When I was little, any time I had to go to an Indian party/function, I always knew that if I didn’t like the food, I could always fill up on Naan. It was my favorite bread and it is a staple in Indian restaurants and Indian parties. It isn’t just like any bread. The addition of yogurt gives this bread a tangy taste. This flatbread is normally made in a special Tandoor oven (Cylindrical clay oven). I have always told myself, that I will master this bread (despite the lack of Tandoor). Today, I decided to cook Indian Butter Chicken and Mint-Zucchini Raita, what better excuse to practice my naan making skills. The best part, I have found that today’s attempt was my best ever.
Fresh Homemade Naan
Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 1/2 tablespoons of plain yogurt
3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of butter, softened
extra flour (For use when rolling)
1 tablespoon of melted butter (for brushing)
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients together and knead until dough is soft.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with saran wrap and allow it to rest for 1-2 hours
- Place a baking tray, close to broiler and heat the oven to 500F
- Divide dough into 6 equal parts and form them into balls and coat with extra flour
- Roll each ball into thin rounds 1/4 inch thick
- Place oven on broil (you now have a hot oven and a hot baking pan in the oven)
- Carefully lay one Naan on the hot baking pan and shut the oven
- Watch as the naan starts bubbling and rising. As soon as the top starts browning a bit, take it out of the oven with a spatula
- Brush melted butter onto of naan and cover naan
- Continue with remaining naan.
Golden Brown and Soft
Samina Cooks 
Do you think this would work with rice flour to make the recipe gluten free?
I got your comment while I was out running errands and I bought some yogurt to try it 🙂 Will post with the results!
Hello Sara!
Just finished dinner and I wanted to share the results of the experiment. I used the exact recipe in this post to make the naan, omitting flour and using white rice flour. This is a picture of the results: https://saminacooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/20121024_165436-e1351121244294.jpg From what I understand, using white rice flour, tends to have a grainy texture. I found this to be true. It is recommended mixing Brown Rice Flour, along with the White Rice Flour, to reduce that texture. What I found with using white rice flour: It tastes like a cross between a tortilla and naan. You have to be careful not to mix too much water, or you will not be able to form a dough. The dough will be crumbly (I could not bake this as I do the naan, but rather on a very hot frying pan. I took a ball of the dough and placed it between two pieces of parchment paper (The dough is very delicate and until cooked, will not hold) I made these as thin as possibly without ripping and cooked them on both sides and brushed them with butter. It stays soft and were pretty tasty. This is worth experimenting further. Good luck and let me know your methods and results! Happy Cooking!
Thank you! I will give this a try this weekend!
Made this a few nights ago. Very tasty, but when I made the dough, it was very wet and needed probably 1/4 to a 1/2 cup more flour.
I used a flat cast iron skillet instead of a baking pan.
With practice, I can see this being absolutely amazing, as it was, I really needed to roll the dough out thinner. Looking forward to trying it again soon!
So glad you tried it and thank you for the feedback!
These came out great!
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed them!