i used to use yeast, yogurt, SR flour and BP all in one recipe 
but the secret is keep it simple.
Hi UB,
I used to use just self raising flour (which is just plain flour plus baking powder) and yoghurt (for flavour, more so than as a leavening agent....and I still wouldn't make naans without it, for taste). However, I found that the dough was not particularly pliable and that rising, on cooking, was a bit hit and miss.
In my opinion, the secret to making a good naan is to get a good texture (w.r.t. the dough and the finished naan), a good taste and to get them to rise nicely (i.e. large "blisters").
I have conducted a four way experiment, varying the leavening agents, as follows:
- self raising flour, plus instant yeast, plus baking powder
- self raising flour, plus baking powder
- self raising flour, plus instant yeast
- just self raising flour
My clear conclusion was that 1 was easily the best, producing a nice, airy, pliable dough which shaped nicely and rose nicely on cooking. I added only a small amount of instant yeast and its taste, in the final naans, was barely perceptible.
2 and 3 were much of a muchness. A less pliable dough, more difficult to shape, erratic rising (i.e. very small bubbles, if any, rather than large blisters).
4 produced a rather rigid dough that didn't shape particularly well and rose erratically (but otherwise still perfectly acceptable).
I used yoghurt and sugar in all of them.
For expediency, I sometimes buy frozen precooked naans ("VIMAL") from the Asian store. They really are very good (reheated, from frozen, under a medium hot grill, for a couple of minutes)! The ingredients are listed as:
- flour
- milk
- water
- butter
- salt
- curd (which I take to mean yoghurt)
- sugar
- oil
- baking soda
- baking powder
I've also tried adding baking soda (i.e. bicarbonate of soda) but found that it made the naans taste too "cakey".
Topic: CA's Naan Bread (Illustrated!) (Read 81856 times)
