NAAN BREAD (without yeast or a Tandoori) recipe.

NAAN BREAD (without yeast or a Tandoori)

What BIR meal is not complete without a good old Naan bread to mop up all of that lovely spicy gravy. I will now show you how to make restaurant style Naan bread without yeast or a Tandoor – although a gas style hob (with a blue flame) is required for this technique to work. The raising agents of this wonderful recipe are the Self-raising flour and baking powder. These Cooked naan’s freeze extremely well, just allow to thaw before using a microwave to re-heat.
Servings: Roughly 10 Naan breads of about 20cm in diameter
Total time: Preparation 30 minutes, 5-6 hours standing time, 2 minutes per naan cooking time.

Ingredients
 200g Milk
 320g Water
 100g Sugar
 50g Eggs
 8g Baking powder
 2g Onion seeds
 1kg Self-raising flour

Method Quick
Add the egg, baking powder, onion seeds, sugar and milk in a measuring jug and whisk briefly every 5-10 minutes for a total of 30 minutes elapsed time.
Add the solution and water to the flour, mix well (no kneading), cover and leave to rise for 2 hours.
Knead back down to original size and leave covered for a minimum of 1 hour.
Tear off into small orange size balls, knead, roll, flour and leave covered for 2 hours.
Shape the ball into whatever naan shape you require, lightly cover one side in oil and the other in water.
Light the hob, turn to maximum and pre-heat the pan or tava.
Place the naan water side down onto the tava or heavy bottomed pan, cook for a few seconds – the naan will stick to the pan.
Turn the pan over and cook the naan on the naked hob flame until golden and bubbly.
Remove from pan and serve with garnish of choice.

Step by step method:
Add the egg, baking powder, onion seeds, sugar and milk into a measuring jug. Mix and whisk well then leave for 30 minutes – keep coming back every 5-10 minutes to mix and whisk again. This part is necessary to allow the sugar to fully dissolve and solution to adjust to room temperature. After 30 minutes it is ready to be mixed with the flour.
I use a food mixer but this recipe works equally as well mixing by hand.
Place the flour into the mixing bowl, add the contents of the measuring jug and the water. Mix for about 20 seconds, switch off, scrape the paddle down and mix again for another 10 seconds, scrape the paddle down and remove the bowl from the mixer. If doing this by hand, just place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well. We are not kneading at this time, so a few minutes of hand mixing ensuring a consistent texture is all that is required.
The mixture may appear slightly dry, this is exactly right and please avoid adding any more water.
Place the dough into a deep container and press down on the mixture ensuring it is fully spread out and compact. Cover the dough (not the top of the container) with plastic or cling film ensuring there are few air bubbles remaining. Leave on a surface for a 2 hours
After 2 hours the dough should have risen to around double its original size.
We are going to knead/press down on the dough with our hands to reduce it back to original size. To do this, remove the plastic cover and poor about 1 tablespoon of oil onto your hands and rub them together – this is to prevent the dough from sticking as you knead.
With your oiled hands, make a fist and press down on the dough ensuring full coverage of the surface area. Keep doing this until the dough is at its approximate original size. You can also use your fingers and palms to flatten/smooth the dough.
Leave for at least another hour, but use before 5 hours. If you are not going to use the dough within 5 hours it can safely be stored in the fridge for up to three days in this state – just let it stand for an hour to adjust to room temperature prior to using.
The dough is now ready to be made into balls and left for another 2 hours. This is an important step in the BIR Naan making process as it makes the dough exceptionally soft.
Tear off about a handful of dough (small orange/apple size) and Knead well (for about 2 minutes each ball). There are varying Kneading techniques, I normally continually move the top layer of dough from the back to the front thereby constantly mixing inner and outer dough. When finished I nip and rub any rough or protruding areas so it looks like a nice smooth ball - this is purely aesthetics. Dip and cover the ball thoroughly in flour ensuring you carefully shake off the excess. Do this for each ball, place on a plate or board cover with cling film or plastic bag and leave for two hours.
We are ready to cook!
I use a Tava, which is purely optional, I know people who use a large heavy bottom frying pan. Do not use oil on the pan itself. Secondly, I use a custom made cushion to be able to place the naan flat onto the pan, with this technique I place a rolled naan on the cushion, lift up the pan, tilt it sideways and press the naan against the pan using the cushion. I do this because the naan has to be oiled on one side and wet on the other thereby making it tricky to handle.
Pre-heat your pan on the hottest setting of the hob – the pan needs to be the hottest it can be when cooking the naan.
Take your round ball and dip it into flour. With your hands mould the ball into a disk shape probably around 5-10cm in diameter. Keep dipping in flour as required. Place the dough on a surface and using a rolling pin roll into a roughly round shape that is a good 10-15cm in diameter – it does not have to be perfect.
Cover the top of the naan in a light coating of vegetable oil and place the entire naan (vegetable oil side down) only the cushion. Stretch the naan into any shape and size you want around the cushion. Lightly coat the facing side of the naan in water, then pick the pan up, tilt horizontally and place the naan onto the pan.
Cook for a few seconds, this will stick the naan to the pan. Turn the pan over and cook the naan on the naked hob flame using circular motion to cook the whole naan. The naan will start to bubble and turn golden, this should only take about a minute – make sure you do not overcook as a naan should not break when folded.
Once cooked, remove from pan and serve with a garnish of your choice. I use a mixture of butter and oil heated in the microwave until warm.
Enjoy!
Chris’s top tips
1. Please watch the Youtube video.
2. The medium egg I used was almost exactly 50g
3. Full fat or semi-skimmed milk works equally as well
4. Baking powder must be used, baking soda will not work
5. Any brand of self-raising flour will do, I use the supermarket’s own label
6. Use the 320g of water to clean out any leftovers from the mixing jug before adding to the flour
7. I use an old bucket to stand the mixture in
8. Make the mixture the day before use, as the recipe improves the longer you can leave it to stand
9. The dough may darken slightly when left in the fridge for over one day, this is perfectly normal and will not affect the quality of the naan’s
10. If you do not use all of the balls, they can be stored in the fridge overnight – just lightly cover each one with oil to stop them drying out
11. My cushion is made from a kitchen towel wrapped around an old sheet. It can be dismantled and washed at will.
12. The gas hob must have a blue flame. If the flame is yellow it is not suitable for use as you will get soot on the naan
Pictures (put through the step by