I’ve been givin’ my oven some lovin’ lately and experimenting with bread making. I’ve made a few loaves of sourdough, sourdough pizza crust, and pita bread. They’ve been moderate successes, but I haven’t been able to master any of them just yet. The problem lies with my ancient oven, which never gets very hot. I’m not ready to give up bread making until we move into another apartment just yet, though. I remembered that I saved a recipe for pan-fried naan a couple weeks ago and I thought I might have more success with that. I was so right. The fact that naan is so ridiculously easy to make is not a good thing. Now I don’t want to eat anything else ever again.
In case you’re unfamiliar, naan (which means “bread” in many languages, by the way) is a teardrop shaped leavened flat bread that is typically cooked in a clay oven called a tandoor. It is a staple food in Central and South Asia. Of course, I don’t have a tandoor, so pan frying naan is the next best thing for me. And so ridiculously easy. If you can make pancakes, you can make naan. Try to eat just one, I dare you.
Naan
(adapted from The Little Red House)
Print this recipe1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting and rolling
1/4 cup olive oil (the recipe called for canola oil, but we usually only ever buy olive, peanut, and coconut oil)
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 egg, beaten
oil or ghee, for fryingIn a large bowl, mix together water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
Add flour, salt, oil, yogurt, and beaten egg. Stir until you have a dough that’s easy to work with, add more flour if needed. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, or about an hour.
On a floured surface, divide the dough into 6-8 pieces. Roll out each piece very thinly and set aside.
Heat oil or ghee (not too much! Just a little for each piece) in a large skillet. When hot, add the naan and cook until blistered and golden brown. Flip and cook until golden on the other side. Repeat with remaining naan. Serve with your favorite curry.
Makes 6-8 naan
Not quite what you had in mind? Try the recipe index.
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Tags: baking, bread, side dish, vegetarian
While I knew, theoretically, that Naan can be made on a stove top – I’ve never tried it. Thanks for sharing this easy recipe , I’ll be trying it soon!
These look delicious! I love naan and tortillas, but haven’t made naan. This looks like such a good recipe that I might give it a try!
If either of you make it, I’d love to know how it goes!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made these yesterday and they were fantastic! And you were right I couldn’t eat just one
Sure thing, Lidija! I’m glad you liked them. They’re now my go-to flat bread.
Thanks for the recipe! I made these tonight and they were great! Now I have a ton left over and I’m excited to find some yummy things to do with them. Next time I’m going to try adding a little garlic into the dough.. mmm
So glad you liked them, Lucy. I made naan again a little over a week ago and I added garlic. The flavor of the garlic didn’t come through as much as I had hoped, so I think I’ll add more next time!
ok, finally got around to making these. THANK YOU, they were tremendously easy and awesome. Do let us know how much garlic you end up adding once you get the garlic version perfected!
Hi Rose, just wanted to let you know that the recipe worked absolutely they came out gorgeous. Your recipe is now part of my recipe book. Thanks!
Ooo BTW, just saw the comment on the garlic version. I made your recipe and in a bowl I mixed some olive oil and about 5 gloves of garlic, I brushed this on top of the naan before frying them in pan. It came out good, I well next time use more garlic or perhaps ad some garlic in the dough as well.
Hi Claire, I’m glad the recipe worked out well for you! I’m honored that the recipe is now part of your recipe book.
I still haven’t perfected a garlic naan recipe, but I think next time I’ll try roasting a head of garlic with a little bit of olive oil and then mashing the cloves into a paste and incorporating it into the dough. If you perfect a garlic naan recipe, I’d love to hear about it!
hi, i really love your cooking & i did some of them too ^^
but i would like to ask about Butter chicken if you could tell me how to do it .. thankyou very much
Hi, Amna! Thank you! Have you seen my recipe for butter chicken? I posted it a few days ago. It’s here: http://avocadobravado.net/2010/08/02/butter-chicken/
If you have any questions about the recipe, there is a form right here on the site you can fill out or you can e-mail me at rose[at]avocadobravado.net.
Hi Rose!
I made these last night with my Chicken Tikka Masala recipe from your site and they were amazing!!! thanks so much for posting!
Sure thing! In May-June I made these about three times along with a half dozen other baked goods. Then I gained five pounds. Oops! As much as I loved these, I’m holding off on making them for awhile, hahaha.
it’s look yammi
but actually the oven called Tanoor not Tandoor
I think it’s called a tanoor in Arabic in Persian, but tandoor in other languages.