Simple Garlic Naan Recipe (Traditional Indian Bread)
A straightforward recipe for garlic naan — soft, pan-cooked Indian flatbreads flavored with garlic and cilantro butter.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 - 2 cupsall-purpose flour plain flour(see note 1)
- 1 teaspoondried instant yeast see note 2
- 1/2 teaspoontable salt
- pinchsugar
- 3/4 cupwarm water
- 3 tablespoonoil see note 3
- 1/2 cupsalted butter
- 2 teaspoondried garlic flakes
- 2 teaspoondried cilantro
Instructions
Instructions
- Gather ingredients and equipment: 1 ½–2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon dried instant yeast, ½ teaspoon salt, a pinch of sugar, ¾ cup warm water, 3 tablespoons oil, ½ cup salted butter, 2 teaspoons dried garlic flakes, 2 teaspoons dried cilantro, a stand mixer with dough hook (optional) or a large mixing bowl, a heavy skillet or griddle, cling film, a floured work surface, and foil.
- In the stand mixer bowl (or a large mixing bowl), add 1 ½–2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon dried instant yeast, ½ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of sugar. Stir briefly to combine the dry ingredients.
- Add ¾ cup warm water and 3 tablespoons oil to the dry ingredients.
- If using a stand mixer: fit the dough hook and mix on low for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. If mixing by hand: use a fork or butter knife to bring the ingredients together into a ragged dough, then turn the dough onto a floured board and knead by hand for about 15 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover the bowl with cling film, and let the dough rest and rise for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, punch the dough down to release air, then divide it into three roughly equal portions and shape each portion into a ball.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Taking one ball at a time, use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten each ball into an oval or teardrop shape sized to fit your skillet or griddle. Keep the other dough balls covered while you work.
- Place a heavy skillet or griddle over high heat and allow it to become searingly hot.
- While the skillet heats, melt ½ cup salted butter in a small microwavable bowl for 45–60 seconds or until just melted. Stir in 2 teaspoons dried garlic flakes and 2 teaspoons dried cilantro to make the garlic butter.
- Cook each naan: place one shaped piece of dough onto the hot skillet and cook for 1–2 minutes, until it begins to puff and develop light charred spots. Flip and cook the other side for another 1–2 minutes.
- Remove the cooked naan to a plate, drizzle or brush with the prepared garlic-cilantro butter, then cover the naan with foil and place it in a low oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pieces.
- Repeat steps 10–11 with the remaining dough pieces. Serve warm.
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook (optional)
- Large Mixing Bowl
- heavy skillet or griddle
- small microwavable bowl
- Rolling Pin
- floured work surface
- cling film
- Foil
- oven (low setting, optional to keep warm)
Notes
Not all cup measures are created equal, I have found that my 4 different sets all give me a different amount of flour! And then depending on how you fill your cup, the quantity of flour will vary quite significantly as well!I lightly pack my cups and then level them off. Start by adding 1 ½ cups of flour and mixing it, if you find the dough is too wet, add up to ½ cup more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.If you have scales in the house, then this is the perfect time to use them. By weight you need 10.5oz/300g of flour.
The recipe calls for dryinstantyeast, I use either, Red Star Quick-Rise, Fleischmann's RapidRise or Lowan Instant Dried Yeast.If you have dry active yeast, then you can use that but you will need to adapt the recipe as follows:Measure the water into the mixing bowl first and dissolve the yeast. To do this just sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and leave for 5 minutes. You can then add the remaining ingredients and proceed with the recipe.
3 tablespoon of oil = 45ml of oil. (The recipe uses US/UK 15ml tablespoons rather than the AU/NZ 20ml tablespoons)
The dough should be soft, so lightly flour your board or work surface to stop it sticking. Roughly divide the dough into 3 pieces and then roll each piece out until it is a little thicker than ¼ inch thick. Don't be too worried about it, just roll it out so it will fit in the skillet or griddle, if some bits are thicker than others it won't matter, just try and get it anywhere between ¼" and a ½" thick. (6mm-9mm)
The recipe calls for dryinstantyeast, I use either, Red Star Quick-Rise, Fleischmann's RapidRise or Lowan Instant Dried Yeast.If you have dry active yeast, then you can use that but you will need to adapt the recipe as follows:Measure the water into the mixing bowl first and dissolve the yeast. To do this just sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and leave for 5 minutes. You can then add the remaining ingredients and proceed with the recipe.
3 tablespoon of oil = 45ml of oil. (The recipe uses US/UK 15ml tablespoons rather than the AU/NZ 20ml tablespoons)
The dough should be soft, so lightly flour your board or work surface to stop it sticking. Roughly divide the dough into 3 pieces and then roll each piece out until it is a little thicker than ¼ inch thick. Don't be too worried about it, just roll it out so it will fit in the skillet or griddle, if some bits are thicker than others it won't matter, just try and get it anywhere between ¼" and a ½" thick. (6mm-9mm)