Although I’m not a food blogger, I do write a lot about food and share recipes and links. To post a recipe you can print from my blog, it has to be something I’ve made multiple times with confidence. I’m also careful to ensure I don’t just copy someone else’s recipe. If I’m going to use it on the blog, I’ve tweaked it to some degree and changed the instructions based on my own experiences. And even then, I’ll cite the source of inspiration.
For those recipes that don’t make the cut, I try to link to the original source, whether it’s the Washington Post or someone’s blog. This can be problematic, as sites like the Washington Post have firewalls, and you may not be able to access the recipe.
My new favorite naan recipe came from the Post. I’ve only made it once, and even though it was utterly fabulous, the dough didn’t handle as described. More about that later, but just a preface as to why I’m not posting the actual recipe. I got a little creative and found a variety of sites that feature the recipe. Hopefully, one of them will work for you!
This is my third naan recipe, and it is by far superior to the others. Deliciously charred yet soft and bready. And except for my dough consistency issues, quick and easy to make. Dale ranked it among the best naan he has ever had.
My previous favorite used yeast, while this recipe uses baking powder. Buttermilk is another unique addition. In the past, I’ve cooked naan outside in our Roccbox pizza oven, which is great, but we’ve had a week of rain, so that was not in the cards. I liked this recipe because you cook them on the stovetop.
The dough was way too wet, and even though the author says not to do it, I added more flour. Next time, I would be more careful adding the water. Even then, I couldn’t really knead it into a smooth ball. Instead, I just scooped out portions and arranged them on the greased baking sheet, per the instructions.
At one point, I said I would be totally shocked if these materialized into something resembling naan. Color me shocked.
When it came time to roll them out, they rolled easily, but I had to generously dust them with flour on both sides multiple times to keep them from sticking. Pro tip of the day came from someone in the comments section of the Post. He suggested you roll them out between two sheets of Silpat.
Wow! Game Changer.
I used a large and very hot cast iron pan, which was perfect. There was smoke, so I cranked up the exhaust fan, which makes a noise such that our cat would exit the scene at a high rate of speed. Charred bits of bread where it blisters and burns stuck to the pan, and I thought maybe I had ruined it, but the pan cleaned up nicely later.
For the first night, we ate them hot off the grill with some curry I whipped up. The next morning for breakfast, we sealed the naan in foil packets and heated them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. And then we dunked those hunks of soft charry pillowy naan in olive oil.
Dag, they were good.
While I’ve made tortillas for many years, I didn’t mess with making real bread until I retired. I started with the Jim Lahey no-knead breads and had great success. From there, entering my pandemic bread phase, I moved onto English Muffins. And naan.
By the way, I’ve now made the Washington Post recipe for English Muffins that I originally linked to, as well as the recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Café that Dot shared in the comments section.
Dot wins! We preferred the muffins from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
In other bread developments, I will soon be joining the legions of pandemic warriors taking refuge in sourdough. With inspiration from Chris, the sourdough enthusiast at Tahoe Girl, I purchased the original Tartine cookbook and am almost ready to begin the adventure.
The full sourdough report will unfold in the coming weeks. I needed a few new sexy bread tools, which arrive Tuesday.
Let the fiesta begin!
You post inspires me to try making naan the next time I make a pot of curry. I’ve never felt bold enough to try it. I like the idea of using a cast iron pan. I conquered bread making a few years ago but haven’t succumbed to the sourdough craze. I’m looking forward to reading about your journey with sourdough as one of my friends keeps offering me some of her starter.
I do hope you give the naan a try. Mine were so good even with the dough not being the right consistency. More to come on the sourdough!
First off, enjoyed the clever Janis Joplin reference in your last post.
This post has inspired me. I’ve had a naan recipe bookmarked for at least two years but have never made it. That recipe calls for yeast and yogurt but I think I’ll give yours a whirl after your enthusiastic review.
I’ve made English muffins for years using a step by step recipe I found in Family Fun magazine. When I read the WP recipe you shared, I was nonplussed because I’ve always dry-fried mine and the butter was off-putting to me. The naan recipe sounds doable and yummy!
Good luck with the sour dough; I did the #QuarantinyStarter thing last year with disappointing results (I’m blaming the failure on my cold house.) But I’ll look forward to your reports.
The English muffins from the other recipe I posted (Mel’s) cook in a dry pan. I think that’s one of the reasons I like them better. I’m glad to know cold houses can be blamed for sourdough failures!
I love sourdough but have always shied away from making it as it seems more complicated than I’d like. I look forward to hearing about your experience. I haven’t tried anything new for a while but I’m hoping I’ll be inspired soon!!
I felt the same way — more complicated than I’d like. But finally I got to the point of what the hell? I thought growing cannabis was more complicated than I’d like, but I hung in there and have been reasonably successful. And I enjoy it. That gave me confidence to try sourdough. My stuff gets here today, so we shall see!