A few months back, I was planning on making a curry for dinner and I wanted Naan to go with it. I was doubtful that I was going to find it at my local market, but I decided to look anyway. My backup plan was to see if they had some pita.
Believe it or not, in the corner of my local super store bakery, in the area where they had the specialty breads, they had a package of naan. And It Was 6.00$$!
Of course, I didn't buy it, that would have cost more than my entire meal, but I was disappointed. I think that having naan with a quick and simple homemade curry makes the meal extra special. It makes my family feel like instead of having regular old dinner, we are having something fancy.
Not to mention, when I make this, they eat is faster than I can get it cooked.
Don't be afraid to attempt this recipe. It is basically just a simple dough. You roll it out thin and then cook it in a hot hot pan. Your family will think you took a fabulous international cuisine class and you can pretend it was really hard and assign one of them the dishes while you go take a bath to rest from all your hard work.
* This recipe only makes 8, so if you are feeding 6 people or more (or you really love bread, I would double it)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 oz active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon oil
Some oil, for greasing the skillet
3 tablespoons melted salted butter -- for brushing on while the naan are hot.
Instructions:
In a small bowl, add the sugar, warm water, and yeast together. Stir to combine well. The yeast should be activated when it becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the flour to a flat surface and make a well in the middle. Add the yeast mixture, yogurt, and oil, knead the dough until the surface becomes smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place.The dough should double in size, about 1 hour.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll the dough to a 8” circle using a rolling spin.
Heat up a skillet (cast-iron preferred) over high heat and lightly grease the surface with some oil to avoid the dough from sticking to the skillet.
Place the dough on the skillet. When it puffs up and bubbles and burnt spots appear, flip it over and cook the other side. Repeat the same until all dough are done.
Brush the naan with the melted butter, serve warm.
