Naan bread

Soft, chewy naan bread is the perfect accompaniment to any curry – try serving these up alongside the Lamb Korma I posted earlier in the week, or with Emma’s Chicken Cashew Curry. I’ve had good results both frying these off in a heavy-based pan on the stove top and by baking in a very hot oven on a pizza stone.

Ingredients

Makes 8 naan

• --
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ cup unsweetened yoghurt
• ¾ cup warm water
• 2 ½ - 3 cups all-purpose flour
• --
• 4 tbsp melted butter or oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4-6 tbsp yoghurt
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds

Method

• --
• 1. Measure yeast, salt, sugar, oil, ground cumin, yoghurt and water into a large bowl with 1 cup of the flour and mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for at least 15 minutes in a warm place.
• 2. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough firm enough to knead. Knead with a dough hook from an electric mixer or with your hands for approximately 10 minutes. (The dough should spring back when pressed.)
• 3. Roll the dough in 2 tsp oil and place in large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (this should take around half an hour).
• 4. If you plan on baking the naan, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 230ºC on Bake while dough is rising.
• 5. Knead dough briefly and divide into 8 pieces. Roll each piece out on a lightly floured surface into a flat shape approximately 10 x 15cm in size.
• 6. Combine melted butter or oil with crushed garlic and brush a little onto each piece of bread, top with a tablespoon or two of yoghurt and sprinkle over cumin seeds.
• 7. Bake two at a time for 5-10 minutes, until bread has puffed up and tuned golden brown. The key is to get some colour on the bread without over cooking or it will be more crunchy than chewy. Alternatively, heat a large, heavy-based frying pan over a moderate heat and fry bread in batches for a few minutes on each side.
• Keep cooked naan bread warm by wrapping in a clean tea towel until all the breads are cooked.