Foolproof BreadItaliano

Naan: the recipe

Naan

Soft, steaming and irresistibly fragrant, naan is the best-loved flatbread of the East, the perfect companion for curries, sauces and spiced dishes.

Its secret lies in a dough enriched with milk and clarified butter (ghee), which makes it wonderfully soft and flavourful. Traditionally baked on the clay walls of a tandoor oven at very high temperatures, naan puffs up in moments, forming its characteristic, delicious charred bubbles on the surface.

Served piping hot and traditionally brushed with clarified butter or dressed with fresh garlic and coriander, it's a comfort food that's literally impossible to resist.

At a glance

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Ingredients

Quantities for 12 pieces of 84 g, kitchen at 20 °C

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Method

  1. Weigh the ingredients and knead (25 min)
    • Use water at 32 °C
    • Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water with the sugar.
    • Mix the egg with the flour, then add the other ingredients — milk, ghee, salt — one at a time.
    • If you make half this batch (6 pieces instead of 12), you'll need half an egg: Beat a whole one and use half, by weight or by eye.
  2. End of mixing, start of bulk rise (at room temperature) (1 hour)
  3. Divide/shape: weigh and form the pieces (20 min)
  4. Start of proofing (at room temperature) (22 min)
  5. Ready to cook
    • Roll out each ball and cook in a very hot dry pan, no oil.
    • As soon as they come out of the pan, brush them with more ghee, with chopped coriander, parsley or garlic if you like.

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Preparation notes

Ghee
  1. Melt about 200 g of butter (for this batch of 12 naan) on the stove (let it brown a little, if you like) or in the microwave.
  2. Pour it into a small bowl, let it cool, and separate off the water that settles at the bottom: What's left is the ghee.
  3. You'll need it both in the dough and — a bit more of it — to brush the naan right after cooking: That amount covers both.

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