Nan Recipes

Steps:

• Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Let stand until bubbly and frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Place dough into a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Punch down dough and knead well. For garlic naan, knead in garlic at this point.
• Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of golf balls. Roll into balls, cover with a clean cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Roll out 2 balls of dough into elongated ovals. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and cook under the broiler until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Brush butter on both sides and flip. Continue broiling until the second side is firm and golden, 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining dough.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
• At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Steps:

• In a large glass, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). 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 olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and add the kalonji and fennel seeds, if using, 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, make sure you have two bowls on your counter: one with extra flour in it, and one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky-this is good! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of extra 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. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough. (If you're making the gluten-free version, you'll have better luck pressing the dough out with your fingertips, than rolling.)
• Warm a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking. Make sure you have a lid large enough to fit the skillet and have a bowl of melted butter at the ready.
• Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to lightly dampen it. Gently lay it in the skillet and set your timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble.
• After about 1 minute, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, don't worry - that's typical of traditional naan! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more.
• Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with a bit of butter and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt. Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish. Repeat with the rest of the naans and serve.

Steps:

• Put 125ml warm water into a bowl and sprinkle over the yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar. Leave for 10-15 mins or until frothy. In a larger bowl, put the flour, remaining sugar, ½ tsp salt and baking powder. Mix together then make a well in the centre in which to pour the melted butter, yogurt, nigella seeds and yeast mixture. Stir well, then start to bring the mixture together with your hands. If it's very wet add a spoonful of flour but if it's dry add a splash more warm water. It should be a very soft dough but not so wet that it won't come together into a ball.
• When you're happy with the consistency, start kneading, first in the bowl, then transfer the mixture onto a well-floured surface and continue to knead for 10 mins or until smooth and elastic but still soft. Butter a large bowl, then shape the dough into a ball and place in the prepared bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hr or until doubled in size.
• Divide the dough into six balls and put them on a baking tray dusted with flour, then cover the tray with a damp tea towel. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Take one of the balls of dough and roll it out to form a teardrop shape that's approximately 21cm long and around 13cm at the widest part. When the pan is very hot, carefully lay the naan bread into it. Let it dry fry and puff up for about 3 mins, then turn over and cook on the other side for another 3-4 mins or until cooked through and charred in patches.
• Heat the oven to its lowest setting and put the cooked naan bread on a baking sheet. Brush with a little melted butter and cover with foil. Keep warm in the oven and layer up the cooked naans one on top of each other as you make them, brushing each one with melted butter or ghee as you go. Serve warm with curry or dips.

Steps:

• Put warm water in a small bowl, add sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Set aside for 5-10 minutes or until it foams.
• Blend in the warm milk, yogurt and melted margarine. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Pour in the yeast/milk mixture all at once and work it into the flour, using your hands. Continue mixing, adding flour or water as needed, until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl.
• Knead for 6 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand in a warm place to rise for about 4 hours or until doubled in volume.
• Preheat oven to 550 degrees F (285 degrees C) or your oven's highest setting and set a rack in the lower third of the oven. Place a large pizza pan or iron griddle on the rack and preheat. Also preheat the broiler.
• Punch the dough down and knead briefly. Divide into six pieces and shape them into balls. Place them on an oiled plate and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let balls rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Roll out and stretch each ball until it is about 10 inches long and 5 inches wide. Remove the pizza pan from the oven, brush with oil and place one of pieces of bread on it.
• Bake at 550 degrees F (285 degrees C) for about 4 to 5 minutes until bread is puffed and has brown spots, then transfer to a wire rack, returning pizza pan to oven to keep hot. Place bread under broiler until 'charcoal' dots appear on the surface. Wrap finished bread in a towel while baking the remaining loaves. (If your pizza pan is big enough, try baking two loaves at the time.)

Steps:

• Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let stand until yeast softens and forms a creamy foam, about 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, heat butter in a pan over medium heat until melted and sizzling. Quickly mix in garlic. Remove garlic butter from heat and set aside until ready to use.
• Add yogurt, bread flour, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the garlic butter to the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding more water or flour as needed. Turn dough out onto the counter and continue kneading into a smooth ball, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Place dough in a large bowl. Coat with a few more drizzles of garlic butter. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Punch down dough and turn out onto the counter. Shape into a rough rectangle and cut into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and lightly dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and proof until slightly puffy, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Roll each piece into an oval about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle some cilantro on top and press lightly to adhere.
• Preheat a cast iron skillet until very, very hot, about 5 minutes. Cook each naan until large bubbles form, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip over, press gently, and cook until bubbles on the bottom are charred, 2 to 3 minutes more.
• Brush naan with more garlic butter before serving.

Steps:

• Combine the water, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is frothy. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar, the egg, 1/4 cup of ghee and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in the yeast mixture.
• Place 2 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Pour in the yogurt-and-yeast mixture and stir until smooth. Gradually stir in more flour. When the dough becomes too difficult to stir, begin kneading, incorporating flour until you have a stiff dough. (You may use slightly more or less than the 3 1/2 cups of flour.) Knead for 10 to 12 minutes more, or until the dough is elastic. Grease a large bowl with ghee. Add the dough, turning to coat it all over with ghee. Cover with a cloth and leave the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough briefly; shape into 8 balls of equal size. Cover with a cloth and allow to rest 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place 2 ungreased baking sheets inside. Pat the balls into disks that are slightly thinner in the center than at the edges and about 4 inches in diameter. Holding one edge, pull the opposite edge outward, forming a teardrop shape that is 6 to 8 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide at the wider end. Brush each nan with ghee and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Divide the loaves between the 2 hot baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes, or until the breads are golden and puffy. (If they do not brown quickly enough, run them briefly under a preheated broiler.) Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Place bread flour in a bowl. Add salt and baking powder and give it a good whisk until evenly combined.
• Add in Greek yogurt gently, followed by garlic and green onions. Take a wooden spoon and slowly start mixing everything together. Keep mixing, stirring, and pressing until a shaggy dough forms.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and use your hands to press dough together. Knead for a few minutes until dough becomes elastic and a little bit sticky. Add a bit more flour as necessary but try to keep extra flour at an absolute minimum. Knead until dough is a little bit stretchy, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Wrap in plastic and allow to rest on the counter for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Take a bench scraper and cut into 6 equal pieces. Take 1 portion and roll into a ball. Place onto a generously floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out nice and thin, about 1/8 inch or less. It's ok if the naan is not a perfect circle. You will need extra flour for rolling out as the dough is sticky, but try to use as little as possible.
• Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Transfer dough circles into the hot dry skillet and cook until little bubbles form on the surface and the underside is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Flip naan over and cook for 1 more minute. Press down slightly with a spatula to increase the heat during cooking. Flip over twice more and cook for an additional 15 seconds per side, but make sure not to overcook to preserve the texture. Naan should still be flexible when you remove it from the skillet onto a plate.
• Cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm and moist while you cook the other naan breads. Stack all 6 naan breads on top of each other and keep covered with a kitchen towel.
• When you are finished cooking all 6 naan breads, unstack breads and brush the first naan bread on both sides with a little bit of melted butter. Stack second piece of naan on top and only brush the top side. Keep stacking and buttering all the naan breads. Fold each naan into a triangle and serve.