Homemade Naan Bread -- for dinner, lunch & BREAKFAST!

What do you think of when it comes to Indian cuisine? For me: aromatic spices, crispy veggies and tender meat, and NAAN!

I had always thought that naan would be unattainable without a clay oven, until I stumbled upon this. It seemed so simple that I ought to try it!

Like most breads, you start with proofing the yeast. Throw some yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and wait till it's bubbly.

To the yeast mixture, add some olive oil, egg and plain greek yogurt ( I like Greed Gods).

As usual, all dry ingredients go to a separate bowl. Make sure you mix them well.

Dig a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients in. Mix until they come together and form a dough.  Walk away and let the rise until double in size. (I so totally walked away that I stopped taking pictures. My apologies...)

Divide the dough into eight parts and stretch them thin. Pan fry each one in a heated pan for about 2 minutes per side.You should get a bit coloring when flipping the dough.

The smell and tasted wonderful fresh off the stove-top!

Homemade Naan Bread 

serves 8

(adapted from this)

2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar 

1/2 cup warm water 

1/4 cup olive oil 

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt 

1 large egg 

3 cups flour 

dash of salt

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and the warm water in a bowl and wait till it's bubbly.
2. To the yeast mixture, add the olive oil,  plain greek yogurt and egg. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. 
4. Dig a well in the dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly to for a dough. Let it sit and rise until the volume is doubled.
5. Divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll out each part (or stretch them with your hands) until they are less than 1/3 inch (1 cm)  thick. 
6. Heat up a non-stick skillet (spray additional vegetable oil if desired). Heat up the flattened dough for about 2 minutes on each side. 

Oh, fresh naan I love you so much! It actually tasted better than most of the Naans from the restuarant because I got to have them hot and fresh ( maybe the greek yogurt helped as well). I imagine the addition of garlic granulates or other herb/spice blend will make this even better.

We had it for dinner with steak au poivre, and this seeming odd pairing actually turned out great! The naan soaked up the au jus just fine and and lightness balanced off a heavy dish just perfectly. I honestly can't wait to try it with a good lamb curry.

I had it with my lunch, accompanying an arugula salad with broiled cod and a lemon-vinaigrette dressing. I toasted the naan briefly, and the crunchy bite made my lunch extremely satisfying.

D also had it for breakfast with some homemade breakfast patties and scrabbled eggs. As far as I can tell, it suits a man's appetite :D

What a great bread to have for ANY meal!

Cost:

Believe it or not, the most expensive ingredient was actually the greek yogurt. It typically cost $5 for 24 oz (1.5 cup) at our co-op but sometimes they have it on promotion for $3. Regardless, each naan should cost you no more than $0.25. (vs. $3.00 for four pieces at the restaurant?)