Quick and Simple Indian Flatbread Recipe: Naan Bread
Fire up your kitchen with this lively guide to making naan bread, a flatbread hailing from the Indian subcontinent. You'll learn two tantalizing techniques for cooking, one using a trusty cast-iron skillet and the other by firing up your outdoor propane grill. So, let's get brewing that dough!
Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes / Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 breads
Difficulty: Medium
We took the lead from the esteemed chef, Madhur Jaffrey, for this edible adventure.
Take Flight with Naan Bread!
Here's a simplified version of the recipe to get you started:
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- Active dry yeast
- 7 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups plain full-fat yogurt
- 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
Skillet Naan Step by Step
- Get the milk shaking with the sugar and yeast. Warm it up until it feels cozy against your skin (i.e., between 105°F to 115°F). Give it a 15-minute time-out for the yeast to froth up.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a big mixing bowl: whisk the 7 cups of flour, the salt, and baking powder. Set that aside. In another bowl, mix the yogurt, whisked eggs, and the yeast mixture. Pour it into the dry ingredients and get blending with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then, it's time to knead with some old-school elbow grease and a splash of the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Work it into a silky dough and leave it to rise for an hour.
- Punch down the dough, give it another knead, and divide it into twelve bite-sized pieces. Let 'em rest under a damp dishtowel.
- Coat your working surface with flour and, one at a time, roll out each dough ball, aiming for a teardrop shape. With a rolling pin or a trusty bottle, roll out the dough. Get creative – change the direction of your roll, keeping things loose and fun. Go for a thickness like pizza dough (about 1/4 inch).
- Feeeeeel the heat! Your skillet should sizzle like a summer day with the sun beating down; place a piece of dough on the surface, just watch it bubble in seconds. Keep it cooking until bubbles pop up all over the place, about 60 to 90 seconds. Flip and cook until it no longer sticks, about 30 to 60 seconds.
Grill-Worthy Naan!
- Fire up your outdoor propane grill to a high heat tirade. As soon as it's had its fun, drop the dough onto the fiery battleground. Wait about a minute – bubbles will swiftly form on the surface. Grill the dough until nicely blistered, flipping once and closing the lid for the final minute, until done.
Both your cast-iron skillet naan and grill-striped BBQ naan will make fantastic players in any Northern-style Indian feast.
Optional Enhancement:
For an extra flourish, sprinkle nigella seeds on your naan before cooking, if desired.
Enjoy a taste of exotica right in your own kitchen!
- To explore culinary expertise, consider the Neapolitan approach for making flatbread, adapting traditional naan bread techniques using a propane-grilled flatbread instead.
- In the realm of cultural foods, don't overlook the flatbread dish known as 'Spotting' naan - a Neapolitan twist on the authentic Indian flatbread, cooked on an outdoor propane grill instead of a skillet.
- If you're in quest of taste sensations beyond the familiar, attempt making a flatbread fusion, combining the Indian classic flatbread naan with a Neapolitan-style flatbread cooked on your propane grill, and top it off with nigella seeds for an enhanced flavor.
