Naan Bread

My sister, Robin, made this Indian bread for us a couple of years ago and we love it.  It reminds me of thick flour tortillas.  Most of the time it is just made plain, without the garlic.  But I've also seen where other things are added with the garlic, like herbs.  You pronounce it naan (n-aw-n) like yawn.


Recipe:

2 C flour (1/4 soft whole wheat, 3/4 bread)
1 Tbs raw wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
2-3 Tbs plain yogurt
3/4 cup water
2 Tbs oil
3 cloves chopped garlic (optional)
Butter for basting

Mix together flour, wheat germ, yeast, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add water, oil and yogurt and mix well, kneading a couple of minutes and adding more water if needed to make a very soft, kind of sticky dough. Cover and let rise for 4 hours.

Knead dough again a few times. Divide into 6 or more balls, depending on how big you want your naans. Heat cast iron skillet or frying pan on medium-medium high heat. Heat a cooling rack on another burner on medium-medium high heat. Generously sprinkle flour on work surface and taking one ball at a time, roll it in the flour to coat all over. Begin rolling the dough out into whatever shape you want, circle, triangle or rectangle. Roll quite thin, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle some chopped garlic onto the dough and roll it into the dough once or twice.

Wet hands a little and pass naan back and forth between hands as you put naan on the skillet. Cook a few seconds until it starts to bubble. Turn over and cook a few more seconds until lightly browned. Move naan to rack and cook some more on both sides, being careful not to burn it, until it puffs up or has a puffy surface. Remove to some foil and baste it with butter. Preserve in foil to keep it warm. Repeat the process until you have baked all of your naans.


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