naan bread – easier than you think

naan

Now that it’s fall, it’s a perfect time to dig into curries, hearty soups and stews. And there’s nothing better than freshly baked bread to help sop up all that goodness. One rainy dark night with the thoughts of curry already bubbling away in my brain, I decided that naan bread would be the perfect accompaniment. Who cares that I’ve never made it before…how hard could it be?

naan

The truth is that naan bread is pretty simple to make. If you can make pizza dough, you can make naan. All the ingredients get a good stir with your trusty wooden spoon and then you let it rest for 2 hours. Take a nap, clean the apartment, turn up your favorite records and have an impromptu dance party! Then, when the rising time is complete, you give it a couple punches, roll out the dough into snake-like lines and pinch it off into small balls. Then you flatten and bake them. The best part is realizing that you’ve baked something that looks almost as good as the naan bread that comes with your lazy Indian night take aways. I say almost because Indian restaurants have large clay ovens to bake their bread and you are probably just making do with a cranked oven from the 70s and a banged up cookie sheet. Or maybe that’s just me. Do you have a pizza stone? Use that instead! Brush with butter and sprinkle with your favorite seed and dig in!

naan

Elsewhere: Go make this raspberry vinaigrette that I posted on ReadyMade this week. Seriously awesome and who-put-the-crack-in-that addictive.

25 comments to “naan bread – easier than you think”

  1. 1
    carolbrowne   October 8, 2010 at 9:59 am

    I will try this! I have been trying to make pita bread, but all my batches come out more naan-like than pita-ish. Also, I see that my oven’s not been hot enough and my pizza stone was on the top rack, not the bottom.

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

  2. 2
    Vishnu   October 8, 2010 at 10:01 am

    Hey -I’m going to try this as soon as i can, but one tiny tiny gripe.
    It’s just Naan, not naan bread. Naan breasd is a redundant phase IMO.

  3. 3
    kickpleat   October 8, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Carol, I hope you try it out. It’s pretty tasty! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well 🙂

    Vishnu, ahhh, the same thing as saying “chai tea” then? Just chai and just naan. Got it!

  4. 4
    SusieBee   October 8, 2010 at 10:13 am

    Just made some palak paneer so naan is next!

    http://eatlittleeatbig.blogspot.com/2010/10/palak-paneer-indian-spinach-and-cheese.html

    Thanks,
    Susan

  5. 5
    Eva   October 8, 2010 at 11:18 am

    ohhh I love Naan bread! This looks so good…I could eat Indian food all the time. 🙂

  6. 6
    vanillasugar   October 8, 2010 at 11:47 am

    now i want ice cold hummus with warm naan bread! (and a side of olives too!)

  7. 7
    Elizabeth   October 8, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    I have been totally thinking about naan lately. My track record with bread is terrible so flat bread seems like a good place to start. Your naan looks heavenly.

  8. 8
    Joanne   October 9, 2010 at 3:19 am

    Naan is basically my favorite type of bread on this entire earth. I love it’s texture…the butter brushed over…the whole package. it’s just delicious! This sounds like a great recipe. gotta love Bittman.

  9. 9
    kickpleat   October 9, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    SusieBee, I so want to make paneer next!

    Eva, me too. I love indian food so much.

    VanillaSugar, ooooh, that sounds good. Olives, yes please!

    Thanks Elizabeth, I’m really happy that it turned out so well.

    Joanne, naan is so good and this recipe makes it out to be quite simple.

  10. 10
    Bijoux   October 11, 2010 at 7:35 am

    I have a confession to make. I bought the ready made naan at the supermarket, garlic flavour. Tastes pretty good, but it’s not homemade. I’m not an ambitious bread maker. Cakes and cookies yes, bread no 🙂

  11. 11
    A L   October 11, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    Just an FYI, I go to your website many times a month, whenever I need to make something for a party or use up an item in my pantry. Your website rocks! I swear, it has made me so much more of an apple in my sweetie’s eye, thanks to your recipes!

  12. 12
    Maddie   October 11, 2010 at 7:30 pm

    Thanks for the reassurance that naan is isn’t too hard to make—I’ve read recipes before that were three pages long, and they scared me off (seemingly) for good. But now you’ve got me thinking about all the delicious naan add-ins and variations that are only possible once you start making your own!

  13. 13
    Julie   October 11, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    LOVE homemade naan. Problem is I eat the entire batch without hardly sharing.

  14. 14
    kickpleat   October 12, 2010 at 9:26 am

    Bijoux, this isn’t very ambitious! Try something new and you might be surprised at how easy it is!

    Thanks so much A L for letting me know! I love hearing that 🙂

    Maddie, it’s not hard at all. I’m a novice bread maker and this felt totally within my realm. And yes, so many possibilities!

    Julie, I understand how that is!

  15. 15
    julia f   October 20, 2010 at 7:59 am

    i made this last night and it was fantastic! i do have one question – when i added the water, the dough was super-sticky and not really a coherent ball at all. after rising it was still too damp to roll out into snakes, and i wound up patting it rather than rolling, but the end result was still scrumptious. i am in humid louisiana so i am thinking that i just need to more restrained w/ the water next time – any advice would be much appreciated!

  16. 16
    kickpleat   October 20, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    Glad you enjoyed this Julia! Yes, I think you should add the water slowly, bit by bit and stop when it seems right. It shouldn’t be sticky but I’m glad to know that it worked out anyway!!

  17. 17
    bambinosteps   November 1, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    I can make pizza dough! And I’m totally making this naan. I get so intimidated by baking bread sometimes, but this seems doable. And I’m excited about the bonus dressing recipe as well. I’m getting a bit tired of the standard balsamic vinaigrette.

  18. 18
    kickpleat   November 2, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Bambinosteps, try both the naan and the dressing. The naan is totally doable and the vinaigrette is amazing!!

  19. 19
    Ashley   November 3, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Yaey I love that you make naan bread seem so simple because I really want to make it but have been scared! Your naan bread looks delicious.

  20. 20
    kickpleat   November 10, 2010 at 10:11 am

    Ashley, don’t be scared, it’s quite simple really!

  21. 21
    Jeanette   March 21, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Loved it! I made it this afternoon after finding the recipe a few weeks ago on Pinterest. It was very easy – and wonderfully good. Melted a little extra butter to dip it in…

  22. 22
    Jennifer   March 13, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    Tried this recipe today. Amazing!! Thank you, the naan goes so well with lentil apple dal and my mustard cabbage side dish.

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