Naan is a flatbread that is most commonly found in Asian and Caribbean cooking. The word “naan” actually means “bread”, which means the popular way of calling it “naan bread” in North America translates to simply “bread bread”. Sounds kinda silly!
Naan is typically leavened with yeast (or a starter), and cooked in a tandoor – a large clay oven. However, it’s easy enough to modify the recipe slightly to allow for cooking in a pan or on a griddle! It’s a great recipe for bread-making rookies, as it doesn’t actually require a bake.
Here’s a quick video showcasing the steps – super simple and easy to follow along:
I like it best when it’s freshly cooked, covered in garlic and salt, and dunked in hummus or tzatziki.
Tip: roast some garlic to spread on to the flatbreads for even more garlic flavour (Easy Roasted Garlic Recipe).
Leftovers also make a great base for single-serve pizzas!
Simple Homemade Garlic Naan
Ingredients
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 T sugar
- 2¼ t yeast (one packet)
- ¾ cup warm milk
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt room temperature
- 4 cups flour
- 1 t salt
- 1 T garlic minced
- 2 T butter
Instructions
- Whisk warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let rest for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.
- Add warm milk and room temperature Greek yogurt to the bowl. Whisk until smooth. It is critical that the milk is warm and the yogurt is room temperature – otherwise your yeast will not rise.
- Add in the flour in 1 cup increments, mixing in between each. Add the salt and garlic. The dough will be thick and hard to mix. Knead it for 3-4 minutes (with your hands, or with the dough hook of a stand mixer).
- Cover the bowl with a dish towel (or plastic wrap) and place somewhere warm, leaving it to rise for approximately 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Once doubled, dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 roughly equally sized balls.
- Roll each dough ball out to about ½cm thick. I find it's easiest to roll 3 or so at a time.
- Melt butter in a large frying pan (or better yet, a cast iron pan).
- On medium heat, fry each piece of dough until golden brown on each side.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt to serve.