3 Easy Naan Recipes: Lazy, Restaurant Style, Stuffed
So you want to make naan but you struggled before, or you've never made it at all, these three easy naan recipes cover every situation. There's the lazy naan for when you forgot about it and the curry is about to be ready, the restaurant-style naan (high effort, lovely and fluffy, blows everybody away, the best one in my opinion), and a stuffed version you can fill with anything you like.
Ingredients
- 230 g flour (160 g in the batter + about 70 g worked in after)
- 160 ml whole yogurt, warm or at least room temperature (plant-based yogurt or milk + lemon juice works too)
- 6 g sugar
- 4 g baking powder
- 3 g baking soda
- 15 ml olive oil, plus extra for the discs
- 6 g salt
- to finish ghee or unsalted butter, for brushing
- 500 g maida flour (all-purpose works fine), plus about 100 g extra for kneading
- 7 g baking powder
- 25 ml olive oil
- 200 ml whole milk, room temperature
- 7 g instant yeast
- 8 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 160 ml whole yogurt, room temperature
- to finish ghee or butter, for brushing
- 8 g fine sea salt
- 1 restaurant-style dough ball
- a handful grated mozzarella or Gouda
- to top chopped cilantro and garlic
Method
The lazy naan
- 1
In a bowl, mix equal parts flour and yogurt, 160 g flour, 160 ml warm whole yogurt, with the salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and olive oil, using a spatula.
- 2
Work in a little less than half the flour you started with (about 70 g) to form a smooth dough ball. Too stiff? Add yogurt or water. Too wet? More flour.
- 3
Knead for 2–3 minutes, then let it rest under a kitchen towel while your skillet heats to medium-high.
- 4
Divide into 4 even balls, a naan is originally about 90 g each, and roll each into an oval about half a centimeter thick. Coat them in oil.
- 5
Cook on one side until small bubbles form. No bubbles? Turn up the heat. Pan smoking? Turn it down. Flip, cook until golden brown, and brush with ghee or unsalted butter.
The restaurant-style naan
- 6
In a bowl, mix the 500 g flour, baking powder, fine sea salt and olive oil. Set aside.
- 7
In a cup, whisk the room-temperature milk with the instant yeast, sugar and the egg. Set aside.
- 8
Add the yogurt to the dry ingredients, mix, then add the milk mixture and bring it together. The dough is slightly wet, a bench scraper will save you ten headaches and the cost of an anger management class.
- 9
Turn it onto your work surface, add 50 g of the extra flour and keep adding until it becomes a manageable, smooth ball. Knead 6–10 minutes, until you can shine a light through a thin stretched piece without it breaking.
- 10
Form a strong ball and rest it under a warm damp kitchen towel in a warm spot for 1 hour, so the yeast can do its business and double it in size.
- 11
Divide into 10 equal balls, shape them, and rest them on a sheet pan under a kitchen towel for another hour.
- 12
Heat a cast-iron skillet to medium-high. Roll or stretch each ball into an oval about 5 mm thick, rolling gives a more even naan, stretching gives more airy bubbles, because the rolling pin degasses the dough. You've got ten tries.
- 13
Brush the flattened dough with ghee or oil and cook about a minute per side, flip when small bubbles form, then immediately brush with butter.
The stuffed naan
- 14
Flatten a dough ball, add a handful of mozzarella or Gouda, and pull and pinch the edges closed like you're making a big dumpling. Try not to tear the dough.
- 15
Gently roll it as flat as possible, oil it, and cook about 2 minutes per side until it has golden brown spots on both.
- 16
Brush with ghee or butter and top with chopped cilantro and garlic. You can also roll the garlic and cilantro into the dough beforehand, get creative.
7 tools I used.
Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.