I have decided to share a recipe at least once a week with my flist. The recipes will depend on my mood at that moment, or if there are specific requests from somebody I’ll try to share if I know the recipe.
I primarily cook Indian vegetarian food (I use plenty of milk and milk products though). If a non-vegetarian recipe is requested, if you give me enough time, I’ll get a friend to divulge his/her recipe and share it with you guys.
The first recipe is for Naan - The Indian flat bread which most people seem to love. It has been referred to by Amir Khusrau [1253 - 1325]; he is one of India’s greatest poets known for his contributions to Indian Classical Music, the Qawwali music and Sufism. Tandoors have been excavated in the Indus Valley sites. Ovens similar to Tandoors have been excavated in Egypt also.
A variation of this bread is found all over the Middle - East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and all the way up to Myanmar. In India, it is associated with the region around Punjab and ironically, in present day India, it is primarily a restaurant food and made at home very rarely.
The recipe is behind the cut so that people who want to skip it can do so easily.
One thing to remember when cooking Indian food is that modifying recipes is a good thing to do. Experiment with the recipes, to suit your particular taste. This recipe can make any where between 8 - 16 (or a couple more) naans depending on the size of portions the dough is divided into.
Recipe for garlic coriander naan (with egg):
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 150 ml warm milk [should be warm not hot] [if you want to skip milk, substitute warm water, or a mixture of arm milk and warm water]
- 1 tablespoon sugar (caster)
- 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt (preferably the live one, gives a better flavour)
- 2 - 3 cups all purpose flour (I suppose you could also use bread flour instead) [roughly 450 grams]
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (omit this if you are using bread flour - it already has soda bi-carbonate or baking powder)
- ½ teaspoon of salt (maybe a little bit more)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil [canola would be good]
- 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast (I think about 2/3 of the 0.25 gram sachet should be good)
- 2 tablespoons black onion seeds for garnish(called kalonji in India and I think Nigella in English) (you can skip this, or use poppy seeds if you want instead, the flavour of nigella is better in this recipe)
- 5 cloves of garlic crushed, minced or very finely chopped, if you have garlic paste use about 2 teaspoons, again it depends on the flavour and your preference. If you don’t like garlic, skip it.
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves (again can be omitted or quantity varied depending on personal taste. If used chop it very finely).
- 50 grams softened butter or ghee - [if you want it sinfully rich you can just use as much as you want]
For Naan recipe without using egg:
Skip the egg, use warm milk (don’t substitute with water), use 2 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) instead of the 2 tablespoons of canola oil and use the entire sachet of yeast. All the other ingredients stay the same.
The process is also the same (except for the egg being whiskedJ)
Directions:
- In a large bowl, add half the sugar to the warm milk; stir in the yeast. Let it stand till it is frothy. (Frothiness indicates the yeast is activated - takes about 8-10 minutes). Add in whisked egg, whisked yoghurt, and the ghee/ oil and mix.
- In another large bowl sift the flour and salt a couple of times (this is to ensure the salt is spread evenly). Add in the yeast mixture to make soft dough. Knead it for about 8- 10 minutes (10 - 12 minutes if you are not using egg). Remember the dough has to be soft not sticky, if it is sticky just add a little flour. It has to be just a little bit drier than sticky.
- Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rise till it is more than double in volume. [Should take two to three hours]. The room temperature should be around 80F. If it is hot place the dough in a cool damp place, otherwise it will have the nasty yeast odour because it will rise too fast. If it colder, it will take longer to rise. Place it in a warm place like an oven which has been warmed. Ensure it has been switched off before placing the dough in it; also it should be warm not hot.
- While the dough is rising, beat the chopped garlic and coriander into the softened butter. Also preheat your oven/grill/broiler. It should be hot. So around say 475 F in most ovens.
- Many people would punch it down and let it rise again. Traditionally, Naan is given just one rise. If you would like to give it a second rising, then keep it for only one hour initially, punch it down, knead again and let it rise for another ½ hour to an hour (cover the dough with a damp cloth for the rising).
- Flatten the dough, knead it a little (it should be soft and elastic). Portion it (this will depend on the size of your oven or skillet/griddle). Smear each portion with the butter (the one with the garlic and coriander). Shape it into the traditional tear drop shape and bake. The experts do the shaping by hand. You can roll it out, use dry flour (but as little as possible) to help in the rolling, and then pull one end to get the teardrop shape. Each Naan should be around 5 mm thick. Sprinkle a few onion seeds on top, and dampen the top with a teeny-weeny bit of water. You don’t want the bottom side to have water because it will stick to the pan. Generally what we do is stick each Naan on the tandoor wall, spread a few of the seeds and dampen the visible side. This also prevents the drying and ensures cooking throughout.
