Naan: Indian flatbreads from a pan that puff up like balloons
In India naan is baked on the wall of a clay tandoor heated to several hundred degrees. At home a cast-iron pan heated to its absolute limit does the job, with no fat at all. The dough contains yogurt, which makes the breads soft, faintly tangy and pliable for longer.
Your own work in that: 50 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Rising 60 min
- Shaping and cooking 35 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneKnead a soft dough
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk with the sugar and wait 5 minutes. Add the yogurt and oil, pour into the flour mixed with the salt and baking powder. Knead 8 minutes, until smooth and noticeably softer than bread dough — it should tack slightly to your fingers, and that is correct.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 200 g thick natural yogurt · 150 ml milk · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp baking powder · 1½ tsp salt · 3 tbsp oil
TipBaking powder alongside yeast is not a mistake: the yeast builds flavour and structure during the rise, while the powder releases an extra burst of gas only at high heat — helping the breads puff up fast on the hot pan.
Softer than bread dough, slightly tackyLet it rise an hour
Move it to an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and leave somewhere warm for 60 minutes, until doubled. A yogurt dough rises a little more slowly, so don't cut this short — it should be visibly puffed and soft to the touch.
Doubled and soft under the handDivide and roll
Divide into 8 pieces, shape into balls, cover and leave 10 minutes for the gluten to relax. Roll each one on a floured surface into a teardrop 3 mm thick. Thicker and the middle never puffs; thinner and it dries out before it can rise.
TipRoll them one at a time, just before cooking. Rolled breads left waiting on the counter dry on the surface and stop puffing.
Three millimetres, teardrop shapeHeat the pan to its limit
Heat a dry cast-iron pan on the highest heat for 5 minutes. It should be hot enough that a drop of water vanishes instantly with a hiss. No fat at all — naan bakes on a dry surface, like bread on a stone.
TipNo cast iron? Use the heaviest pan you own and heat it twice as long. A thin pan loses its heat the moment the dough lands and the naan will not puff.
Cook a minute a side
Lay a bread on the pan. After 60 seconds big bubbles start rising and the underside covers in dark, almost black spots. Flip and cook 45 seconds on the other side. Stack them on a plate under a cloth. Roll the next bread while the previous one cooks — all eight take about 15 minutes in total.
TipThe black spots are not burning but the signature of naan — in a tandoor they come out darker still. A bread with no spots means the pan was too cool.
Big bubbles and dark spots underneathBrush with garlic butter
Melt the butter with the crushed garlic, but don't fry it — it only needs to release its scent. Brush the hot breads the moment they leave the pan, scatter with chopped coriander and flaky salt. Serve warm, with curry, dhal, or for dipping in yogurt.
Ingredients: 60 g butter · 3 cloves garlic · ½ bunch fresh coriander · 1 pinch flaky salt
Butter onto a hot bread, straight off the pan
Before you start
Stuffed naan
Put a spoon of mashed curd cheese with garlic, or spiced potato, on the rolled bread, seal the edges and roll again, gently. That gives a stuffed naan, close to Punjabi kulcha.
No yeast, in 20 minutes
Skip the yeast and milk, raise the baking powder to 2 teaspoons and add 150 g more yogurt. The dough rests only 20 minutes. It comes out slightly less airy.
Reheating
Sprinkle with water and put on a dry hot pan for 30 seconds a side. The moisture turns to steam and the bread goes soft again. A microwave makes it rubbery.
Freezing
Interleave with paper and freeze flat. Reheat straight from frozen on a hot pan — 90 seconds a side.
