Naan recipe?

Question

I went online to check out recipes for naan and they are all over the place in terms of ingredients, leavening and baking methods. Some call for milk, eggs, yogurt and/or butter, but some of the best naan I've had in restaurants seem to be just flour, water, leavening and salt, with a little butter brushed on at the end. Any tried and true recipes out there?

Also, I'm thinking the best way to simulate a clay oven with my gas oven (to get that semi-burnt surface) is to bring the oven temp up to 500 with a baking stone in the middle position, toss in the dough and then turn on the broiler. Anyone tried that?

Answer

Pizza dough. Don't get fancy with the ingredients.

Answer

Here's the one I've found successful:
1 pkg active dry yeast
4T white sugar
1c warm water
1 egg, beaten
3T milk (can probably substitute plain yogurt)
2t salt
4.5c bread flour
1/4c ghee (or unsalted butter)

Dissolve yeast in water, proof until frothy; stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough; knead 6-8 minutes on floured surface; let rise until doubled; punch down, knead in any spices or fruits if you like that. pinch off small bits, roll into balls, allow to rise again; roll out into thin circles.

Preheat grill/cast iron pan on high. lighlty oil, cook until browned and puffy; brush uncooked side with ghee/butter and turn over, cook another 2-4 minutes.

Ghee is just a sort of clarified butter, you can get it at an international grocery store; it's more authentic than yellow butter.

Answer

I don't have a recipe on hand, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be flour, yeast, salt, water and yogurt.

Answer

here's one: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=126

Answer

Most of the restaurant naan I've had was very white, almost pure white. I think that color would preclude the use of egg.

I'm also leaning toward a milk based dough rather than yogurt, as the acid in the yogurt might make an inhospitable environment for the yeast.

Restaurant naan tastes fairly lean to me, a little richer than fat free pizza dough, but not much. If you add melted butter to the dough, I'd keep it to a minimum.

Lastly, and most importantly, I'm pretty certain the walls of a pre-heated tandoori get hotter than 500 and have quite a bit more thermal mass than a baking stone. Without a sustained burst of intense heat, the bread won't have characteristic fluffiness of naan.

Answer

I've had tremendous success with this one that includes instant mashed potato flakes! (You will need to scroll down to get to the naan.)

http://pages.interlog.com/~john13/recipes/indian10.htm

I also get the best results with cooking naan on the grill. It gives me the sustained heat I need and also chars the outside a bit, which I like.

An alternative to the grill is to crank your oven with a pizza stone in there and gook them on the stone.

Enjoy!

Answer

I made some excellent flat bread on my grill. It tasted just like naan when I put butter on it. The recipe calls for olive oil and spice, which is yummy. But salted butter makes it taste like naan. See the 2007 April Bon Appetit or go to www.epicurious.com nd look for flatbread.

Answer

Here is the recipe I use. I also have made a sandwich bun with the same recipe using
yogurt and letting the dough rise 45 minutes before baking. I like the buns better than
the Naan. One trick that works well is to do the Naan on 7 or 8 " sheets of aluminum foil
on the center rack of the oven. Turning maybe once. That way both sides get done
at the same time. More heat is directed to the bread without burning or wasting heat
on a cookie sheet. I looked all over the net before deciding on using this recipe.

Naan 


1 c Flour
1 pk Yeast, dry
2 ts Salt
1 c Water, hot
1 c Buttermilk; or yogurt
1 Egg; (room temp)
2 tb Oil
1 tb Honey; or sugar
2 1/2 c Flour
Ghee; (clarified butter)

Garnishes *

* If desired, you can use cornmeal or sesame or poppy seeds on the bread.
Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in water,
buttermilk, egg, oil and honey. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer.
Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft, sticky dough. Turn onto a
floured surface, continue to work in flour until dough is stiff enough to
knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, but still soft (3 to 5 minutes).
Place in an oiled bowl; turning once to coat top of dough. Cover; let rise
until double in bulk (about 45 minutes). Punch dough down. Shape into 16
equal balls. Let rest 5 minutes. Roll out each ball to a 1/4-inch thick round.
If desired, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garnishes.
Set on baking sheets. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 5 to 8 minutes. NOTE:
There is no second rising in this recipe so that you get flat loaves.

