No Naan-sense – it’s the best Naan!

I wanted to post this along with the Chicken Tikka Masala, but it was already too late at night. 🙂 Now – it’s still too late – the next night, and I should just go to bed. I’ve been on the bike again – 21 miles today – and my foot has been feeling much….calmer. Not sure if it’s “better,” but definitely an improvement. I’ve noticed a mark on top where the swelling is concentrated and am wondering if I perhaps dropped a heavy object on it in the recent past, or had someone else do the honors (like one of my kids) and just totally blocked it out. (In other words – maybe it’s not a stress fracture after all?? Wishful thinking?) In case you’re thinking of buying naan at the store – from the shelf or the freezer – to eat with your homemade curries, I’d at give this recipe a shot at least once. I promise you won’t regret it. I attempted a similar homemade naan last year and decided to give it up. First choice: naan from the Indian take-out; Second choice: naan from the grocery store; Third choice: homemade naan. It just wasn’t worth the time and effort because it wasn’t nearly as yummy as the prepackaged stuff. BUT THEN….

I stumbled upon a better way to cook it. You’re supposed to do it in a tandoori oven. Good luck with that.

Thankfully, a cast iron skillet on the stovetop just about does the trick!! I don’t even have a gas stove like what was recommended (The recipe wants you to cook some of it over the open flame. Right.), and it was still terrific. Okay, enough chitter-chatter. I know you want to eat some of this stuff, and reading it right here and now will save you time looking up a recipe:

homemade naan, being brushed with garlic butter to serve

HOMEMADE SOAKED-FLOUR WHOLE GRAIN NAAN

(I used a recipe without soaking it as my “how to cook naan” recipe, then found a whole wheat recipe, modifying it as below for freshly ground flour.)

Soak:

The night before, combine:

3 scant cups freshly ground flour

1 Tbsp gluten

1 cup yogurt

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp honey

1/8 cup almond milk (any milk will do)

This will be very stiff, with barely enough liquid to hold it together. I had to squeeze it all with my hands to mix. Cover the bowl tightly and leave overnight (12-24 hours.)

The proof:

The next day, a few hours before sitting down to eat the curry, combine well:
1/8-1/4 cup very warm water (not too warm – you don’t want to kill the yeast!)
2 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast (1 packet)
½ tsp honey
¼ tsp Baking Powder

Let sit until bubbling well, then add it to your soaked mixture, along with 1 1/2 tsp salt, and a bit of garlic powder if you’d like (or how about garlic salt?)

This “dough” was so stiff both times I made it that I needed to put it into my mixer to incorporate the proof with the flour mixture. Don’t add the salt and the proof at the same time, but get one worked into the dough first and then the other.

Let rise a few hours – until doubled. Form into balls about the size of peaches and then roll each one out before cooking. Melt butter in the skillet til sizzling hot and starting to brown, then quickly cook one side of the naan, with the skillet COVERED. After it has a few large bubbles form and that one side has cooked about 90 seconds, flip it and cook another 1-2 minutes. Remove and serve right away, slathered in garlic butter! The links I gave go into greater detail. Enjoy!

balls of naan dough, waiting to be rolled out

popping the naan on the skillet