Naan maybe the second food that put Indian cuisine on a global stage after chicken tikka masala! Hailing from the north of India, naan is a soft fluffy bread, cooked traditionally in a tandoor (clay oven). It is a perfect edible utensil to scoop up delicious curry with. Traditional naan is made with yeast. I am going to pen down an yeast, yogurt and egg free recipe due to the lack of supplies during these times of quarantine and lockdowns.
Growing up, naan was never made at home. We always got naan at a restaurant. In my family everyone likes their naan differently… some with butter, some without, some like it spicy, while the others cheesy. So we always ended up ordering a naan bread basket. It is a combination of different kinds of naan. This post is inspired by the same naan basket.
What you will need:
| Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| For the dough: | |
| Baking Powder | 3/4 teaspoon |
| Baking Soda | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Melted Butter or Oil | 4 tablespoons of butter or 1/4 cup oil |
| Sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| All purpose flour | 3 cups |
| Warm Milk | 1 cup |
| For the toppings: | |
| Finely Chopped Green Chilies | 1 tablespoon |
| Chili Flakes | 1 tablespoon |
| Butter | 1 tablespoons |
| Finely Chopped Garlic | 1 tablespoon |
| Finely Chopped Onion | 1 tablespoon |
| Cheese | 1 tablespoons |
| Onion Seeds/ Kalonji | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Finely Chopped Cilantro | 1 tablespoon |
| Finely Chopped Mint | 1 tablespoon |
How to make it:
- In a mixing bowl, take all purpose flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, baking powder. Mix everything together.
- Now add melted butter and milk and knead into a very soft dough. Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes.
- Tip: Usually yeast or yogurt is used to make the naan soft and fluffy. However, since we are not using either, it is important to knead the dough really well so that the gluten is well formed. I prefer using my kitchenaid for the dough so it saves me some time.
- Grease your rolling surface and rolling pin. Place a non stick frying pan on the stove and heat it on a high flame. Cast iron works best!
- Form a dough ball and roll it out. If you want to add toppings to the naan, add them at this point. Place the topping on the top and roll it out once so that they stick to the dough.
Place the topping and roll it out - Now add water to the underside of the naan and place it on the hot frying pan. The water will help to stick the naan to the pan and give it the effect of a tandoor oven.
- Cover and cook for around 1 min. You will see the naan puff up a little bit.
- Now flip the whole pan and hover over the open flame to let the naan cook the rest of the way and get a char on top.
Flip the pan and cook on an open flame - Place the naan in a keep warm container until ready to eat.
- Enjoy with a curry of your choice.
- Since this naan is not made with yogurt or yeast, try to eat it within a day.
Different kinds of naan modification: Follow the same dough recipe and procedure above. The only thing you will do differently is switch the toppings. The topping quantities above are enough for 3 naans. Adjust accordingly.
- For plain naan: Follow the above recipe without adding any toppings.
- For butter naan: Make plain naan and then add butter on top.
- For butter garlic naan: Add butter and garlic as a topping.
- For kalonji naan: Add onion seeds and cilantro as toppings.
- For chili naan: Add green chilies and chili flakes as toppings.
- For chili garlic naan: Add green chilies and garlic as toppings.
- For chili cheese naan: Add green chilies as toppings. Once, roasted on top of the fire, turn the gas to a simmer. Add cheese, cover and let the cheese melt.
- For pudina naan: Add mint as a topping.
- For garlic naan: Add garlic and cilantro as a topping.
- For onion naan: Add onions as the topping.