Topic: H4ppy-chris new naan recipe

[livo]

http://www.deliberatefare.com/simulate/british-self-raising-flour-and-american-self-rising-flour

Out here in Sticksville the packaging refers to  x% Sodium.  Nowhere is "Salt" mentioned.  Sodium can be accounted for from the other ingredients in the Baking Powder, but not necessarily "salt" as in the inclusion of NaCl.

[livo]

Finally, why call h4C Christopher? And why hijack a celebrity name as a user name?

Mayhaps Bobdylan is close kinfolk of Christopher. Does H4C play any instruments?  He could be the Tamborine man. Mayhaps they jammed akin at the Hooterville Fair.   ;D  I have read some old posts on here from a forum member named PaulMcCartney, so welcome Bob. BIR on Highway 61.  Yeehaw. ;D

[Garp]

Made these again recently. Did away with the first resting period and added a little salt. No difference to taste or texture.

[Sverige]

Good info there Garp. And how much mixing /kneading did you do?

H4C emphasised not to

[Garp]

Just as per recipe mate - minimum. Just until it's mixed through.

[Sverige]

Thanks. I might have to make a split batch one day and barely mix one half and give the other a good kneading, just to get to bottom of this

[livo]

With a decent protein level flour (10%) it really doesn't take too much kneading to develop any gluten at all. This is plain flour standard.  My past efforts have shown me that gluten development is required.  Without it you have big scones.  There are some videos and recipes that espouse the view that gluten network development is bad for naan.  I disagree,  Even using bread flour with 11 - 13% (high) gluten will give you good naan but maybe with slightly less kneading or a longer rest.  It is bread.  All bread needs a gluten network to give you the elasticity and stretch required for purpose.  Naan is no exception.  Ignore anything to the contrary.

[Garp]

Despite Livo's protests and 'science', the recipe and method works. Not sure what an Aussie Naan is like so maybe Livo could post a few pics so we can get an idea what he's aiming for.

[livo]

Happy's naan does work Garp. It makes a bread product and he uses a tawa to do so.  He didn't invent the tawa method but he did make it very well known and we can all thank him for that.  I simply don't like the Baking Powder and I don't think it's required.  I can taste it, and as I've stated previously some people have a sensitivity to it..  Others don't. 

There is a lot of mixed view about what a naan is and what it should be.  Yeast or no yeast.  Plain flour with Baking Powder or Self Raising Flour, egg, no egg, water or milk, yogurt, oil, ghee etc etc.  I just don't think SR flour requires the extra baking powder and I feel it is detrimental to the recipe.  Does it make a naan?   Yes, of course it does.  I've made it myself to specification and modified, along with countless other different recipes.  His recipe does make a perfectly good naan.

As for Happy's prolonged rest method and refrigeration followed by bench resting, he claims it is essential but I don't think it is.  It may well improve the flavour profile and development of the dough and probably does.  Certainly pizza bases are better prepared the day before as some fermentation occurs and the dough loosens and relaxes.  Plenty of naan are made without any significant passage of time though.

As I've said in the relevant thread, the UK School of Artisan Food naan is so far the closest I've come to making a naan that is approaching what I'm after.  The couple of members who've actually tried it appeared to think it was pretty good.  I've done it with and without the starter, long period and short and they were all good.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=14998.msg131333#msg131333

The other naan I thoroughly enjoyed and which very closely matched what I'm looking for in a naan is a fresh yeast, full dairy version, which uses SR flour and yeast but not Baking Powder.   Whether the member who shared it with me has shared this publicly or not I'm not sure. There's nothing mysterious about it but it isn't a vegan naan.

In prefer both of these over Happy's, but that is my personal preference only and nothing more.

Edit:  I've just watched over 3 hours of naan videos which is enlightening to say the least.  There is a lot of variety in the doughs and some consistencies as well.  A lot of recipes use Baking Soda (ie Bicarbonate of Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate) but I only found a few that use Baking Powder at all and these recipes actually used both.  None of the recipes used Self Raising Flour. As mentioned above, there are variations of ingredients to a significant level but they are all called naan. Most, but not all, call for the dough to be well kneaded and 2-3 hours appears to be a standard initial rest followed by shorter ones during forming and shaping.  These would be for gluten relaxing.  The dough is invariably soft and loose.

I've also just skimmed through all 55 pages of this thread and I can see that you've been a significant contributor to it Garp.  I can also see that I had reservations about it from fairly early in the piece after I first attempted this recipe and they remain.  Each to their own I guess and I'm fine with that,

PS. I also just found that there is a very small hint to the other recipe I referred to as a good one above, hidden somewhere within this thread.  It is not for me to share a recipe given to me in private.

[ziggycat]

Totally agree with you Garp. It's just a bloody naan bread, who cares about making an artisan dough I just use a naan to mop up a curry.

I've been using the recipe posted by Chris since he uploaded it,  I've found no need to initially rest it,  I've cut down on the sugar by 30%, and overnight resting in the fridge or frozen and defrosted makes a perfectly good and acceptable bread that works for me.  :