How to make Naan Bread
There is nothing finer than freshly made naan bread with a particularly messy curry if only to clean the plates and make a huge mess of your shirt and napkin. They are easy to make and the beauty is that you can fart about getting them ready while your curry happily burbles away to itself so no real pressure. We love them with lashings of garlic mainly as we have no neighbours or visitors and certainly no friends on a curry night or most of the next day.
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Ingredients for about seven Naan breads
400g of ordinary flour and loads of spare for rolling out and chucking around the kitchen
2/3 cup lukewarm water
A sachet of dried yeast (7g)
1 Tsp. salt
1/8 cup of sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 egg (beaten)
At least 2 Tsp of minced garlic but 4 is better (optional)
Melted butter for brushing on before cooking
2/3 cup lukewarm water
A sachet of dried yeast (7g)
1 Tsp. salt
1/8 cup of sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 egg (beaten)
At least 2 Tsp of minced garlic but 4 is better (optional)
Melted butter for brushing on before cooking
Instructions
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk and the egg in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Add the lukewarm water and bravely mix it all together as best you can adding a sprinkle more flour if it gets too wet, then scrape whatever you can from the wooden spoon, stick your hand in and mould it altogether into an amorphous blob making sure you get all the crappy bits from the side of the bowl as well.
Knead the bread for about 4-5 minutes. Basically, grab an edge with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, fold it over and then press it down and away from you with the heel of the other hand. Keep doing this until you have almost turned the entire lump of dough inside out. If it's too wet, as it invariably is, sprinkle more flour on top between kneads, if too dry add more water. Ensure you keep your hands covered in flour, not for the bread but for the added bonus of accidentally leaving Jarvo hand prints on K's lady bits. Oh how she giggles. When the dough is lovely and smooth, dump it back in the bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to double in size...time for a sip of wine perhaps and a stir of your wonderfully smelling messy curry. About 45 minutes or so before you need them for the curry knock back the dough, spread it out a bit and shovel the minced garlic on top (if using). Knead the dough to mix in the garlic then break it into seven lumps and leave on a floured surface to rise.
When you are ready to go, roll the blobs out into the nearest shape you can get to an oval, this is desperately wine dependent so don't worry about it too much. Lightly oil a griddle stick it on a medium heat and let it get hot before you flop the first naan into it. Almost immediately the naan should start to bubble on top, this is when you brush the melted butter, ideally seasoned with some seasoning salt, over the top. They should only need 2-3 mins per side so flip it over and the bottom should be griddle lined. Brush this side with the butter and after another 2-3 mins flip it again to seal in the butter. When happy with the colour, casually flick it out of the griddle into a paper lined basket, the greater the distance you can flick them the better the flavour, obviously. Repeat with the rest of the dough, adding more oil to the griddle if you have to but remember to let it heat up before adding the naan. If you are taking too long you can keep them warm in the oven but not in the basket you numpty.
Serve with a very messy curry, chips and if you can save one for breakfast so you can lightly toast it and then layer some eggs and bacon on top and keep the neighbours away for another 24 hours.