Bread: Naan

Hello!

I thought I would share with you our naan bread.  I enjoy bread baking, but often run out of time to let a dough fully rise twice and bake.  This bread does rise once (though I am going to play and see if it is necessary), but it has no second rise and cooks on a griddle.

I used this recipe.   It calls for greek yogurt which gives the bread a wonderful texture and rich flavor. the bread, especially buttered and lightly sprinkled with salt, tastes like a cross between homemade white bread and pretzels.

After the dough has risen once, the recipe says to divide it into 8 pieces.  Truthfully that makes HUGE pieces naan.  I would recommend at least 12-16 pieces.  I did not make mine perfect--I love the rustic look of the bread.

Butter and salt (or whatever seasoning you like--cumin might go well with a curry dish, or garlic with a roast) both sides and put the naan on a griddle (I have a large one for making lots of pancakes at a time and it still took me two batches to cook all these!).   It takes only a minute or three per side, especially if you had rolled them flatter (no smaller than 1/4 inch.  Mine were closer to 1/2 inch thick)

Look at those beautiful bubbles forming!  The first side will not have the gorgeous brown bubbles, but the second side should.

A close up...see that wonderful butter and kosher salt?  I am starving already!

This recipe makes a STACK of naan.  These are thick, hearty but not heavy flat breads.  They are also Precious' favorite and a great bread to make on a cold morning or with a stew :)  I could see these also being phenomenal with added sugar and perhaps cinnamon in the dough.  Or maybe some berries or apples in the dough.  And with syrup. 

A note about butter:  I had gotten a brick of Kerrygold butter.  I am not sure if you have tried it, but it has an odd margarine flavor.  In fact, if someone had given me a taste test, I would have said it was Parkay! It is supposed to be from grass fed cows, but truly it tastes more margaine than "grass fed".  It might be my taste buds, but I think from now on I will stick with regular butter.  I used the Kerrygold exclusively with the first batch, but ran out and had to add some regular butter.  It tasted better.  Actually, one of my next projects is homemade cultured butter--I will let you know how that goes--it is supposed to be amazing!