Naan - Indian Flat Bread Recipe

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Naan is a very popular flat bread which is a staple food in entire South Asia as well as in some part of Middle East. Also it has gained acceptance in the Western Countries as well. Today, I am posting a type of Naan which you may find in many South Asian Restaurants wherever you are. As one picture says a thousand words, I leave it to your discretion to judge by the pics that I have posted. Hope you too love it's taste .....

                                                                    

Yields: 10-12 Naans, Fermentation time: 2-3 hours, Preparation time: 10-15 minutes





Ingredients:

5 cups All purpose flour

1/2 cup Milk, warm

1/2 cup Yogurt

1 1/2 tsp Active dry Yeast

1 Egg

2 tsp Sugar

2 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Butter (room temperature) / Oil

1/4 cup water





For Garnishing:

Nigella seeds, Sesame seeds, Fennel seeds/ saunf, chopped coriander leaves, Kashmiri red chilly. 





Method:

Heat 1/4 cup water and pour yeast, sugar and water in a plastic jar. Shake well and let it sit for 20-25 minutes. Foam will be formed on top of the jar.

Sieve flour and salt, make a small well in the center and pour the yeast liquid. Blend in beaten egg, melted butter, yogurt and combine well by using your hand. If the dough is sticky you can dust your palm with little flour. Knead well to make a soft dough cover it with a damp cloth and let it sit for 25 minutes. Knead the dough again, now place the dough in lightly oiled container and keep it in warm place for 2-3 hours or untill the dough has doubled in size.



                                                            

Pre-heat Oven to 250 Degree Celsius for 20 minutes and grease the baking tray. Punch down the dough and take out golf size dough and make a smooth ball. Then roll the ball into a rough oval shape. The naans should be rolled out thick about 1/2 inch. And do not use rolling pin here as these are rolled out by hand. Now  sprinkle nigella seeds, saunf, sesame seeds, coriander leaves and red chilly powder and press lightly with your hand. 



                                                    

                                                                  

Place two naans on the baking tray at a time and bake this for 4-5 minutes. Then change the Oven mode to Broil and place the baking tray on the top rack of the oven and heat it for another 3-4 minutes. This will give the best results in appearance. It will give naan beautiful brown spots just like the way you get in restaurants.

Remove from oven and brush it with butter again. Have this delicious hot and freshly made Naan with  Tandoori Chicken or Dal Makhni. And if you want to have this later then you can stack them and wrap the naans in aluminium foil and keep in hot pot. But my suggestion would be to serve it hot and relish immediately as they tend to become hard and chewy.