Naan

Tandoori-Style Naan

Soft, pillowy leavened flatbread traditionally slapped onto the wall of a clay tandoor oven. Here we use a screaming-hot cast-iron skillet or baking steel under a high oven broiler, with a charcoal smoke trick to mimic tandoor char.

Prep

90 min

Cook

15 min

Total

105 min

Serves

6 (makes 6 naan)

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •375 g (13 oz / about 3 cups) plain flour, Indian maida if available; otherwise use unbleached all-purpose
• •10 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt
• •4 g (1¼ tsp) instant dried yeast
• •8 g (1 tbsp + 1 tsp) caster sugar
• •180 ml (¾ cup) whole-milk yoghurt, slightly soured, at room temperature
• •90 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) warm milk, around 38 °C / 100 °F
• •40 ml (3 tbsp) neutral oil or melted ghee, plus extra for the bowl
• •1 large egg, optional, for richer dough
• •30 g (2 tbsp) melted ghee, for brushing the baked naan
• •2 g (1 tsp) nigella seeds (kalonji), optional topping; can substitute 1 tsp toasted sesame
• •2 g (1 tsp) minced garlic, optional, for garlic naan variation

Steps

1. 1 Whisk yeast and sugar into the warm milk and let stand 8-10 minutes until foamy. If it does not foam, discard and start again.
2. 2 In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Add yoghurt, oil (or ghee), the egg (if using), and the foamy yeast mixture. Stir to a shaggy dough.
3. 3 Turn out and knead 8-10 minutes by hand (or 5-6 minutes on a stand mixer with dough hook) until smooth, elastic, and pulling away from the bowl. The dough should be soft but not sticky; add 1 tbsp flour at a time if it sticks badly.
4. 4 Shape into a ball, rub with a thin film of oil, place in an oiled bowl, cover, and rise at warm room temperature for 60-90 minutes until roughly doubled.
5. 5 Punch down and divide into 6 equal balls (about 115 g each). Roll each into a smooth ball, place on a parchment-lined tray, cover, and rest 15 minutes.
6. 6 Preheat a heavy cast-iron skillet or baking steel on the highest burner setting for at least 5 minutes (or preheat oven broiler with rack in the top third), and set a rack/grid as close to the element as possible.
7. 7 On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball into a teardrop about 22 cm long and 4-5 mm thick, stretching with your hands if you can. Scatter pinches of nigella (and garlic for garlic naan) and press them in.
8. 8 Lay the rolled naan onto the dry, piping-hot skillet. Cook 45-90 seconds until bubbles rise and the underside shows dark brown spots, then flip and cook 30-60 seconds more.
9. 9 For a tandoor-style char, immediately slide the partly cooked naan onto a rack under the broiler, top side up, and broil 60-90 seconds until puffed and spotted with char. (Alternative tandoor trick: set a small steel bowl with 2 tbsp smoking-hot ghee-dipped charcoal on a foil tray inside a closed pot with the naan; cover 30 seconds to capture the smoke.)
10. 10 Brush liberally with melted ghee, wrap in a clean tea towel to keep soft while you cook the remaining naan. Repeat for each ball.
11. 11 Serve hot, torn by hand, alongside curry. Best eaten within an hour of cooking.