homemade naan

Last week we took our first road trip as a family of four down to Savannah! The car ride was mostly okay, though the long stops required with a baby do not fit into my typical driving philosophy which is to stop only when you are about to run out of gas. You have to pee? Hold it. Hungry? Too bad.

I had one of my best copilot finds ever with a stop in Fayetteville, NC at Dirtbag Brewing, which is right off 95, has food, and is dog friendly. We traipsed in there with a dog, a baby, a diaper bag, Louise’s food, and the GS’ work backpack. I was wearing sweatpants and breastfeeding in public, Louise was scarfing down her dinner, and the GS was asking for the WiFi password. I’m confident that at least some of the people in there thought we were homeless.

But we made it! And Greta and I flew back on Thursday which was all smooth sailing. It was really nice to spend the week down there with the whole family.

I haven’t been doing a whole lot of innovative cooking lately, but this is one recipe that I’ve made at least 20 times and always comes out perfectly. The GS couldn’t believe I haven’t blogged it yet, and requested that we have it “every day, with every meal.”

The technique is similar to this bread but I’ve been making the naan more often just because it’s easier- there’s one less rise time and I think they are just as good!

Homemade Naan

adapted from Once Upon a Chef

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp honey

3/4 cup warm water

2 cups plus 2 tbs all-purpose flour

2-3 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

All my breads start the same. Yeast, honey, water. Let it bubble. Add one cup of the flour and let the dough hook start to do it’s thing. Add the Greek yogurt, let that mix in, throw in some salt, then another cup of flour. This will be a sticky dough- it should all come together but it won’t pull away from the sides of the bowl like pizza dough does.

Cover with a dish towel and let it rise for an hour. Sprinkle the top with flour and maybe dust your hands with a little, too, and divide it into sections. This recipe will make 6 regular size or 4 large.

Heat some canola oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) in a cast iron skillet. Form the dough into a ball and then flatten it out. Fry on both sides over medium-low heat until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. I typically put a baking sheet in my oven and set it to 350 to keep them warm while the rest are frying.

If you want to really take it over the top, melt 4 tablespoons of butter and stir in a clove of minced garlic. Drizzle the butter over the top, then sprinkle with crunchy salt.

These are obviously delicious the night of (pictured here with chicken tikka masala) but also toast up really well the next day, either with eggs or as a sandwich. I’ve made the GS a BLAT on one that he called a top 3 sandwich ever.