Naan

naan puffing in the oven

By now you may have noticed that I like things that puff (popcorn, puff pastry, duros and now naan). Let's face it, it's fun. Plain and simple. I really like Indian food and have always wanted to try making some type of Indian bread at home. With only a few ingredients, this is a really easy beginning recipe. It's a nice accompaniment to any Indian dish, and because they flatten as they cool, you can use the leftover naan for making pizza the next day!

NAAN

Yield: 10

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

melted butter for brushing (optional)

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1.        Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

2.        Stir in the yogurt until the dough is too stiff for a spoon, then knead it in the bowl until it holds together well, adding more flour if necessary.

3.        Turn it out on a floured surface and continue kneading for about 5 minutes until the dough feels smooth and elastic.

4.        Form the dough into a ball and put it in an oiled bowl, covered with a towel, to rest for an hour or longer.

5.        Take the dough out and cut it into 10 equal pieces. Form each into a ball and press the balls flat into round discs.

6.        Heat a large frying pan or griddle, either seasoned cast iron or a good non-stick finish.

7.        Heat your oven to 500º F. (or turn the broiler on).

8.        Take 1 piece of dough at a time and roll it out on a floured surface until it is about 8-10 inches across and less than 1/4-inch thick. At this point, you can brush your dough with butter and top it with coarse salt, cumin seeds, chopped garlic (or any small thing you want) and press it in lightly with your rolling pin.)

9.        Lay it on the hot griddle and cook it over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes. It will puff up in places (or all over), and there will be some blackish-brown spots on the bottom.

10.    Slide a spatula under the naan and transfer to the oven, directly on the rack, for a minute or two, just until it finishes puffing up into a balloon and begins to color lightly on top.

11.    Remove naan from the oven and brush it lightly with melted butter if you like.

12.    Repeat with remaining dough, stacking the breads into a napkin-lined basket.

13.    Serve hot, fresh from the oven, or let them cool and wrap them up. To reheat, wrap in aluminum foil, in packets of 4 or 5 and put in a 400º F. oven for 10-15 minutes.

from The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas

mixing all the ingredients

dough mixed (before kneading)

dough kneaded and shaped into a ball

rested dough

small dough ball, ready to roll

rolled dough (I didn't brush mine with butter or add any topping)

Don't worry about making a perfect circle;
most naan I've seen is kind of odd shaped anyway.

on the griddle (already puffing a little)

dark spots underneath

starting to puff in the oven

puffing even more

I tried to take a video of one puffing up, but every time
I opened the oven door for more than 10 seconds, the
broiler would stop and the naan would deflate.

very puffy!

flat after cooling down

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