This might possibly be the post with the shortest title EVER on TKP. NAAN. Good ol’ regular tasty-as-heck naan. It really doesn’t need any other descriptor in the title!
I made you guys a naan without yeast a few months ago, to go with the life-changing butter chicken, and even though that’s great for a night when you need naan NOW… real naan is better. Yeasty naan is so. darn. good! It’s fluffy and soft and tasty and absorbent and pretty much perfect for dipping in this. And this. And this. And there we have a paragraph with links to every Indian recipe on this blog — which happen to be some of my favorites! YUUUM.
This naan has melted butter and Greek yogurt and honey — all three of which would be great ON naan, but are also great IN naan. Yum. Now I want a piece with all three on top… Ooooh yeah!
The only quasi-intimidating part of this recipe is the whole “put it on an open flame” part. Trust me though, you want to do this. It’ll give it those nice charred (aka flavorful) bits and puff up to make sure the inside is cooked well. DO IT. I honestly just set mine down on the stove grate above the flame, leave it for a bit, flip, and remove! Easy. You’ll get the hand of it. Then you’ll start doing it with your flour tortillas and no utensils. Sorry fingers! Who needs fingerprints, anyways?
Serve this up with anything saucy. Or slather some butter on it and call it a breakfast. Or made the healthy slow cooker butter chicken I posted Monday! You’ll have the Greek yogurt for it, anyways! xo
- ¾ cup water heated to 115°
- 1 tsp. honey
- 2¼ tsp dry yeast
- 2 cups AP flour
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- ½ tsp salt
- melted ghee and cilantro for garnishing (optional)
- Stir together the water and honey before adding the yeast. Let the yeast proof until foamy (about 10 minutes).
- Combine the flour, yogurt, melted butter, salt, and yeast mixture and stir to combine (or use a stand mixer with a dough hook). Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).
- Cover, and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Gently shape the dough into balls, then roll out into ¼" thick rounds.
- In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the rounds one at a time. Cook on the first side until bubbles appear, then flip and cook for another minute. After both sides are cooked in the pan, use tongs to cook the naan over an open gas flame until puffed and charred (about 30 seconds each side).
- Immediately brush with ghee, if using, garnish with cilantro, and set aside. Repeat until all naan has been cooked.
Naan bread on an open flame! Well, why not? I put my corn tortillas on an open gas flame frequently enough. 🙂 These sound super simple and super tasty!
I don’t have a gas stove or BBQ …. how would I “char” the naan bread?
Hi Betty! I’d put them in a pan on the stove over fairly high heat and cook on each side until there are some blackened spots! Enjoy!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. How, what is APRIL flour?
What I meant was what is A P flour?
Hi Dorothy! AP is all purpose flour! Enjoy!
It’s 20 below zero.. to cold to go out. What can I use instead of yogurt
Hi Dona! You could try milk (but less than the yogurt, so it’s not too runny!), or potentially sour cream! Lemme know how it goes!
Is it okay if the dough was sticky while kneading it?
Definitely! This is a pretty sticky dough!
All purpose flour= AP
By the way charred food is very attractive, it is why Americans love so much their BBQ but do you know that the carbonization developed by an open flame on food is scientifically recognized as carcinogenic . So be careful !
Living in this world is carcinogenic…so don’t sweat it.
Could I use this recipe with the rapid rise yeast you use in breadmakers? I assume the time you let it sit and rise would just be shorter…?
Hi Elizabeth! I supposed you could, but I really have zero experience here… so I’m not totally sure! Let me know how it goes if you try it! xo
I substituted sour cream 1:1 for Greek yogurt and it worked just fine. This is a great recipe that produces tasty, brown-spotted naan without a tandoor. Amazing!
I also used a cast-iron skillet instead of traditional non-stick.
So glad you liked it, Eric! Thanks for the note on sour cream — good to know it works! xo