Naan

Name: Naan
Cook time: 151 min
Total time: 151 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 500 g Wheat flour; 150 ml Milk; 150 g Yoghurt; 2 cloves Garlic; 1.5 teaspoons Salt; 2 teaspoons Sugar; 1 teaspoon Baking Powder; 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil; 1 handful Coriander; 5 g Yeast; 40 g Ghee; 60 ml Water

Medium

Contains allergens

Cereales con glutenLeche

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 3 hr
Servings: 6

Summary

Soft North Indian flatbreads with charred blisters, made from a yogurt and yeast dough, cooked in a very hot cast-iron pan and finished under the grill. Brushed with ghee, with garlic and coriander if you like.

Ingredients

6 servings

Add to Bring!

500 g Wheat flour (plus a little extra for rolling)
150 ml Milk (lukewarm)
150 g Yoghurt (plain, at room temperature)
2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped) (optional)
1.5 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil (plus a few drops for the bowl)
1 handful Coriander (fresh, chopped) (optional)
5 g Yeast (dried (1 small sachet))
40 g Ghee (or butter, melted)
60 ml Water (lukewarm, only as needed)

Instructions

Mix the lukewarm milk with the sugar and yeast and leave it until it turns a little frothy; this shows the yeast is active.
5 min
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the yeasted milk, the yogurt and the oil and mix into a dough; if there are dry bits left, add the water a little at a time. It should be soft and slightly sticky.
5 min
Knead on the worktop until smooth and elastic; oil your hands rather than adding more flour.
10 min
Put the dough in a bowl greased with a few drops of oil, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.
90 min
Knock the dough back with your knuckles, divide it into 6 equal balls, cover and leave to rest so the gluten relaxes and they stretch without shrinking back.
15 min
Heat a cast-iron pan over a high heat for 5 minutes until very hot, and turn the oven grill to its highest setting. Stretch each ball by hand or with a rolling pin into a teardrop about 25 cm long and 5 mm thick. For garlic naan, scatter over garlic and coriander and roll over them so they stick.
8 min
Lay one naan in the dry pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until big bubbles appear and the underside is spotted with brown. Slide the pan under the grill, close to the element, for another minute until the bubbles char; without a grill, flip the naan with tongs and hold it over a gas flame for a few seconds. Repeat with the rest.
18 min
Brush each naan with ghee as soon as it is done and stack them wrapped in a clean tea towel to keep them soft while you cook the others. Serve warm.

Notes

In India and Pakistan naan is baked stuck to the wall of a tandoor, a clay oven that goes above 400 °C, and it is more a restaurant and festive bread than an everyday one (at home people mostly make chapatis and rotis). A very hot cast-iron pan imitates that wall: the dough puffs up at once and forms bubbles, and the grill, or the open flame of a gas hob, chars the top. Yogurt brings the tang and the soft crumb; swap it for more milk and the bread turns out blander. If you are in a hurry, leave out the yeast and double the baking powder: 30 minutes' rest is then enough, though the result is less airy. For garlic naan, press chopped garlic and coriander into the dough before cooking or stir them into the ghee; nigella seeds (kalonji) are another classic topping. Make sure your pan's handle can go under the grill. The naan keep for 2 days wrapped in a tea towel inside a bag and freeze very well: reheat for a few seconds in the pan with a few drops of water.