Garlic Naan

I am in love!! Yes, I am in love with this microorganism that follows all my direction and gives me perfect results every time :) You guessed it right....YEAST! I am feeling so confident using yeast. I feel it is important to know the science of this little fungus, so that you can tame it easily.

We had some boxed gravy and rice from an Indian restaurant we dinned at two days back. And, I was in no mood to cook something new today. (Basically because I was preparing cookies and sweets for an upcoming festival) I just asked my husband to come home for a quick lunch of leftovers and to clean up the refrigerator. His immediate reaction was, "Will you be making some fresh naan to go with the gravy?" I was not at all motivated to answer positively. Anyways, I said yes to cut short the discussion and thinking maybe we would end up eating a sandwich ;)  After he left for work, I was sitting and lazing around the house. I don't know what struck me, but I got up from the couch and started prepping for lunch.

Here is my recipe to make 4 Naans:

In a large bowl dissolve 1 tsp rapidrise yeast and 2 tsp. sugar into 3/4 cup warm water. 

Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp ghee.

Add 1+1/2 cup Indian maida or all purpose flour. Using a wooden stick or spatula, mix the dough for water and flour to come together. It is okay if your dough is slightly sticky.  You could also use your hands, which might make it a bit messy.

Mix well to pick up all the flour from the bowl. Your bowl should look nice and clean.

I did not use my fingers or palm to mix the dough.

Transfer it on a clean surface. dust with flour and knead it. It is okay to use around 1/4 cup flour to knead the dough. It is also okay for the dough to be sticky. Knead it for 4-5 minutes. Keep it in the bowl covered with a moist towel for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, the dough rises. You might not see it double in size. That is okay.

Knead the dough again for 3-4 minutes. Make a neat ball and divide into 4 equal parts.

Roll into smooth balls. Cover with a moist towel and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 550F or the highest temperature your oven sets to. It is like creating a tandoor (clay oven) environment for naans to cook in. I also like my pizza stone. If you enjoy making kulchas, naans or tandoori rotis at home, I would suggest investing in a pizza stone. It is easily available in many stores in the baking aisle. 

Here is a video of Naan being cooked in a tandoor.

 

Well risen dough balls. Do not punch or knead them. Roll into naans using a rolling pin or by flattening with your hand.

Press some minced garlic.

Place it in a preheated oven and pizza stone and bake for 5-6 minutes. You always want to keep an eye on these. When the desired color is reached, remove from the oven and brush some ghee or butter. You can bake these on a regular baking tray too.

Even cooking and lovely color at the bottom.

Serve with your favorite curry and rice.