Answer

wow you are so brave making your own naan. i have to tell you in places where people eat naan as a regular carb with the meal, the naan comes from the neighborhood tandoori baker. no one actually makes naan at home. I guess cuz not many people actually have a tandoor. in the US, a lot of ppl who don't like the naan in the packets at the Asian grocer (it is rubbery) choose a restaurant that has a good authentic naan and buy and freeze to eat with dishes that MUST have naan instead of rice or another form of flat bread. 

Also,some Indian restaurants in the US make an all white flour naan, but real naan has a mix of stone ground wheat flour (chakki aata) and white flour, the white flour is only added to make it stretchy and soft. When I select my restaurant to be the source of my naan, I only choose one that uses a mix of white and wheat flour.

If you paint it with milk or add butter/ghee and sesames it becomes "roghni naan"

anyway good luck with making your naan

Answer

I recently made this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Naan/Detail.aspx with FAB results. Really really good. But it requires a hot bbq grill and the naan itself is best DIRECTLY off the grill. In just the time it took to cook up the whole batch and then plate dinner, the naan had degraded from that marvelous crispy/chewy wonder that is naan to a delicious but nowhere near as perfect rendition. I toasted leftovers and got a bit of the crisp back the next day(s) but right off the grill was leaps and bounds better.

Answer

A couple of years ago, we started an annual South Asian potluck at work, and for the first one I made naan on the BBQ grill, using dough from a local tandoori restaurant. I didn't get much of a discout over the finished price of the naan, but the bread turned out great after I got the hang of it. So, see if you can score dough from your favorite restaurant. An added benefit is that your get to see and feel and taste the dough in its uncooked state, to compare with your scratch efforts.

Answer

I was desparate for some naan to have with my homemade curry so I tried using a box mix; to my surprise it came out surprisingly well. As a bonus feat I cooked it in my cast iron skillet on low heat, 5 minutes per side (oven isn't working reliably).

The texture wasn't much like good restaurant naan from a tandoor, but it was nice and chewy. Think flat Greek or Armenian leavened breads or perhaps Indian (roti? paratha?). 
Anyway I was amazed at the simplicity of preparation.

The box included two Fleischmann's yeast packets and 12 oz. dry mix containing wheat flour, malted barley flour (!), nonfat yogurt (powder), salt, onion powder, sugar.
I'm definitely going to try this from scratch!

Answer

http://areyouhungryyet.blogspot.com/2008/01/chicken-tikka-masala-and-naan.html

I based my naan on the recipe from Mangoes & Curry Leaves, and it was really good! It was simple, and it looked and tasted right. :)

Topics

Locations

Your post has been published!

Naan recipe?

New to Chowhound?

More from Chowhound

Recipe Round-Ups

Stuffed Tomatoes Are a Summer Must

Recipe Round-Ups

Best Summer Side Dishes Worth Building a Feast Around

Shop

Mmm, Soy Good: The Best Vegan Foods at Trader Joe's

Shop

All the Pumpkin Spice Stuff You Can Buy While You Wait for PSLs (and Pumpkin Spice Spam)

Trending Discussions

Family with tweens and fish allergy visiting Tokyo for the first time

Belfast/Old Orchard report

Destination Dining in DC?

September 2019 Cookbook of the Month VOTING

What are some foods you once avoided but have learned to enjoy?

Quick Links

Latest Discussions

Cookbook of the Month

Dish of the Month

Weekly Menu Planning

Get fresh food news delivered to your inbox

This Chic Retro Mini-Toaster is Under $20 Right Now (Plus More Kitchen Steals)

Whoa! Some Big Ticket Kitchen Tools on Major Sale Right Now

Fan Favorite All-Clad Cookware Is Slashed Up to 80% Right Now

CBS Interactive

Chowhound

Community

Editorial

Content