Naan

Dear Lauren,

The next time you are home, you HAVE to come with Dad and I to eat Indian food. We found a place and I love it and Dad likes it. I love it so much, I was inspired to make naan for a bread challenge we're doing over at 37 Cooks.

Just look at it! YUM! I might just go eat from Indian food for lunch today! Hmmm, I might ask the server if they'll let me back in the kitchen to watch them make their naan. Ever since I saw this video, I've been fascinated!

There's no reason you can't make this at your apartment at college. Just use a nonstick skillet instead of the cast iron or over the gas flame that I talk about here. The rest is easy and you might have all the ingredients on hand.

Naan
adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cups milk
1/2 cups yogurt
1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
about 1 Tablespoon of butter, melted


Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine the milk and yogurt and add about 1/2 of it to the dry ingredients. Use your hand  or hands to mix the ingredients together. Add more of the milk and yogurt mixture until you have a soft dough.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it sit for 2 hours or more. Put a little flour on your counter or a Silpat and knead the dough for about 2 minutes. Pat the dough into the shape of a disc and then cut it in half, and then in half again, and so on until you have 8 pie shapes. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick in an elongated shape.

Heat your skillet, preferably a cast iron skillet or cast iron pizza stone, over medium to medium high heat.  Get out a heat-proof lid that will take heat and fit over your entire piece of naan. Brush one side of your naan with water and then place it, watered side down, on the cast iron and put your lid over the top of the naan. You will cook the naan for 30 seconds, or until you peek inside and see bubbles in the dough. The bubbles indicate that your naan is done on that side.

Brush a little melted butter on the bubbly side and you can either flip the naan and cook it for a few seconds on the other side until the bubbles have browned OR you can turn on the heat on another burner on high and use tongs to hold the naan over the heat and cook it like you would a marshmallow over a campfire! Either way will get you the results you are looking for.


Love ,