Homemade Naan (with Yeast)

Making Naan at home is relatively easy.  I have made Naan before but this was indeed my best creations yet.  One thing I have realized it that I can exploit my bread machine to the max while making Indian breads.  The dough turns out so soft and pliable that it makes some of the best roti’s and naan’s.

This time I decided to do a bit of internet research to see if I found a good recipe for naan with yeast.  Unfortunately I was dissapointed a bit.  Almost all recipes I came across required a quarter cup of sugar which had me gaping in horror at the recipes. I guess it would be because I am not too fond of sweet naans. Atleast according to me a quarter cup sugar was way too much. I decided to use two tablespoons instead and finally used only 1 3/4 table spoons of sugar. Couldn’t get my self to add two whole table spoons of sugar. Next time if I make a yeast naan, I’ll most probably add only a tablespoon.

As I was unhappy with most recipes I decided to come up with one of my own.The result was indeed a success.  The dough was easy to handle, the naans puffed up well, were soft and delicious.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter ( I used I can’t believe it’s not butter)
• 1/4 cup yoghurt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup water
• 1 3/4 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry  yeast

Method

• Put  all ingredients in the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturere and select the dough cycle
• It should result in a nice soft dough.
• Leave it for an hour to let it rise.
• Punch down the dough and divide it into small tangerine size balls.
• Roll out each ball into a slipper shape.
• Bake in the ovenon the top rack under broil setting, for about 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other side.
• If desired brush on some melted butter before serving hot.

Notes

• Preheat the oven on broil setting.
• Make sure the rack right on the top. I put 2 naans at a time on a baking sheet and put them for broiling.
• Leave the oven door cracked open a bit so you can monitor the naans. They cook very fast and start to burn if you don’t monitor them carefully.
• Brush on some melted butter with chopped cilantor and garlic in it to add some extra flavor to them.
• Can be stored in the refridgerator for upto two day or frozen for for more than 3 months.
• If storing them for later do not butter them.  Apply butter after reheating them.