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• Never-Failing, No-Fuss Naan!

  

  If you’re inclined to scratch cook a curry, and if you’re shopping with us we’ll assume you are, you’ll probably find a shop-bought-naan a little underwhelming, and anti-climatic. This recipe is easy, loads easier than it looks, and ends up with plump fluffy naans which soak sauce superbly.

  It looks like quite a few steps, but essentially you’re about to mix two bowls of stuff, then mix those, waiting a bit, then applying some heat to your naans…

  What You Need…

  • 300g plain flour
  • 50g wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1-2 tsp black onion (nigella) seeds
  • 125g plain yoghurt
  • 100ml cold milk
  • 50ml boiling water
  • 1 tsp fast-action yeast
  • 1 tblsp of any oil
  • Large knob of butter/4tblsp oil
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • A handful of chopped coriander (optional)

   

  What You Do…

  In a bowl mix:

  • Put 300g plain flour
  • 50g wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar and 1-2 tsp black onion (nigella) seeds (these give you the stereotypical taste of naan bread, but leave them out if you don’t have any, or substitute with cumin/fennel seeds).

  In a large bowl add

  • 125g plain yoghurt (whatever you normally use)
  • 100ml cold milk
  • 50ml boiling water and 1tsp fast action yeast (the sachet yeast is fine, but don’t use a whole sachet).
  • Stir everything together and make sure there are no lumps.

  Add the flour mixture to the yoghurt mixture and stir well, this will produce a very soft, sticky dough.

  Make sure that you’ve gathered together all of the flour at the bottom of the bowl and then cover the dough with a sheet of cling film and rest for 30 minutes.

  After half an hour, pour 1 tblsp of any oil on to your work surface and rub it out to the size of a dinner plate.

  Tip the sticky dough on to the oil and roughly knead the dough into a ball. This should take around 10 seconds and then put back in the bowl, cover with cling film and leave for an hour.

  After an hour, lightly flour the worktop and place the dough on it. Pat it into a circle and cut it into 6 pieces.

  You already roughly have your classic naan teardrop shape. Put the oven on to 200C/180C fan/390F.

  Melt a large knob of butter/4tblsp oil (or a mixture of the two) in a small pan and grate 1 clove of garlic into it, along with a handful of chopped coriander (if you like it)

  When the butter has melted, turn the heat off and leave the flavours to infuse while you cook the naan.

  Put a large frying pan on medium heat, don’t add any oil to the pan.

  When the pan is hot, roll out the first of your triangles to around 1cm thick using extra flour to stop them from sticking.

  Stretch the triangle as you place it on the hot frying pan. Brush some of the garlic butter onto the top of the naan as it’s cooking. Soon you will see little bubbles appearing on the surface.

  Keep an eye on the underside of the naan so that you can take it out when it’s starting to brown.

  Using a spatula/fish slice take the naan from the pan and place it on to the racks in the oven. This will finish off cooking the top while you get on with the next naan.

  Repeat the process until the dough has been used up. Keep a close eye on the naan in the oven and take them out if they start to get brown.

  They soak up the sauce perfectly and taste wonderful. Give them a go with your favourite curry and let us know how you find them!