Soft and Fluffy Indian Naan Flatbread

Haven’t you ever been to an Indian restaurant and thought well this naan roll is delicious and so fresh, well because 99% of the time it’s freshly made, you can make it in a bread oven, tandoor or in a frying pan and like any yeasty dough once you have the dough ready you can make a lot of naan rolls in no time at all.

There are also several varieties with different seasonings and fillings, sweet with coconut or garlic, but this is the basic recipe, if you want to make the other varieties it’s easy, just fill or cover with the sauces, I’ll put some of the popular varieties below, but for now let’s get to the recipe!

Soft and Fluffy Indian Naan Flatbread

Servings: 6
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Naan is a traditional Indian flatbread, typically made from refined wheat flour and cooked in a tandoor, or clay oven. Known for its soft, chewy texture and slightly charred flavor, naan is often enjoyed with a variety of curries and dishes, making it a staple in Indian cuisine.

Ingredients

Flour – 270gr
Sugar – 3 teaspoons
Baker’s Yeast – 10gr (1 Pack)
Salt – A pinch
Anise Seeds – 1/2 teaspoon (Optional)
Yogurt – 100gr
Olive Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Water – 175ml (Hot)
Butter – To brush on
Coriander – Chopped (or Parsley)

Directions

In a bowl add the flour, baker’s yeast, sugar and anise seeds, mix.
In another bowl add the yogurt, olive oil and hot water, and mix as well.
Then combine the liquids and solids, mix until you have a slightly sticky ball of dough, place the ball in a large bowl and cover with cling film and a cloth, then leave it to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it to a marble worktop or a large board sprinkled with flour, sprinkle the dough with flour and add just enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick together.

Stretch out the dough into a log, then cut it into individual portions, in my case 6 portions, but you can cut larger or smaller according to the size of naan bread you want to make.

Then roll out the dough using a rolling pin. You don’t need to be very precise with the shape, just make sure it’s thin. Note that the dough will swell 3 times more when cooking, so you can roll the dough out very thinly.

Now place it in a very hot frying pan, I recommend a non-stick or cast iron frying pan, these will release the bread more easily, since you aren’t adding any fat to the pan.
As it cooks you’ll see it start to bubble and rise, cook both sides until they’re golden brown, remove from the pan and repeat until you have no more dough.

Once done, brush each naan generously with melted butter and a pinch of coriander and you’re done, bon appetit.

Notes: You don’t have to make them all at once, you can store the dough in the fridge for a couple of days without any problems. You can also make other versions of naan bread, the classic ones are:

Garlic Naan, simply add chopped garlic and butter to a frying pan and cook over a low heat for a few minutes, then brush the naan with this mixture and a pinch of coriander.

Peshwari Naan, very common for breakfast, comes from the city of Peshawar in Pakistan. Basically, you use a bit more dough, stretch it very thin and then fill it with dried fruit, raisins and grated coconut, fold the dough, press it a little and cook it as normal.

Paneer Naan, as the name implies, is filled with paneer cheese, chopped coriander and onion, cumin and garam masala.

Aloo Naan, this is filled with mashed potato mixed with chilli flakes, coriander and garam masala.

This recipe for Soft and Fluffy Indian Naan Flatbread was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Pão Naan Indiano foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.