Garlic Naans
These can also be made in a hot frying pan.
This is one of my “go to” recipes now for making garlic naans both in my tandoor oven and also in a frying pan on the hob. I am currently working on a video which will demonstrate both methods but this recipe – unlike some of the photographs – is for cooking in a pan.
This recipe, minus the garlic butter of course, is vegan. There are no eggs, yoghurt or milk. In fact you could get really good results using dairy free vegetable ghee instead of butter if you are going dairy free.
This recipe makes 6 very large garlic naans naans. Usually naans this size are shared so you could serve up to twelve unless you’re cooking for a really hungry group.
I hope you have a chance to give this one a try. If you do own a tandoor and have any questions on using it for naans or anything, please get in touch. I’d be happy to help!
Pour the frothy yeast mixture over the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.
Mix the dough around with your hands for a couple of minutes. In will be quite sticky and difficult to work with.
Let the sticky dough sit for a couple of minutes and then kneed it for about ten minutes. It will stretch without breaking as shown.
Form into the best ball you can and let it sit, covered in a warm area for about an hour.
The dough should double in size.
Punch the dough down and then divide it into six equal sized pieces.
Lightly dust each piece with flour and form into balls. As you can see, the dough will be soft.
Place the dough balls on a floured surface. Cover for another hour. It’s best to use a clean cloth and not plastic like I stupidly did.
Dust a clean surface with flour. Place a dough ball on the flour and rub oil over the top. Press it into a naan shape.
The naan cooking!
Top with garlic butter (optional).
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Easy Tandoori Garlic Naans
Ingredients
- 600g plain white flour plus more for rolling out the naans
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 7g dry yeast
- 420ml warm water
- 4 tbsp. melted butter or vegetable ghee (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped (optional)
- 3 tbsp. chopped fresh coriander (optional)
Instructions
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Bring 210ml water to a rapid boil. Pour it into a jug and top with 210ml cold water. This should be the perfect temperature to wake up the dry yeast. Stir in the yeast and sugar and leave to froth up for about ten minutes.
- When the water is nice and bubbly, make a well in the flour mixture and pour it into the well. Mix it all together with your hands for a minute or so and then leave to rest for two minutes. Then knead the dough as best you can. It will be very sticky but don't be tempted to add more flour. Form into a ball, cover and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place.
- When the dough has risen (it should double in size but don't worry too much if it doesn't) divide it into six equal sized pieces. Dust each with a little flour and from into smooth balls. Place on a high sided tray and cover with a clean tea towel. Let the dough balls rise for another hour.
- When I cook in a tandoor, I place the balls on a floured surface and work them out into naan shapes with oiled hands - as shown. When pan frying I just use flour.
- Roll each ball out into round or teardrop shapes. For crispy naans, roll them quite thin. For fluffier naans the discs should be about 5mm think.
- Heat a pan - preferably cast iron over high heat until the base of the pan is very hot. Think tandoor here! The pan should be extremely hot. Slap the naan discs around between your hands to remove any excess flour.
- If using an electric hob, fry on the first side until bubbles begin to form on the top. Then flip it over briefly to brown the other side.
- If using a gas hob, wet one side of the naan with water and then slap it down hard on the pan, water side down. This will help it stick to the pan. Fry until bubbles from on top. The naan should stick to the pan. Turn the pan over so that the gas flame browns the top. Gravity will make the bubbles larger and you will have a naan that looks just like it came out of the tandoor. Pry the naan of with a metal spatula or similar.
- Repeat with the other naans and wrap in foil to keep warm.
- To serve, brush each with butter or butter with chopped garlic and coriander. This is optional but really good.
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Daz
Sunday 8th of August 2021
Hi, i can't wait to try this recipe, looks good! Can you tell me what type of dey yeast please, instant or active?
Dan Toombs
Thursday 12th of August 2021
You Can just use instant, quick acting yeast sold in all supermarkets. Thanks Dan
Steve. Tyne
Monday 14th of June 2021
What temp should my Tandoor oven be at ? I made one from fire bricks and a clay pot which uses bbq brickets, first attempt at chicken was good bread was a failure please advise
Dan Toombs
Tuesday 15th of June 2021
The wall of the tandoor should be between 300 and 330 C for naan bread. Thanks Dan
Joe
Monday 19th of April 2021
Hi we have a second hand tandoor oven, each time we attempt to make naans it either sticks to the side and won’t come off or comes off raw. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Dan Toombs
Thursday 22nd of April 2021
That problem is usually if the oven is not hot enough. The oven must be between 300 and 325 C and then hopefully the naans should stick to the sides. You need to really slap them on with a heat proof mitten. Thanks Dan
Harriet
Thursday 26th of November 2020
This is the best recipe I've ever tried, so delicious! I was very tempted to add more flour as it was so wet but you were right on how great they'd turn out - thanks!!
Dan Toombs
Thursday 26th of November 2020
Great to hear, thanks very much. Dan
Mark
Monday 2nd of March 2020
Hi Dan,
I dont sadly own a tandoor, but I have bought a small yet powerful pizza oven to make indian flatbreads :-) Most recipes either use dry yeast OR baking powder/soda, may I ask why you opted to use both at the same time?
Mark
Dan Toombs
Thursday 5th of March 2020
Hi Mark
That's a little trick I learned along the way. I often leave the baking powder out but it does help.
Thanks, Dan