Dinner last night was a prawn curry, cooked by my mum, but I offered to have a go at making naan breads to accompany this. I’d idly considered making them before but this seemed like the perfect opportunity as I could concentrate on them and not have to worry about doing the curry to go with them. So dinner was a bit of a collaborative effort last night. I am happy to say that, after I’d made the first few, naan breads were easy and absolutely delicious! Naan bread is like pancakes, the first one or two are a bit rubbish but once you get the right level of fat then you’re away! Next time I will know exactly what to do and, I hope, anyone trying this recipe themselves will benefit from my experimentation.
Ghee is the only odd ingredient here, if you can’t find it then just use butter and you’ll be fine. I’ve seen it in major supermarkets and smaller indian/asian shops too.
Makes 9
500g strong bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
7 g sachet fast action yeast
2 tsp granulated sugar
150ml milk (warm)
150ml natural yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ghee, melted
– In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, yeast and sugar.
– In a jug beat together the yogurt, egg and oil.
– Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the milk and the yogurt mixture.
– Use a wooden spoon to mix together the ingredients until it forms a smooth dough, if it seems a bit sticky add more flour.
– Turn out onto a floured worksurface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and soft.
– Oil a bowl and place the dough in the bowl, lightly oiling it too.
– Cover with a damp teatowel and leave to rise in a warm, draft free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
– Knock down the dough and turn it out onto a worksurface.
– Knead a little and roll out into a long saussage.
– Divide into 9 equal portions. Roll these into balls.
– Keep the balls covered by the damp teatowel while you work with the dough.
– Heat a cast iron pan, with a lid, on the hob on a medium heat, you want it to be hot but not burn.
– Brush the bottom of the pan with melted ghee. It should spit and bubble but not smoke.
– Roll out one portion of dough into an oval, aim for the classic naan teardrop shape if you can.
– Slap the shaped dough into the pan and press it our a bit with your fingers.
– Put the lid on the pan and leave it for 2 minutes.
– Take the lid off and brush the top side of the naan with melted ghee then flip over and cook for a further minute with the lid on.
– Take out of the pan and cover with a teatowel to keep warm.
– Repeat the process with each of your portions of dough. If you have a bigger pan than me then you could easily do 2 naan at once.
– Serve warm with your favourite curry.
Anna in the kitchen 