Super Easy Naan Bread
This homemade warm, garlic butter brushed circular bread is soft and chewy serves as an outstanding partner to sop up a sauce in any dish, most notably in Indian cuisine is so simple to make.
I love to make bread. I love the entire process. I even like the kneading of the dough, which in full transparency, I have actually considered to be the workout for the day. Most importantly the beauty in the final product and the joy in watching others eat it makes me proud.
Seriously, it is also so cheap to make bread instead of buying it. This is definitely the case for naan bread that is more expensive to purchase, you have to purchase multiple packs to get the same amount, and certainly is not as fresh as homemade of course.
So let’s get to it, and you will be chewing on beautiful naan bread in no time at all!
Naan Bread Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 +1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
- 1-2 cloves garlic for topping
- Parsley, chopped for garnish if desired.
How To Make Naan Bread
First, let’s get the dough ingredients together so our bread dough can start to rise.
- Grab a small glass bowl and add the milk and sour cream or yogurt if using, and you are going to microwave this combination until you put your finger in it and it is warm but not hot. We want to have a warm and loving mixture to grow our yeast in.
- Add the yeast and sugar to the warm mixture and set it aside at room temperature for about 5 minutes. You are looking for the yeast to start doing it’s thing and you know this is happening when you see bubbles forming. If this is not the case, dump it in the garbage, and start over.
- In a large bowl you are going to start with 2 cups of the flour, a teaspoon of kosher salt, and adding in the yeast mixture until well combined.
- Now start to add in 1/4 cup of flour and a time until the dough starts to firm up. You do not want to add too much. Usually 1/2 cup more flour does the trick.
- Then take the bread to a flour surface and hand knead it for until it becomes elastic, and smooth. This should take about 5 minutes.. The dough can be a bit sticky but you should be able to shape it into a ball without a big mess. Note: You can use a dough hook and a standing mixer if desired. The process is the same, while the mixing time may vary. Focus on the consistency of the bread ball to be sure it is again, elastic, and smooth.
- Wash and dry out the original mixing bowl, and add a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl. Shape the dough into a ball and roll the ball in the olive oil in the bowl to be sure it is well coated, and cover it with a clean kitchen towel to rest. You are going to let this rest about an 1 hour in a warm place to double in size.
- Now punch down the dough, and take it to a floured surface. You are going to form a bit of a log with the dough and cut the log into 8 pieces. Then cut those 8 in half. Cover the pieces with the towel and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes.
- Take each piece of the naan and roll it out with a rolling pin to an approximate size 9 x 5. Just eyeball it. I roll all of the pieces out before I start to cook them. It allows the dough to rest again after rolling it out providing a great texture for the finished naan.
- Heat up a large cast iron pan on the stove on medium heat. Add generous amount of olive oil to the pan. Add a piece of the naan to the pan and watch the dough start to cook creating little bubble in dough as it rises. You will cook each size about 2 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side, until golden brown. Do not burn!
Continue the process until all of the naans is cooked. Then combine the butter 1/4 cup and the garlic and brush each piece of the naan bread with this as a final touch with the parsley.
Difference Between Pita Bread and Naan Bread
People often think that pita bread and naan bread are the same. That is simply not the case. Naan bread is made with yogurt and eggs that allow for a softer bread with air pockets that come by way of the cooking process. Pita bread on the other hand is made from the traditional bread ingredients, flour, water, salt, yeast and oil.
Another point of difference is that while they are both flat breads, but pita is thicker than the naan and is bit more chewy and dry. Naan is the perfect vehicle to sop up that beautiful sauce, usually curry based since it is softer and bit thicker than pita.
If you are still interested in learning more about the differences between pita bread and naan bread then check out this informative article from Tasty Mediterranean on the topic.
What To Eat With Naan Bread
For my crew,, there does not have to be a reason to eat naan bread. They eat it standing on its own, and they hardly keep their portion to one piece of naan. The garlic butter brush at the finish is simply magic. In fact, I usually double or triple batch this recipe to be sure there is enough.
Traditionally, however, I do not make this recipe without a fantastic complement dinner dish. If you are looking for another star player to go with your naan bread, then head over and check out my BBQ Peruvian Chicken Recipe or the Best Butter Chicken Recipe you will be happy that you did, trust me 😊!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please comment your thoughts below! Also, to not miss any other amazing recipes, follow Food Devoted on Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest and sign up to receive our blog notifications by subscribing to our email.