Naan is a flat, leavened bread of India, made of all purpose flour / Maida and baked in a tandoor. Whenever we go to restaurants, most of the times what we order is Naan. It’s soft and comes in different variations like butter naan, garlic naan and much more. It pairs well with Butter Chicken and Paneer Butter Masala.
This can be prepared in different ways, by either adding yeast or egg or simply by using baking powder and baking soda. It can be either cooked in tandoor or oven or tawa. Here I am going to show the basic recipe without yeast or egg. Again we are going to cook on stove top. So this recipe is very simple and easy to prepare. It’s up to you to add any toppings like garlic, methi, coriander, butter or anything you like.
Naan Preparation:
- Make dough soft consistency as we make for roti.
- It should be neither too stiff nor too soft.
- The dough should rest at least for 1-2 hours.
- In between, knead dough thoroughly twice or thrice.
- The more you knead, you get soft naans.
The method shown here is a foolproof method. If specified ingredients with a specified quantity are used, sure you will get soft naans as we get in restaurants. I personally felt it was better than the ones served in restaurants. It will stay soft for a very long time.
- 1.5 Cup All purpose flour/Maida
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 3 tbsp Yogurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tbsp oil
- In a wide bowl, sieve and add Maida, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Then add sugar, a tbsp oil, and curd.
- Crumble all the ingredients. Then add milk little by little and make a soft dough. Add remaining oil and knead the dough thoroughly with your fist and knuckles. Close the dough with a damp cloth or cling film and let it rest for at least 1-2 hours. Then again knead the dough thoroughly and make smooth balls of equal size. With the above-said proportion, you can make approximately 10-12 medium size naan.
- Flatten and coat it in flour on both sides. Now using rolling pin roll the dough to thin sheet. Now gently apply water on the top of the finally rolled dough.
- Meanwhile turn on the gas to medium flame and place the griddle to heat. Place the flattened dough on the griddle. The watered side should face down. After few seconds you will notice bubbles on the naan. In this stage flip the griddle itself as shown in the picture, we must cook the naan directly on the flame and wait till it is fully cooked on this side (It takes hardly a minute to cook). Repeat the process for the remaining dough balls. Apply ghee or butter and serve.
- Always use room temperature milk and yogurt.
- Allow the dough to rest at least for 1-2 hours.
- More you knead, the dough becomes smoother and naan would be softer.
- While preparing in large quantity always cover the dough with a damp cloth to avoid dough to dry.
- Specified amount of milk is ok to knead dough. If you feel milk is not enough, then sprinkle little warm water and knead.
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