Naan (Leavened Flat Breads)
Submitted by msadams
Homemade naan with a yogurt-leavened dough, no yeast required. Cooked on a cast-iron skillet then finished under the broiler for charred spots and puffed bubbles. Makes 9 pieces.
YIELD
9 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
2 hrsNo tandoor, no yeast, no problem. This naan uses yogurt and baking powder to leaven the dough, and a cast-iron skillet plus your broiler to fake the tandoor’s fierce dry heat.
The dough rests for up to two hours after kneading, which gives the yogurt time to relax the gluten and make rolling easier. Each piece goes onto a screaming-hot skillet for 4 to 5 minutes, then directly under the broiler for about a minute. That’s when it happens: the naan puffs up and develops those characteristic reddish-brown spots, the closest a home oven gets to tandoor char.
Brush with butter the moment it comes off the heat, and keep finished pieces stacked under a clean cloth while you work through the rest.
Baker’s Tips
- Get the skillet genuinely very hot before the first naan goes in. A lukewarm skillet won’t produce the right texture.
- Use just enough yogurt to bring the dough together. Adding too much makes a sticky dough that tears during rolling.
- To reheat leftovers, wrap in foil and heat in the oven. They come back remarkably well.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
Slowly add as much yogurt as you need to gather the flour together and make a soft, resilient dough.
Knead for about 10 minutes and form a ball.
Put the ball in a bowl and cover the bowl with a damp dishcloth.
Set aside in a warm place for 1½ to 2 hours.
Knead the dough again and divide into nine equal parts.
Keep them covered.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over a lowish flame, and preheat the broiler.
Take one of the parts of dough and make a ball out of it.
Flatten it and then roll out on a lightly floured surface until you have a round that is about ⅛ inch thick.
When the skillet is very hot, pick up the naan and slap it onto the heated surface.
Let it cook slowly for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Now put the skillet under the broiler for 1 to 1½ minutes or until the puffing-up process is complete and there are a few reddish spots on the naan.
Remove the naan with a spatula and brush with butter if you like.
Make all the naans this way, keeping them stacked and covered with a clean dishcloth.
Serve hot.
If you wish to have the naans later, wrap them in a plastic bag when they have cooled.
Before you eat, wrap as many as you need in aluminum foil and heat in an oven at 400℉ (200℃) for 15 minutes.
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