Homemade Garlic Naan

My sister's family and I recently made an Indian feast for dinner. We had some of the usual suspects, like chicken tikka masala and raita. But this time my brother in law was brave enough to try making garlic naan. I should preface this post by saying that he did all the legwork in making this naan and the rest of us simply got to enjoy it. But it was a fun process to share a kitchen with someone dabbling in naan making. We quickly discovered some group favorites. When the naan is fresh, everyone preferred the garlic naan, but on the next day, the few plain naan pieces we the winners as the garlic didn't taste as good on day 2. My brother in law also played with cooking temperatures for a bit before finding the ideal naan cooking setting. This will vary in each stove so experiment with what works best for your naan so it still browns and bubbles, but doesn't burn.

Recipe from Food and Wine

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup water, room temperature

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

1/2 cup full-fat plain yogurt

3 tablespoons minced garlic 

Cooking oil, for the bowl

1 stick melted unsalted butter Kosher salt

In a bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the yeast, sugar and water and allow it to sit for 10 minutes. While the yeast is priming, mix together the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl.

Once the yeast is ready, whisk the yeast mixture, yogurt, and milk. Stir this in to the dry ingredients. Keeping the dough in the bowl, knead the dough until it forms a smooth, soft ball, about 2 minutes. Lightly oil a bowl (I dab some oil on a paper towel and wipe the inside of the bowl). Place the dough ball into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until it doubles in size. If it does not quite double, it should still be fine, just ensure you let it rest long enough.

Prepare your work surface by sprinkling flour on your surface. Turn the dough on to the prepared surface and knead the dough briefly. Divide the dough in to 12 event pieces. Roll each piece of dough into 1/4-inch thick ovals. Ours were all kinds of oval shapes so don’t worry about this being perfect. You may also find that you prefer a slightly thinner naan, in which case feel free to roll it out a bit more.

Line a bowl with towels (we used paper towels)  and set aside. Using a cast iron skillet, heat the skillet over medium to medium-high heat (you may need to adjust this once you start making the naan). Distribute the garlic between the rolled out dough, pressing the garlic slightly in to the dough. Brush the dough with melted butter and place in skillet one piece at a time. Cook each piece for about one minute, until the dough puffs up. Flip, cover the pan, and cook for one more minute. Once ready, remove the naan from the skillet and brush both sides with more butter. Place the naan in the paper towel lined bowl and serve when they are all prepared. Eat hot/warm for best results. 

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