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Naan Bread
This recipe for tradtional Indian Naan Bread is soft, buttery and delicious! So easy to make at home, with just a few basic ingredients. Essential for any Indian style meal.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken
- 2-3 tablespoons butter, for cooking and spreading on top
- sea salt or kosher salt, chopped parsley or cilantro for topping cooked Naan
Instructions
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Place warm water in a measuring cup. Sprinkle on yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar.
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Using very warm water, rinse the bowl used to make bread inside and out, creating a warm bowl for the dough. Dry with a cloth and set aside.
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When yeast begins to rise, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, or if mixing by hand, into a large bowl.
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Add 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1 teaspoon baking powder to yeast mixture in bowl.
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Mix for one minute on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl once. Cover bowl with Saran wrap and put bowl in a warm place* for about 30 minutes.
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Heat the griddle or other pan, preferable non stick or cast iron to about medium high heat or 350 degrees.
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After dough has risen for 30 minutes, Place on a well floured pastry mat or clean surface.
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Cut dough in to six even pieces, and roll out one at a time into a long oval shape. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.
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Spread each piece on one side with melted or softened butter if desired. Grill on pan with buttered side down until golden brown. Flip and cook on other side. Cook into dough bubbles up and is golden brown. Remove and let sit on a sheet of parchment paper or cloth.
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Brush while warm with butter. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh herbs. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- When making any type of bread I like to make sure the bowl is warm before adding yeast or other ingredients. This is done by simply rinsing the bowl with warm water and then drying. The heat in the bowl will be retained and help the yeast to rise.
- If you need a warm place for the dough to rise, use your microwave as a mini proofing oven. Take a cup of water and heat for about one minute. Discard water. Then place the bowl of bread dough into the microwave oven. Make sure to cover the dough with Saran Wrap or a light towel before placing in microwave. The heat trapped in the microwave from warming up the cup of water is just enough to create a warm environment for the dough to rise.
One of the best recipes I’ve tried. I cooked them on a cast iron skillet and loved the flavor it gave them. If I would have known making naan bread was this easy and yummy I would have done it a long time ago! Thanks!
It’s amazing how easy it is, Tiana! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, definitely one of my favorite recipe to eat any Indian-style dish with. Thanks for sharing,
xo
Si
This bread is SO good!! I had never made naan before and it was really easy. I make bread all the time. This was a fun delicious change. Thank you!!
Thank you! It really is SO easy to make. I love this with Curry and also just with a salad!
Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
This recipe was sooo easy! I did need to add more flour because it was too sticky but it turned out incredible. I have never really made dough for much so I’m pretty intimidated by dough recipes. This was so much easier than I anticipated. My family LOVED it!
Emilee,
I’m glad this recipe was a success for you! The stickiness depends so much on the humidity and type of flour used. Thanks for sharing your experience with this Naan recipe!
xo
Si
It looks absolutely amazing.
Thank you! This tastes amazing paired with my Indian Butter Chicken recipe. Give it a try and let me know how you like it! Thanks for reading ABK.
xo,
Si
Have you ever made this with whole wheat flour?
Hi Cynthia!
I haven’t used wheat flour for this recipe. If you’d like to give it a try, I would recommend using half white, half wheat and see how that works. You may need to add more liquid if using wheat flour. Please let us know how your naan turns out! Thank you for reading ABK.
xo,
Si
The recipe was delicious, once I added A LOT more flour. The dough was nearly like pancake patter with the amount of flour called for. I used AP flour.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your feedback. That’s strange. I’ve never had that problem before. Did you go back and recheck the liquid measurements? I’ll make this again and see if I need to adjust! Thank you for reading ABK.
xo, Si
I love this naan and have made it many times, though I also have to add a LOT more flour, I used Lehi mills AP flour. Are you sure the measurements are correct? Thank you!
Delish! A similar recipe online called for 2 1/4 c flour, so after reading the comments I adjusted, and also added some salt and a T oil. Your butter chicken recipe is a favorite- Thank you!! Tripled it, and we indulged for days 🤪🤩❤️ Now I just need to figure out Royal India’s Peshwari naan- that cardamom/nut/raisin/brown sugar filling… Be still my soul. Bury me in that please, kids.