- If you have too many portions, place the portions in a freezer zip lock bag and freeze/refrigerate. If you refrigerate, best to use it up the next day. If you freeze it, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- You can cheat in this part by dumping all the ingredients ina food processor for making the dough, but the result is not so good. The frothing, whisking, kneading all incorporate air and the dough is much more softer and elastic without being sticky.
Now the Baking:
Unless you have a tandoor or access to one, the naans will not taste the same as your restaurant bought ones. The method of baking will depend on what baking equipment you have available in your kitchen.
Method I - Using a skillet or griddle:
- Heat non-stick skillet or heavy based frying pan or griddle until hot.
- In case you are not using a non-stick skillet/griddle/ frying pan brush it with a little oil.
- Cook each naan, till it bubbles and the golden brown spots form. Turn over and cook the other side similarly. That is roughly 3 minutes on each side. (The bubbles will brown first, that’s ok).
- To make it great, now is the time to brush on some more butter or ghee.
- Cook all the naans similarly.
- Serve immediately, otherwise wrap in a cloth to keep them warm.
Method II - Using a Grill:
- Preheat grill to high heat.
- Lightly oil grill.
- Place naan on the grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.
- Turn over and cook the other side until browned for another 2 to 4 minutes.
- Remove from grill; add the extra butter if you like.
- Cook all the naans similarly.
- Serve immediately, or wrap in a cloth to keep them warm.
Method III - Oven only:
- Pre heat oven to 450º F.
- Roll out Naan. Place it on a non-stick baking tray or on a greased baking sheet. Put the baking tray/ sheet in the oven. Bake 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the extra butter if you like.
- Cook all the naans similarly.
- Serve immediately, or wrap in a cloth to keep them warm.
Method IV - Oven with a broiler:
- Pre heat oven to 430º F.
- Roll out Naan. Place it on a non stick baking tray or on a greased baking sheet. Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 5 - 6 minutes.
- Turn on the grill or broiler for the first 2 - 3 minutes and turn it off.
- Add the extra butter if you like.
- Cook all the naans similarly.
- Serve immediately, or wrap in a cloth to keep them warm.
Method V - Pizza stones, aluminium pizza baking pan:
- Place the pizza stone on the lower shelf of the oven.
- Turn oven on to its maximum dial. Probably, around 430 - 475º F.
- Pre heat oven. The pizza stone should also be hot, so may take around 40 minutes for the stone to be really hot.
- Roll out Naan. Place it on a greased aluminium pan. Place the aluminium pan on top of the hot Pizza Stone. It will take about 6 minutes to bake a Naan.
- Add the extra butter if you like.
- Cook all the naans similarly.
- Serve immediately, or wrap in a cloth to keep them warm.
Some Hints, tips and pointers: Read these before using the recipe.
- In the baking process, I have been using hot all over the place. Tandoors are very hot and the temperatures are even all around the wall and regular ovens even at maximum heat don’t reach those temperatures. If the oven/grill/griddle/pan etc are not hot you will end up with leathery, stiff and hard naans. So make sure the ovens/grills/griddles/ pans are hot. Also, when baking place the trays in the centre of a hot oven.
- Don’t roll out all the naans at once, only roll out as many as your oven or grill will hold at one time, you can roll the next batch while you are waiting for them to cook. Dough rolled out to early will also end up in stiff/hard naans.
- Keep the portions of dough you are not working on covered in a damp cloth to prevent the drying out of the dough. The portion size will depend on how big the oven tray or pan or skillet is, it will not have any affect on the taste.
- If you are not comfortable rolling out dough which has been rolled in butter, you can add the butter in the cooking process. Just before you are ready to turn over the naan to cook on the second side, brush the uncooked side with butter, and then turn over. Immediately brush the cooked side with butter and proceed in the usual manner. Either way will not make a difference in the taste. You have to choose the method convenient to you.
- To bring out the flavor of the garlic, melt the butter/ghee and sauté the garlic in it on a slow flame till the flavor is brought out fully. Turn off the heat, add coriander if using and mix it in. Use this mixture to brush on the naans or to coat on the portions of dough.
- If you want the plain naan the recipe is the same just omit the garlic and coriander and proceed.
- Keep a close watch on the naans while they are cooking so they do not burn. They are ready when they have golden brown/ brown specks or marks on them. If they puff up don’t get alarmed, that is the nature of the bread it puffs up or bubbles during the cooking process.
- You can also add other stuffing to naan, as this post is huge already; I am not adding a section here. If anyone is interested, I’ll post an entry for that.
- They can be served with lamb, chicken, or other veggie main dishes. Can also be eaten with raitas, relishes, or Indian pickles.
- If you have any problem following the recipe you can mail me or comment here.
- If anyone can point out grammar errors, wrong words used etc. Could you please?