Naan needs no introduction (sirf naam kaafi hai). It is the most commonly available bread in any North Indian restaurant. I love this bread as it can be used in a lot of ways. You can use the base to make a sandwich, pizza, kati roll or just stuff it to make a complete meal. Naan is generally cooked in the tandoor, but I was very excited to find a tawa (skillet) recipe online.
Contrary to what my non Indian friends believe, this is not what we eat everyday!
Vishesh Tippani / Additional Commentary
I was simply delighted to find this recipe that does not require any yeast or tandoor. My kids love Naan but the senior citizens have a problem with it. Naan when it gets cold becomes very stringy and almost all Maharashtrian Seniors will complain about it being "chivat" (stringy, difficult to chew).
Adding whole wheat flour helps with reducing the stringiness and I usually add half of Maida and half of whole wheat flour.
You can add any toppings or no toppings at all. Drop the garlic, add onions or add both and green chilies. The possibilities are endless.
I absolutely love Naan and can eat it without any accompaniments.
What do I need?
For Dough:
2 cups Maida (all purpose flour)
Salt to taste (1 tsp)
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 cup Curd/Dahi/ Yogurt
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
Lukewarm Water
For garnishing
5-6 pods of garlic (grated)
Finely chopped Coriander (Cilantro)
Kalonji Seeds
How do I make it?
Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add half of the grated garlic to it. Reserve the other half for garnishing.
Add lukewarm water to knead the ingredients into a soft dough.
To make the dough smooth, grease your hands with oil and knead the dough.
Cover and rest for 10-15 minutes.
Take a small portion of the dough and roll into an oval shape.
Add a little garlic, cilantro and kalonji and roll it with a rolling pin.
Flip the rolled naan. Dip your hand in water and apply this to the the flipped naan (not where the garnishing is present). Add a generous amount of water to the other side so it sticks to the tawa (flat pan).
Place this wet side on an iron skillet. This cannot be a non stick skillet. The naan will not stick to no stick skillet because its non stick :).
If you have a non stick skillet see instructions below.
Roast the Naan till you see some bubbles. Now you can lift the skillet and flip it over the flame so that the Naan gets roasted and gets the dark black spots and texture.
Add ghee and serve!
If you do not have an iron skillet, and a regular non stick pan, you will have to remove the naan and flip it over the flame. Use a pair of tongs to keep moving the naan so it does not get burned.
I have found this recipe by Sonia Barton the easiest to follow.
Keep calm and call mom tips:
I have made this recipe with half maida and half whole wheat flour and the result is much better. Maida is hard to roll out like pizza dough. Adding whole wheat flour to it makes it easy to roll out and the naan does not become very stringy
Best to serve when it is warm. This will become stringy when kept for too long.
If you do not have a gas flame you can try roasting on a grill to get the right texture
Accompaniments
Butter Chicken
Paneer Dishes
Kababs
Endless possibilities
Punjab - India begins here (fromcountrytokitchen.com) -- This is a great site to see what you can pair the Naan with to get a complete Punjabi meal and learn about its history
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