I’ve made a lot of different Naan recipes throughout the years, tweaked them here and there to get to the perfect recipe. This recipe is easy and delicious, and nothing beats the smell of a yeasty flatbread baking in the oven. Pulling it out of the oven, brushing it with a little ghee or butter and eating it while it’s still piping hot is a little slice of heaven.
Naan is a yeast-leavened flatbread enriched with yogurt and in my recipe eggs as well. Very popular in Middle Eastern and Central Asia, Naan’s origins date back hundreds of years, the first recorded text by the Persian poet Amir Kushrau dating back to 1300 AD.
Why does Naan have a teardrop shape?
Traditionally naan is baked stuck to the inside of the chimney portion of a Tandoor oven. Holding onto one end of the dough and slapping the naan against the inside of the Tandoor ovens chimney caused the dough to stretch into a teardrop shape. The extremely high temperatures in the Tandoor oven, approximately 900F, quickly cook the bread, causing large bubbles to form, creating a blister effect that becomes slightly charred and has a great slightly smoky flavor.
To recreate the blistering effect while maintaining the traditional teardrop shape of Naan. I cook the bread in a very hot 450F oven on a large pizza stone that is blistering hot. The quick cooking time is only around 7-minutes, and the resulting hot fresh bread is simply irresistible. Spread with ghee or butter, you may actually fill up on bread before your meal actually starts.
What’s the difference between Naan and Pita Bread?
- Both Naan and Pita Bread are yeast-leavened flatbread.
- Naan is an enriched bread containing eggs and yogurt. Naan is not vegan-friendly.
- Pita is not enriched and yeast is classified as a fungus, therefore, my Homemade Pita Bread recipe is vegan-friendly.
- Unfortunately, neither Naan nor Pita Bread is Keto or gluten-free, however, they are relatively healthy with only around 165 calories and 33 grams of carbs.
Warmed on the grill with Tandoor Chicken adds an additional smokiness to the bread
What to eat with Homemade Naan
My Cauliflower Masala is perfect with steaming hot Naan
Tandoori Chicken is one of my favorite ways to grill chicken and perfect with Homemade Naan
I make I pretty awesome Palak Paneer
Or my favorite is, of course, my Dhal and Naan
Here is my Homemade Naan recipe:
Homemade Naan
Equipment
- Pizza Stone
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Water Warm, 115F
- 3 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 5 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt
- 3 Tablespoons Ghee
- 1 Egg
- 4 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F, place a pizza stone in the oven so the stone is very hot when baking
- A stand mixer with a hook attachment is best, but this is easy to do by hand as well
- Add warm water, yeast and sugar to the mixing bowl, let stand for 4-5 minutes until foamy
- Add all ingredients, if using a stand mixer, knead for 5 minutes, by hand, knead for 10 minutes
- The dough should be soft and not sticky
- Place in an oiled bowl in a warm location, let rise for one hour
- Divide into 8 pieces, flatten each piece into a 6-inch round
- As the dough is about to go into the oven, stretch one end of the 6-inch round so the dough has a teardrop shape to it
- Bake for 7-8 minutes
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