Nom Nom Naan

A three day weekend. Oh it held so much promise. Starting with a fabulous staff holiday party complete with me winning a gift card for some delish food at the Embassy Suites hotel and some dancing at a new lounge downtown, but ending with a runny nose and phlemmy cough. Boo. After spending much of Sunday lounging on the couch watching movies and tv, I decided some comfort food would do just the trick to make me feel better. Well, along with my strict regimen of cold pills, allergy pills, humidifier refills, medicinal tea (No, Carrie, I am not drinking"pot-tea") I do believe some homemade Naan should do the trick.


Indian food is something that I find very comforting. It fills you up with this warm, savory and spicy feeling that can be washed down with a glass of red wine and a dollop of hummus on some naan. Naan is an Indian bread that somewhat resembles a pita and can be made to encompass any flavor you may choose. For my first attempt at homemade naan, I played it safe and only topped the bread with flavors. I used garlic powder, curry, cumin, butter and some pesto. Next time, I plan on incorporating raisins in some of my dough balls, adding pine nuts to the dough and maybe even trying a sweet naan with honey and cinnamon. 


Have you ever taken a bite of something and just closed your eyes and savored the texture, flavor, chewy goodness and warm feeling it brought to your senses? Well, good Lord, you need to and you can do it with this bread. This was seriously a very simple process and totally worth the outcome. Dip it in a little Olive Oil or hummus and share this starter with friends and family, they will be sure to thank you for the experience....and compliment you on your brilliance in the kitchen ;)
Enjoy, friends!


Ingredients:   Makes 8 loaves of Naan
2 cups all purpose flour or wheat flour
1/2 cup of warm milk
1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp oil

Instructions:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well in the center of flour.
2. Combine milk and yogurt and pour half of it into the well and with your hands, slowly mix it together.
3. Add the rest of the liquid slowly and combine it all together slowly until a soft dough is made. The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to hand too much then use little bit of oil on hand and then punch into the dough.
4. Cover with damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours. I pre-heated my oven to 175°, turned it off and then set the dough inside.

5. After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about 2-3 minutes. 
6. Divide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 8 balls to make naans).
7. Dust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread which is a little thick and elongated. Roll these balls out flatter than what you think may be necessary, they will puff up!
8. Sprinkle one side of the dough with whichever flavor you want.
9. Brush the other side with water.

Heat a thick bottom skillet or a wok or any heavy bottom pan with a lid. Once its nicely hot place the naan wet side down which would stick and cover it with a lid. I used a cast iron skillet and it worked perfectly.
Let it cook for about 30 secs or until you see bubbles on it. Flip the naan and cook it on the other side for a couple of minutes until you see a few charred brown spots, then you will know it's ready!