Garlic Naan Bread

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Soft, pillowy garlic naan brushed with melted garlic butter — easy to make at home and so much better than takeaway. The ultimate sidekick for curry night!

Prep Time15

Rising1

Total Time1 15

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Garlic Naan Bread

Servings:

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes

Equipment

Ingredients

For the naan bread

2 cups (250g) all-purpose / plain flour plus more for dusting and rolling
½ tbsp instant action yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp asafoetida (optional)
⅓ cup (80ml) buttermilk or plain yogurt
⅓ cup (80ml) water , lukewarm
ghee or vegetable oil , as needed

For the garlic butter

3 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp cilantro (coriander), finely chopped
pinch nigella seeds (optional)

Instructions

Make the dough

Place the flour, yeast, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder and asafoetifa in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
2 cups (250g) all-purpose / plain flour, ½ tbsp instant action yeast, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp asafoetida
Add the buttermilk and water and beat together with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment. Alternatively, you can simply stir the dough together with a spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
⅓ cup (80ml) buttermilk , ⅓ cup (80ml) water
Leave the dough to rest for 5 minutes and then beat again on low speed or knead by hand until it becomes smooth and elastic. Grease the bowl with a little oil or melted ghee, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
ghee or vegetable oil

Make the Naan

Dust your worktop with a little flour. Turn the dough out and shape into a log. Divide into 6 equal pieces – each should be about 2.6oz or 75g.
Roll each piece into a ball, cover with a cloth and leave for 5 minutes. Roll out to an oval shape using a rolling pin or spread out with oiled hands. It should be about 3mm or just shy of 1/8 inch thick. Keep any dough you are not cooking straight away covered with plastic wrap or a cloth to prevent from drying out.
Preheat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Grease with ghee or vegetable oil, place the naan on the hot skillet and cook until small bubbles appear on the surface. If the skillet gets dry, brush with a little oil or ghee. Lower the temperature to medium-high after the first flip.
Keep flipping the naan using a silicone spatula to prevent it from burning and adjust the temperature as needed (see notes). Each naan will cook in about 3-4 minutes – you want some golden brown spots to develop on one side.
Remove from the skillet and keep wrapped in a cloth while you cook the remaining naan.

Make the garlic butter and serve

Heat the butter (you can also use ghee) in a small pot until melted. Add the minced garlic, stir and take off the heat.
3 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 cloves garlic minced, 2 tsp cilantro
Brush the warm naan with the garlic butter, sprinkle with the cilantro and nigella seeds and serve with your favorite curry!
pinch nigella seeds

Video

Notes

The skillet needs to be be really hot when you add the naan – you want it to puff up. After the initial hot blast, you must lower the temperature a little otherwise the naan will scorch. Remember that a cast iron skillet gets extremely hot so adjust the temperature as needed – you will get the hang of it after cooking the first naaan.
Cook on a tawa pan over gas stove to imitate the tandoori cooking method. Preheat the tawa over high heat from about five minutes.
Using your hand, spread water over the rolled out naan. Reduce heat to medium-low and slap the naan onto hot pan – it should stick! Cook until bubbles form on the surface, then invert the pan to cook the top side of the naan bread over the gas, holding the pan above the flames so it doesn't scorch.

Nutrition