Naan a type of flatbread popular in Western & Southern parts of Asia. If you are new to baking, this is an easy recipe to develop your skills and learn about chemical leaveners such as baking powder. A warm and wet environment activates baking powder, creating a gas releasing chemical reaction. These gas bubbles are what make many baked goods rise. Have you ever cracked open a muffin and noticed tiny air pockets (or holes) inside? That’s the result of the baking powder doing it’s job.
Yield: 9 naan
Preparation time: About 35 minutes
Resting time: 1 to 1 ½ hours
Cooking time: About 7 to 8 minutes
INGREDIENT LIST
- 3 ¾ cups (925mL) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp (5mL) baking powder
- ¼ tsp (1mL) salt
- About 1 ¾ cup (425mL) plain yogurt (start with about half and add more if needed)
EQUIPMENT LIST
- Large bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Silicone spatula
- Bench scraper (A.K.A. “Fred”)
- Rolling pin
- Frying pan
- Pancake flipper
METHOD
- Measure the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix together.
- Stir in 1 cup (250mL) of yogurt. Mix together. Add more yogurt if needed and mix well until you have a soft dough that holds together.
- Dust a clean work surface with flour. Scrape dough on to flour and knead for about 10 minutes, until soft and smooth.
- Shape it into a ball and place in clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or clean tea towel. Set in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- Remove dough from bowl. With a bench scraper or a knife, cut the dough into 9 equal sized pieces. (Cut into 3 equal pieces – a Y shape – then cut each piece into 3 equal sized pieces.
- Cover with tea towel. Working with piece of dough at a time, roll dough into a ball then flatten with your hand. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circle until the size of a dessert plate.
- Repeat with other pieces of dough. Cover.
- Place frying pan on stovetop and turn on to a medium heat. Once pan is heated up, place rolled dough into dry pan. Turn heat to medium-low and cook slowly for about 4 minutes. It may puff up in spots.
- Flip over to the other side and cook until puffed up. Remove from the fry pan. Place on plate and cover with clean tea towel.
- Repeat with the other naan.
- Enjoy warm.
SKILLS
STEP-BY-STEP – NAAN!
STEP 1
Accurately measure the flour. The only measuring cups I had available were a 1 cup-size and a ¼ cup-size. How did I measure 3 & 3/4 cups of flour?
STEP 2
Measure 1 tsp. of baking powder & 1/4 tsp. of salt.
STEP 3
Use your claw to mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.
STEP 4
Add 1 cup of plain yogurt to start, stirring using the claw. Add an additional 1/4 cup of yogurt at a time, just enough to combine the dough.
STEP 5
Our shaggy mass is looking like a shaggy mass.
STEP 6
Scrape the dough onto a clean work surface using a pastry scraper.
STEP 7
Knead the dough until smooth, about 10 minutes.
STEP 8
Cover and rest for one hour in a warm place, for example, on top of the oven.
STEP 9
We need to cut the dough into 9 equal sized pieces. Firstly, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces.
STEP 10
Then, cut each piece into another 3 equal pieces.
STEP 11
Roll each piece into a ball and flatten using your hands. Roll each ball of dough flat using a rolling pin.
STEP 12
Roll out to a circle, about 15cm in diameter.
STEP 13
Place in a dry pan (no oil) on medium-low heat. Cook each side for about 4 minutes. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm.
STEP 14
Today we are enjoying this recipe with the Yellow Creamy Curry recipe.
©ProjectCHEF2020 All rights reserved
Not to be copied or reproduced without express permission from the author
