how to make really good naan
Making your own naan at home is much easier than you think. When making any bread, it is always best to start with a little less flour & add it as needed. The flour quantity in bread changes from season to season & brand of flour, where the wheat was grown and such. I added rosemary garlic butter to the naan once cooked but the rosemary isn’t necessary, or feel free to change the herb depending what you’re serving the naan with. When I make this to serve with curry, I like to just do plain garlic butter.
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Proofing1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 10 naan
electric mix
cast iron frying pan
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon active yeast
- 3/4 cup all-purpose full-fat yogurt
- 4 cups self-rising flour, approximately (self raising flour)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- olive oil for brushing the naan
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
Combine milk & honey together in a small microwave-safe jug or saucepan & heat in the microwave or on the stovetop until just warm, 85°F/ 30°C – don’t have it too hot or you’ll kill the yeast. If you don’t have a thermometer, test it with the tip of your pinky.
Pour the milk mixture into a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook (if you don’t have an electric mixer, you can do this by hand). Add yeast, give it a stir then let it sit for 5 minutes until the mixture begins to form bubbles on the surface.
Add the yogurt, about 3 cups of flour & the salt. Mix until with the electric mixer (or by hand) until the dough is soft & sticky, adding more of the remaining flour as needed. The dough should still be tacky. Turn the dough onto a floured counter using floured hands & knead the dough into a ball. Place in a large, greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap & let stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces - a scale kitchen scale helps. Roll each piece out to about 8 inches (20 cm) in length & about 5 inches (13 cm) wide. Heat a large cast iron or other heavy-based frying over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of a piece of naan with olive oil & place in hot pan; cover. Cook for 1 minute or until bubbles have formed over the dough. Turn naan & cook, covered, for 1 minute until toasted on the bottom. Keep naan warm in the oven while you cook the remaining dough.
Melt butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic & rosemary & cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until softened & fragrant; remove from heat. Brush both sides of each cooked naan with melted butter mixture. Makes 10 naan.