naan bread

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   from "natdiamond,"  a guy who knows his stuff! 

 My friend, I love Indian food and I am constantly looking for authentic recipes. 

Naan should be as thin as pita bread. If made properly, it's much fluffier than pita though, not as dense. Because of the unique properties of naan, it's virtually impossible to nail a restaraunt quality bread without going through all the steps.... 

And remember, in India and Indian restaraunts, they do use the tandoor oven. It's a large round clay oven with the heat coming from the bottom. When they make the round flat naan, they actually stick it to the sides of the tandoor! I've tried grilling it, but oven baking is always closer to the real thing.

Also, any Punjabi will tell you that naan has yogurt in it; dont skip it. It adds acidity and a creamyness to the bread.

After many recipes, here is the one I personally find to be closest to the real deal. Obviously, not bread machine easy, but worth the effort.

Also, you need lots of ghee. Which is basically clarified butter, but a little more cooked. Just take 4 sticks of butter, throw it in a hot pan, melt it and simmer just until it turns golden, not brown. Remove it from the heat, put it in a measuring cup. Let it cool. Then skim off the milkfat and you have ghee. A major component in 90% of Indian cooking. AND, it works better than cooking spray in a pan!

NAAN BREAD:

Ingredients:

2 tsp Active dry yeast
3 TBS Warm Milk
1 TBS Sugar

------------------

4 C all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yougurt (regular, not "lowfat")
1 egg
1 TBS ghee
1/2 tsp salt

**optional - cumin and cilantro**

Basic steps: 

-Proof
-mix
-knead
-rise-
punch down
-portion
-rise
-roll out
-bake
-eat.

1) Mix yeast, warm milk and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cover and let rest 10 min to activate yeast.

2) Add flour to yeast. Make a well in the middle of flour. Beat milk,yogurt and eggs together well, THEN add to center of the flour along with ghee and salt.

3) If using a mixer, beat with dough hook about 10 minutes until smooth. If mixing by hand, mix with fork and knead 10 minutes until smooth.

4) Form a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. approx 1-2 hrs.

5) Punch down dough with your fist and knead lightly. Cut into 8-10 equal portions and roll into balls. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size in a warm place.

6) Preheat oven (WITH A BAKING SHEET OR PIZZA STONE INSIDE) to 500°

7) Roll dough into oblong circles 1/4" thick. Brush with ghee.

***this is where you can sprinkle cumin and cilantro on the dough and roll it into the dough. I make some with and without, but without is traditional***

8) Bake in batches on hot stone or pan about 5 minutes until golden brown. I usually flip them when the top gets just past golden, almost a little tint of brown and puffy. You need to keep an eye on them and decide for yourself if you like them a little more raw and doughy or a little more toasty. But not to the point where the naan is stiff, it should still be a floppy bread you can pull apart, not crumble like toast.

Good luck and enjoy, It seems like a lot, but it really isn't, it just needs 2 rises.

P.S.  Indian Onion chutney on Naan is the bomb-diggity:

1 large white or yellow onion diced
1 TBSP of each of the following:
 - red chilli powder
 - cumin
 - vinegar
 - salt
 - lemon juice
 - ketchup
**optional - tamarind paste or tamarind juice or prune juice

Mix all in a glass bowl and put in fridge for at least 2 hours to overnight. Depending on how spicy you like it, you can actually add 2 TBPS (rather than just one) of everything to the onion.