Naan Bread

In my last post I shared with you Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala. This is one of our favorite dishes. I always serve that dish along with Basmati Rice and Naan Bread. I love naan bread! When I was young my Uncle owned an Indian restaurant and the one thing I remember was instantly falling in love with the naan bread. He showed us how they made it in a Tandoor oven. It was so neat!

It's not hard to make your own naan bread. The hardest part, if you call it hard, is just the rest times for the bread.

One Year Ago: Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Two Years Ago: Three Cheese Garden Pizza

Naan Bread
Adapted from Girl Versus Dough
Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 cup warm water (~110 degrees F)
4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and shaping
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup warm water (~110 degrees F)

optional: melted butter and cilantro or parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup water to dissolve yeast.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Add yeast mixture, garlic, milk, sour cream (or yogurt), egg, vegetable oil and 3/4 cup water and stir to combine. In stand mixer fitted with dough hook or by hand on a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes in a stand mixer at medium speed, 10 minutes by hand.) Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

Punch down risen dough and divide dough into 12 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball and place on a well-floured baking sheet.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into an oblong circle about 8 inches in length.  Stack circles on top of each other on a plate, divided by parchment paper, and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Place on pan 1-2 minutes, until bubbles form on top. Flip and cook about 1 more minute. Repeat.

Butter if desired and top with chopped cilantro or parsley.

Serve naan warm.


This dish goes great with:

Chicken Tikka Masala (Crock Pot)

Simple Basmati Rice