Can Naan be Made in a Typical US Kitchen?

[Shel_B]

Toots has developed a liking for Aloo Gobi, and I'm teaching myself to make the dish to her/our liking. I started with the potatoes last night ...

Toots also loves naan, and it would be nice to make that as well, although making bread is far from one of my strengths. So, before embarking on that adventure, can naan be made in a typical US kitchen? How would I go about it? Perhaps by using a cast iron skillet instead of a tandoor? Maybe a pizza stone of some sort?

Has anyone done this? Tips and suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[heidih]

Canadian Dejah has been having a good go at it in this topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145630-cooking-with-the-char-broil-oil-less-big-easy-fryer/

[heidih]

And I would be happy with Kerry's naan here http://forums.egullet.org/topic/124319-the-bread-topic/page-7?p=1758576#entry1758576

[huiray]

Just buy a good (frozen) brand from your local Indian grocery, thaw it and pan-fry it in your US kitchen. ;-)

[mgaretz]

Just buy a good (frozen) brand from your local Indian grocery, thaw it and pan-fry it in your US kitchen. ;-)

I second this. And while you're at it, pick up a package of roti paratha. It's made the same way you reheat/fry the naan, but it's lighter and flaky. Yum.

[Shel_B]

Just buy a good (frozen) brand from your local Indian grocery, thaw it and pan-fry it in your US kitchen.

I want to make it ... sheesh!

[Shel_B]

Just buy a good (frozen) brand from your local Indian grocery, thaw it and pan-fry it in your US kitchen. ;-)

I second this. And while you're at it, pick up a package of roti paratha. It's made the same way you reheat/fry the naan, but it's lighter and flaky. Yum.

I want to make naan, not buy some frozen stuff. Toots likes naan.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

Canadian Dejah has been having a good go at it in this topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145630-cooking-with-the-char-broil-oil-less-big-easy-fryer/

I don't have a big easy fryer ... I have a stove and an oven.

[Mjx]

Canadian Dejah has been having a good go at it in this topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145630-cooking-with-the-char-broil-oil-less-big-easy-fryer/

I don't have a big easy fryer ... I have a stove and an oven.

Oookay: How about Heidi's second suggestion (post #3)? 'Typical US kitchen' means different things in different regions.

However, assuming your kitchen consists of a stove and an oven as heats sources, you can still make naan; just hop round to the library, and take a look at the May & June 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated (pp. 22-23), or look up the recipe on their site, if you're a subscriber.

You'll need a 12-inch skillet, ideally cast iron, although the recipe says you can use a non-stick one, too. The results look pretty good.

[Shel_B]

Oookay: How about Heidi's second suggestion (post #3)?

... take a look at the May & June 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated (pp. 22-23), or look up the recipe on their site, if you're a subscriber.

You'll need a 12-inch skillet, ideally cast iron, although the recipe says you can use a non-stick one, too. The results look pretty good.

All I see is a photo of some naan - no recipe, no technique, no suggestions.

CI may be a good source. I'll look into it. Tks!

[Mjx]

Oookay: How about Heidi's second suggestion (post #3)?

... take a look at the May & June 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated (pp. 22-23), or look up the recipe on their site, if you're a subscriber.

You'll need a 12-inch skillet, ideally cast iron, although the recipe says you can use a non-stick one, too. The results look pretty good.

All I see is a photo of some naan - no recipe, no technique, no suggestions.

CI may be a good source. I'll look into it. Tks!

You're welcome, and what I meant was the grilling option, but didn't know whether you had a grill (I never have, but a lot of American's I've mentioned this to have indicated this is aberrant..not so?)

I really recommend giving the Cook's Illustrated version a go; I don't think I've had a failure with them (CI, that is, not the naan), yet.

[Ashen]

very simple to make actually.. my wife's East Indian friend gave us this recipe . I use a pizza stone that has been preheat to 500F for at least 30 mins. I would imagine a cast iron pan would work well too.

3-4 Cups white flour

½ tsp yeast

½ tsp salt

yogurt ( high fat natural is best. 6% or higher)

Mix the dry together first. add enough yogurt to make a smooth dough. you don't want the dough to to be sticky or gooey.

Roll out and form.

Bake 500 for about 5 minutes. you can brush with melted ghee if you wish , garlic flavoured is good too or sprinkle with onion seed/nigella aka Kalonji after brushing with the ghee

[rotuts]

a recent America's test kitchen did this. they used a cast iron pan w a cast iron lid.

made the dough as above then forked it light spray with water then into the very hot pan lid on, then flip.

[Shel_B]

You're welcome, and what I meant was the grilling option, but didn't know whether you had a grill (I never have, but a lot of American's I've mentioned this to have indicated this is aberrant..not so?)

I really recommend giving the Cook's Illustrated version a go; I don't think I've had a failure with them (CI, that is, not the naan), yet.

I grabbed a CI and an ATK version last night, plus a couple of others that were similar. I think I'm good to get started. Thanks again for your help.

[Ann_T]

I love Naan, and have over the years tried various methods for making it. BUT, it is never the same as Naan that is baked in a tandoori oven. Unless you have a tandoori oven, the naan will never have that flavour that I associate with Naan. So when I make a curry dinner, I make Chapati.

