Garlic Naan
Tandoori Naan, a soft leavened bread cooked in a clay oven, makes Punjabi dinner wholesome when served with yummy paneer tikka masala and dal fry. This Garlic Naan recipe makes Tandoori Naan even better by sprinkling small garlic and coriander pieces over its surface. Additionally, preparing Garlic Naan with this step by step photo recipe doesn’t require you to have a clay or gas tandoor as it uses a unique “cook over flame” technique to get the burnt smoky flavor as you get with naan cooked in tandoor. Here is the short summary for “How to cook naan on gas stove” – First, one side of naan is cooked on iron tava/griddle on gas stove (stove top) and then the other side is cooked directly over gas flame by turning it upside down to get the tandoori like flavor. If you happen to have an oven, you can also cook it in oven by following tips given below..
| Ingredients: |
| 1½ cups Maida/All Purpose Flour (or 1 cup Maida + 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour) |
| 1/2 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast (or Instant Yeast) |
| 1/2 teaspoon Sugar |
| 1 tablespoon Curd |
| 1/3 cup Milk |
| 1 Tablespoon Oil |
| Salt to taste |
| 1/2 cup Lukewarm Water |
| 2-3 tablespoons chopped Garlic |
| 3 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves, optional |
| Butter, for greasing |
Directions:
- Take instant dry yeast and sugar in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup lukewarm water, stir with a spoon and cover with a plate. Keep it in a warm place for 10-15 minutes till the mixture becomes frothy. If the mixture doesn’t turn frothy, it means that either yeast is not active or you may have used the hot water (not the lukewarm water). If it happens, throw away the yeast mixture and try again.
- Sift 1½ cups maida (or 1 cup maida and 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour) in a large bowl. Add 1-tablespoon curd, 1-tablespoon oil and salt.
- Pour water-yeast mixture prepared in step-1. Add 1/3 cup milk and mix well. Knead smooth and very soft dough. If required, add few tablespoons water to bind soft dough.
- Grease the dough with cooking oil and place it in another bowl (or keep it in the same bowl). Cover it with a moist kitchen towel (or plastic wrap or a lid) and keep it in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. Remove the lid. You will notice that dough has risen similar to how it appears in the photo.
- Knead the dough again until smooth, for around 2-3 minutes.
- Divide it into 5-6 equal portions and make round shaped balls from it. Cover them with a moist cloth and keep aside for 30 minutes.
- Take one dough ball, coat it with dry flour and press it a little to flatten it. Place it on a rolling board.
- Roll it out into a long and thick oval shaped disk (around 6 inches long and 1/2 centimeters thick).
- Sprinkle some chopped garlic and chopped coriander leaves over it. Press it gently with hand or using rolling pin.
- Turn the naan (keep garlic sprinkled surface down) and wet the top surface with water by using a brush or hand.
- Heat the cast-iron tava over medium flame (Don’t use non-stick tava). When the tava is hot, place rolled naan over it keeping wet side down. This will make naan stick to the tava. Within a minute, tiny bubbles will appear on the surface.
- Grab tava with its handle, turn it upside down and keep it over direct flame (either gas flame or electric) as shown in the photo. Move the tava slowly in circular motion until few light brown spots appear here and there on the surface of the naan, it will take around a minute.
- Naan will have few brown spots as seen in the photo.
- Remove the naan using a spatula. It will come out easily and bottom surface would have nice golden brown color as seen in the photo.
- Brush the Garlic Naan with butter and serve hot with your favorite Punjabi curry like Paneer Makhani.
Tips and Variations:
- To bake the Garlic Naan in oven – Place a pizza-stone in oven and preheat it to 500 degree F for around 10-15 minutes. Place the naan over heated pizza stone and broil for 2-3 minutes or until cooked.
- Uncooked naan needs to stick with tava surface so that it doesn’t fall down when you turn tava upside-down for cooking naan over flame. So do not use non-stick tava for cooking naan in this recipe.
- Follow the same cook over flame process for gas stove or electric stove.
Taste: Soft texture with mild garlic flavor.
Serving Ideas : Serve it hot with paneer tikka masala or saag paneer, dal fry and lassi for lunch or dinner.