A few days back I posted a recipe for chapati, an unleavened wholewheat Indian flatbread, whose preparation in a skillet was suited for the home kitchen. I have tried to do naan at home before, on a pizza stone, as is often recommended, and was disappointed in the results. However, Cooks Illustrated came to the rescue, as they often do and suggested that short of a tandoor, the best way to prepare naan at home is in a cast iron skillet. They also ask of you a slow, cold rise for about a day in the fridge, so make sure you plan ahead.
Equipment
- 2-cup measuring cup
- whisk
- food processor
- medium bowl
- plastic wrap
- rolling pin
- cast iron skillet
- tongs
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 4 oz ice water
- 3 tbs peanut oil
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/3 cup full fat plain yogurt
- 10 oz all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- cooking spray
- melted ghee
1) Measure and combine the wet ingredients. In the measuring cup whisk together the water, peanut oil, egg yolk and yogurt.
2) Measure and mix the dry ingredients. Add 10 oz flour, sugar and yeast to the processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine.
3) Mix the dough. Run the food processor and slowly pour in the wet ingredients until a cohesive mass is formed and no dry flour is visible. Allow to rest for ten minutes before adding the salt. Mix for another moment. Remove the dough, which should be smooth and slighty sticky. Knead for moment on a lightly floured work surface for a minute until smooth.
4) Let dough rise. Spray the inside of a bowl with cooking spray. Form the dough into a ball and place in bowl. Lightly spray the the dough with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for about a full day.
5) Shape the dough. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide into four equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and allow to rest for twenty minutes, covered with a damp kitchen towel.
6) Bake bread. One at a time, remove the dough from beneath the towel and roll into a 9 inch round on a well-floured work surface. Dock with a fork and mist each side with a spray bottle. Melt a bit of ghee in the skillet which has been pre-heated over medium heat. Remove all but a thin layer of ghee with a paper towel, place round in skillet, and cover. Cook each side for a few minutes until brown spots appear. Remove from skillet and brush one side with ghee.
Every serious home cook, in my opinion, should have a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. Their recipes are always meticulously tested and dead on.
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I agree. Hydration, baker’s percentage, feel – whatever. But as you can see from above, I tweaked this recipe pretty damn hard, & by the time I realized it was probably too stiff it was too late to add more liquid to it.
Food writing in general is pretty prone to preciousness, sanctimony, & outright bullshit, but sourdough really seems to bring it out (as do particularly Italian food, barbecue, but the all-time champ IMO is writing about Japanese food).
I’m trying to take the preciousness out of food writing. I say fuck sometimes even.
No way.
Whey.
You curd set a trend.
Hi, thanks for posting this recipe! Mine didn’t come out looking like yours, though. How come? I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used 50/50 whole wheat/AP, and some strained yogurt + some extra water, and I left out the egg yolk & the sugar & used sourdough starter instead of yeast… Mine didn’t puff up like yours!
Seriously – thanks for posting the recipe. Yeast bread in the summer without turning on the oven! YAY! One real question: is the pan meant to be covered for the whole cooking process or just the first side? I kept it covered for all but the last minute or so of the second side. Seemed to work.
That IS how I made the dough, btw, for various reasons, mainly that I’m in the obsessive phase of learning sourdough & had made some Indian food I wanted naan with. The dough was too stiff, but the flavor was terrific. If you do sourdough, give it a whirl. I will definitely be experimenting with this more.
My starter is up to strength tommorrow, will give naan a shot.
Excellent. Pay better attention to your hydration than I did.
You know what, I find that hydRation is oft-discussed in the breadbaking blogosphere, but I usual find a recipe that works, tweak it while keeping the bread bakers percentage in mind, and do a final tweak according to how the dough feels, and how sticky it is. By the easy if this doesn’t make any sense, I’ve been drinking whiskey for the past several hours.