How to Make Homemade Indian Naan

Super Bowl food? I think so!

Last week I waxed longingly of my Indian food obsession. Here’s the accompanying naan that will complete your life in every way.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

 For the dough: combine 1/ 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast, 3/4 cup warm water (not hot!), and 2 teaspoons honey. Stir to dissolve. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and a couple grinds of pepper.

Pour foamy yeast mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated. It will look like this: Add a little flour and knead the dough a few times in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about double in size, about 1 1/2 hours. It will look like this:Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes, forming into a ball, like so:Cut the ball in half because you get to make two naans!Roll out on floured surface, making a circle of some sort. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If it was, I wouldn’t be the one showing you the recipe 🙂

The dough is done and ready to cook! But let’s give it some mouth-watering death-defying flavor…In a saucepan: add 1/2 a tablespoon butter, lots of salt and pepper, chopped onion, and a glob of chopped garlic. Let it cook until fragrant smells rise…mmmmm. Salivary glands are working.I over-rolled the dough, then awkwardly put it in the pan, smoothed it out and it was all good. It’s hard to mess up. Let dough cook for just a few minutes, checking the underside until it looks like this: Flip! Cook the other side until they both look like this. Admire it until your children jump up and down impatiently to just eat it already.Slide the naan onto a cutting board. You can cut or pull apart.Take a sniff, pat yourself on the back, and know your work for the day is done.

Indian naan is what my sister-in-law calls a “pusher,” you know that tasty piece of something you push the food around with that really completes a dish? This naan completes this Chicken Tikka Masala perfectly. Now you’ve got a dinner the whole family loves – my children gobbled so fast I had to fight for my share!

I don’t have anything against purchasing naan, especially from an authentic market or restaurant. Trader Joe’s does a nice one, but homemade is a hands-down winner. We don’t have to make everything by hand (thank goodness), but spending time to plant a seed or pick some kale or roll dough reminds me of this quote:

“The fast food culture sees that we forget – the best things take Time and Presence.”    -Alice Waters

Recipe is adapted from Iron Chef’s Alex Guarnaschelli’s Flatbread with Charred Broccoli and Roasted Grapes (we just happen to like onions and garlic 🙂

Indian Naan with Roasted Garlic and Onion

 

May you have a most marvelous weekend! Love, Amy