Soft Naan Bread

Naan bread! One of my favorite flat breads. I used to buy it from supermarket, where besides the fact that it is very expensive you pay over $3 for a package of 3 naan breads, when you read the ingredients there are so many that have nothing to do with flour, milk or oil ..... Of course I decided to make my own, so just like that I started looking for a good recipe. You think it would be easy with the internet and so many food recipe sites. Right?! Well, so did I. I was wrong!

The first recipe that came up in my search was Emeril Lagasse's naan bread. I was happy, I like Emeril!

Well, his naan bread didn't taste like naan bread, and was hard, I mean really really hard, it tasted more like hard pita bread, nothing like what I expected. So the search was still on. I don't remember how many recipes I tried from different sites and you tube, nothing was like the soft naan bread that I liked.

Then, I got fed up and decided to make my own recipe. It might not be authentic naan bread, but is soft, delicious and very easy to make. I love it, the boys love it, my husband loves it...... that's all I care about.

So if you are looking for an authentic naan bread recipe, this is not the one for you. If you are looking for a soft naan bread then here you are........ :D

I use a base recipe which I will list bellow, to that recipe sometimes I add herbs just for flavour, those ingredients will be listed as optional. Also I will post pictures from both the original and the herbed naan bread. Choose which one you like best. The recipe makes about 30 naan breads, if that's to much' you can adjust the recipe to fit your needs; make just half of the recipe. It also freezes well!

Ingredients.

2 cups milk

2 tbsp sugar

4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tsp sea salt

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ( or you can use any oil you like. I'm a fan of E.V. olive oil)

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg lightly beaten ( for extra softness, but if you are a vegan you can omit it)

Optional

 1 tbsp of dry parsley

  1 tbsp of dry chives

1/2 tsp of cumin

Or, your favorite herbs. Rosemary is one of my favorite as well!

Place the milk and sugar in a small heavy saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the milk is very warm. Remove to a small bowl and let stand for about 5 minutes to cool down.

Sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand for 10 minutes until foamy.

In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and herbs if using. Make a wheel in the center and add the olive oil and the egg lightly beaten.

Stir to dissolve the yeast, and add to the wheel. Mix until you get a dough.
Turn dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 7 minutes adding very little flour to prevent sticking. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, turning once  to coat the top.

Cover with cling wrap and tea towel and let stand in a draft free place for 40 to 50 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Turn the dough on a clean surface and punch down to help expel the air.

With herbs.

Without herbs.

Divide the dough in about 30 equal potions.

I made them into little balls, but it's not necessary. Flatten each portion, out.

With herbs.

Without herbs.

Preheat a nonstick frying pan ( I used the griddle from my stove) over medium heat.

This is purely optional but i like spraying the griddle or frying pan with some butter flavored nonstick cooking spray. It helps the naan bread not to stick together if you decide to freeze it, and it gives a nice coating helping it stay soft longer.

Cook the naan bread for about 1 minute.

Then flip and cook for a minute more.

Remove to a cooling rack.

Serve warm, with your favorite dip, works great with soup. my boys love it for panini sandwiches.

Enjoy!