Last week we made naan for the first time, and I’m happy to say it was a success! I adapted the recipe below from Aarti Sequeira’s recipe on FoodNetwork.com, with only a few minor changes. Here’s a quick rundown of our process…
The first thing we did was fire up the oven – it takes an hour or so for the dome to reach 450 F. Next, (while the oven was heating up) we made the dough, covered the bowl with plastic wrap, placed it just outside of the oven, and let it rise for 2 hours.
Once the dome reached the appropriate temperature and the dough was ready to be rolled out, we pushed the fire off to the side, just as we would if we were cooking pizza.
Next, we rolled out the dough…be aware that rolling out the dough can be a bit challenging since the dough is so sticky, but just remember to flour your counter top and rolling pin, and do not apply too much pressure!
Finally, we placed the dough in the oven and watched it bubble up! Once it develops a nice light char, flip it over with your turn peel, allow it to cook for a few more seconds, and pull it out of the oven! We brushed ours with clarified butter and sprinkled on a small amount of sea salt – delicious!
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons ghee (or oil)
- Ghee (or melted butter) for the finished naans
- Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water. Let it sit on your counter until it’s frothy, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.
- Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the ghee into the bowl, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn’t enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2 to 4 hours.
- When you’re ready to roll out the dough, place a bowl with extra flour in it on your counter. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of flour to keep them from sticking to each other.
- Shape the naan. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you’ve formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough’s own weight will stretch it out a little.
- Pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to remove the excess flour, and gently (and carefully!) lay it in the oven; the dough should start to bubble.
- After about 30 seconds, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened. Remove the naan from the oven, brush with ghee, and sprinkle with a little of the coarse sea salt.
*This recipe was adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/naan-indian-oven-baked-flat-bread-recipe.html#communityReviews