[Shel_B]

a recent America's test kitchen did this. they used a cast iron pan w a cast iron lid.

made the dough as above then forked it light spray with water then into the very hot pan lid on, then flip.

Yes, I watched the video last night (early this morning, actually) and grabbed the recipe. I'm good to get started. I don't have a lid for my cast iron pan, though. Don't know how important that is, but I can probably improvise something. Maybe use the lid from my sauté pan, although I've seen the naan made without using a lid.

[rotuts]

Shel_B if you do the Test Kitchen version, Id like to know what you think of it

cast iron w lid.

you could compare it to TJ's frozen

[Ttogull]

Heston Blumenthal has a method for the home oven. See reply #13 at

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4528.10

He puts a lot of research and thought into his stuff, so it's probably good. I haven't tried the naan, but the accompanying chicken tikka masala is outstanding. Takes a few days to make though.

[rotuts]

i think they claim the steam keeps the dough soft w char bits.

I microwave the TJ's FZ, this gets them soft

then toss them on the gas burner for a bit of char.

[rotuts]

Ttogull

nice 'curry' site thanks!

[HungryC]

It's okay in the oven, but a charcoal grill and stone will give you much better results. Like this: http://bouillie.us/2010/02/08/naan-on-the-big-green-egg/

The recipe is similar to the one posted above--yeast, flour, yogurt, plus a little oil and sugar to tenderize. Naan is great because it doesn't require a long ferment, isn't fussy to shape, and is delicious even reheated (though not quite as tender).

If you don't have a grill, I recommend a stone preheated for at least 30 minutes on high, set on the oven's highest rack. When you're ready to cook, switch on the broiler and let it rip for 15 minutes while you shape the breads. (This is Lahey's pizza technique, it works well on thin flatbreads too.)

[Shel_B]

If you don't have a grill, I recommend a stone preheated for at least 30 minutes on high, set on the oven's highest rack. When you're ready to cook, switch on the broiler and let it rip for 15 minutes while you shape the breads. (This is Lahey's pizza technique, it works well on thin flatbreads too.)

I don't have a grill. I will first use a cast iron skillet, because I have that, placed in a hot oven for a while. This morning I came across a suggestion to use the broiler, so I'll add that to the technique. Depending on how things turn out, I may consider getting a stone.

What advantage might a stone have over cast iron?

[Ttogull]

I have lots of cast iron, pizza stones, metal, fire bricks, Big Green Egg, grills, etc. I experiment with them, mostly with pizza. For me, the biggest difference between cast iron and stone (and metal) is how fast the bottom of a pizza (or your naan) cooks in relation to the top. That kinda depends on your oven and how you are set up in it - whether the top is hotter than the bottom, one side hotter than the other, and so on. I like stone just because that keeps my bottom from over cooking before the top is done.

For many, if not most grills, you can really only cook pizza and bread on one side at a time. Grilled bread is good, but I don't think of it as naan. IMHO, naan is more like pizza in that is not usually flipped to cook both sides. That's why I like Heston's method in my previous post. Even though I have not tried it, I'm sure it will work once the bottom and top cooking rates are equalized.

[scott123]

Naan is very similar to pizza in that you can technically bake it in just about anything, but if you want the right puffy texture, your oven setup has to be able to produce an extremely fast bake time. Intense heat transfer boils the water in the dough quickly, and this rapidly expanding steam creates oven spring. There's not a recipe on the planet that can compensate for an oven setup that can't produce a fast bake. Just like the best pizza happens in less than 4 minutes (for the most popular styles), the best naan occurs there as well.

The good news is that many home ovens can produce a fast bake and create restaurant quality/tandoor quality naan. If you've got an oven that goes up to 550 with a broiler in the main compartment (NOT a separate broiler drawer), you can produce the necessary bake time with 1/2" steel plate. Compared to ceramic stones, steel's superior conductivity allows for far greater heat transfer/far faster bakes at lower temperatures.

Just position the steel plate close to the broiler (about 3-5"), pre-heat the plate for an hour at 550, launch the stretched naan skin with a pizza peel, and use a broiler during the bake. That environment will produce naan as good as any tandoor (and, if you get the dough right/properly fermented, better than most restaurants).

If you have deep pockets and would rather spend an extra $90 than make a few phone calls sourcing steel plate locally, you can pick up a baking steel. If you think you might ever get into pizza and/or might serve naan to a crowd and need greater output (bigger naans), I highly highly recommend getting the largest square plate your oven can accommodate from front to back (touching the back wall and almost touching the door), while leaving at least an inch on each side for air flow. I also high recommend cutting the plate in half (parallel to the door) for easier oven insertion/removal, since an entire plate will be in the 40 pound realm. A custom plate from Baking Steel in the 18 x 18 x 1/2 range, with an extra cut, will be about $150. If you source it locally, it should be less than $60.

Edited October 31, 2013 by scott123 (log)

[rotuts]

if anyone does the heavy steel plate thing, i recommend a 1/2 " or thicker piece of plywood that is larger than the glass in your oven

door . It rests on the door itself when its open to protect the glass while you add or remove heavy plates or bricks. this is your 'assist' device

some time ago i baked bread in my oven using heavy oblong patio bricks I had about 8 of them in the oven on two shelves and a

double layer on the sides.

once one of them slipped a bit ... then I though of the plywood " glass door guard "

fixing an oven door is a real pain. fortunately Ive never had to do that.