have a texture that you can transfer easily.
Next, add a bit of oil to a large clean glass bowl. Using your fingers or a paper towel, ensure that the entire bowl is lightly oiled and then transfer the dough into the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and then cover with a clean towel. Place the bowl in a warm area to rise for about 90 minutes. The dough is ready when it has doubled in size. If your house is cold, try covering the bowl with a big bath towel fresh out of the dryer. Yeast rises best in a warm spot, but if you don’t have a warm spot to put it, just lengthen your rise time until it has doubled in size.
This is what you are looking for. A nice airy, puffy dough just begging to be turned into naan bread. Now even though this dough is puffy, it will still be rather sticky, so be sure to flour your work surface well before flipping the dough out onto it. Dust your rolling pin with flour and begin rolling the dough out into a rectangular shape about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Using a long knife or pastry cutter, divide the dough into six portions.
Gently roll each portion into a ball and set on a floured surface. Beginning in the center, roll each portion out into an oval shape. Naan is rustic, so these do not require perfection. If you want your naan to be thicker and more chewy, don’t roll it out super thin. If you want your naan a little thinner and more of a crispy texture, roll that baby out! Once the naan is shaped how you want it, you can press some black sesame seeds or parsley flakes onto it before cooking.
Now that your naan is ready to be cooked, there are several ways to go about doing so. You will get the best results using cast iron. You can either use a cast iron skillet or a cast iron grill pan. Place it over medium high heat and get it really hot. The pan should be dry. Dip your fingers into a bowl of water and flip a few drops onto the naan. Carefully set the naan down onto the hot pan (water drops side down) and wait for bubbles to form. If you are cooking on an electric range, use tongs to flip the naan over and cook the other side.
If you are cooking on a gas range, carefully pick up the skillet using the handle and hold it over the flame until your naan has reached your desired color. The bread cooks through pretty quickly, so you can decide the naan is done when it is as browned and blistered as you want. I like mine well blistered, but you can flip it whenever you like! You can also cook it in the oven by turning the broiler on high, place a baking sheet on the second highest setting. Place the naan on the preheated baking sheet and flip when bubbly.
I think the way you treat your naan post cooking may be the most important element of this recipe. If you don’t like garlic or simply want plain naan, brush each piece with melted butter as soon as they are cooked and cover with a heavy kitchen towel while you cook the others. You can top your naan in a variety of ways, but this is my suggestion. Melt three tablespoons of butter and add one tablespoon of minced garlic and a handful of fresh parsley finely chopped. Brush this over your naan immediately after cooking.
Naan bread is a great compliment to many dishes. It is wonderful topped with cheese and dipped in some marinara, dragged through an over easy egg yolk or along side a salad, but it really does shine as a spoon substitution for Indian dishes. Scooping up a bit of Tikka Masala gravy is my personal favorite way to use naan, but I highly recommend doing a bit of experimenting before you settle on yours. If you find a great way to use naan, I’d love to hear about it! I hope you enjoy this recipe and your own naan bread.
Naan Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup warm water (between 100-110 degrees)
- 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic flakes or garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons full fat plain greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Optional Toppings
- fresh parsley, finely chopped
- crushed garlic
- black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Whisk together 3/4 cup of warm water with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast. Set aside for about ten minutes or until frothy
- In a large bowl, add 2 cups of all purpose flour and have the additional cup of flour close by
- Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar, salt and dried garlic flakes to the flour and whisk to combine
- Once the yeast mixture is frothy, add the yogurt and olive oil and whisk together
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and combine with a fork until a wet dough forms. Add flour a bit at a time until a sticky dough forms
- Lightly oil the sides of a large clean glass bowl
- Transfer the dough into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a towel
- Allow dough to rest and rise for about 90 minutes in a warm place
- Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it onto a well floured surface and roll it into a rectangular shape about 3/4 inch thick
- Divide dough into six pieces and roll into balls
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into ovals and press black sesame seeds onto the surface
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until very hot
- Dip fingers into a dish of water and flip a few drops onto the surface of the naan dough
- Carefully place naan, wet side down, onto the hot skillet and cook until large bubbles appear
- Flip with tongs and blister the other side
- Brush naan with melted butter and wrap loosely in a heavy kitchen towel while you cook the other naan
