I love having Indian food, but I’ve had never make Indian food before! So last week I finally decided to give it a try and I made chicken korma with naan bread. To my surprise, it’s extremely easy to make naan bread from scratch! I would imagine it to be more complicated than this, so here a twist of my easy naan bread.
Easy Naan Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 3/4 cup Greek yoghurt I recommend light Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp fennel grind
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Grab a spatula and mix everything together.
- Once the mix looks crumbly, use your hands to knead the dough right in the bowl. Only knead for about 1-2 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal sections.
- Sprinkle some flour on a chopping board or clean surface.
- Roll out each dough section with a rolling pin until the dough is very thin, but not too thin that it'll tear.
- Heat a little bit of oil in a non-stick pan over low to medium heat.
- Cook each naan bread for about 1 minute on each side.
- After that, if you have a gas stove, put the bread directly over the flame for 5-10 seconds on each side for a nice charred, smoky flavour. If you don't have a gas stove, turn up the heat on your pan and cook the bread for an extra 10 seconds on each side until you get the desired smokiness. Heads up, the naan will sometimes rise up when it hit direct flame! Enjoy! 😀
I was so happy with the result. It’s so quick, and it doesn’t need a yeast and doesn’t require resting time. Win-win for busy lives and those who want a quick bread recipe.
Now, as a home cook, especially as someone who has never made Indian food before, I don’t own a tandoor oven. It is a special Indian oven that is used to make flatbreads such as roti and naan. It gives a distinctive charred-ness, smoky aroma and flavour that you wouldn’t be able to get with any other equipment. Think of it like an Indian wok-hei in a way. Wok-hei aroma and flavour could only be achieved in wok using a very large fire. I myself aren’t able to differ the distinct taste of a Tandoor oven made naan vs this recipe that I made. My friend who is an Indian lover able to tell the difference, how interesting.
To make this, add all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix it all together. You only need a to mix and knead the dough for a short time.
After each dough have been rolled out, put it into a pan with little bit of oil in low to medium heat. Cook each side for 1-2 minutes until the dough turn slight darker white with patches of brown colour. Using chopstick or thongs, remove the naan bread from the pan and put it on a direct flame for about 5-10 seconds OR until the desired charredness has been achieved.
And that’s it! You’ve made yourself a very easy naan bread at home! Hooray!
Now, you can stop here and you have a basic naan. But, I had the extra time to make it even yummier. So, I made myself some melted butter spread to brush it on top of each naan. Oh, it makes it even better! I like having both the basic plain naan and the one with the coriander and garlic butter. Such a wonderful little bread!
Coriander and Garlic Melted Butter
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- A handful coriander leaves, minced
- and the bread that you've prepared
Instructions
- Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. If it's still not melted, mix it around and pop it in the microwave for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the minced garlic and the minced coriander.
- Brush it on top of the bread, better if the bread is still warm to let it soak more of the butter.
The flavour is unreal! Hope you enjoy this recipe 😀