Topic: CA's Naan Bread (Illustrated!)

[ast]

I have a cinnamon roll recipe that you can freeze once the rolls are in the pan ready to go.  You can thaw them out first, or just bake from frozen with no obvious loss for being frozen.

I've been meaning to try this with naans too.  Bobby, what I was going to do was make them as if they were ready for the oven, then separate each one with wax paper or foil, shove them in a freezer bag and freeze them.  For these, I think they'd need to thaw, but it shouldn't take too long, and they shouldn't stick together.

I'll let you know what happens next time I try it.

Hope this helps,

ast

[Cory Ander]

I have a cinnamon roll recipe that you can freeze once the rolls are in the pan ready to go.  You can thaw them out first, or just bake from frozen with no obvious loss for being frozen

Yes, there are many bread products that you can do this with.  Bread rolls for instance.

what I was going to do was make them as if they were ready for the oven, then separate each one with wax paper or foil, shove them in a freezer bag and freeze them

No doubt you can do this, but what advantage do you see? 

Isn't it just as easy (or actually much easier in my view) to cook them first and then freeze them in the manner you describe?  They come out perfectly, with a 1 to 2 minute zap in the microwave, on high. 

The tava/pan/grill/oven/barbecue (whatever) is also hot for the whole batch of them.  To me, it doesn't seem to make much sense to heat things up for one or two of them at a time?  Or maybe I'm missing something?

For these, I think they'd need to thaw, but it shouldn't take too long, and they shouldn't stick together.

Yes, they would need to return to room temperature I think.

I'll let you know what happens next time I try it

I'll be interested to hear of your results AST....I'd still be interested in understanding the perceived advantage though! 

[ast]

I'll be interested to hear of your results AST....I'd still be interested in understanding the perceived advantage though! 

Laziness, CA!  Laziness. ;D

Seriously, the main reason I'm thinking about this is entertaining.  I normally have a hard enough time getting all of the other things ready without spending all day in the kitchen to have people over for curry (we always seem to be in the middle of some major household project that requires dealing with prior to guests arriving).  My thinking is that having a "bread making day" and a "curry base/pre-cooked meat making day" so that I always have sufficient stock to have 2-4 people over on short notice would be a much better approach.

As for microwaving naan, I've done it, and I'd do it for just us, but I wouldn't do it for guests.  I've never been able to heat bread of any kind in the microwave without it not being the same as being fresh.  Heating in the oven might do the trick, as we've done this with reasonable results from takeaway naan before.

So, yeah, for 1 or 2 naan, I agree:  it doesn't make any sense, but when you're talking about a whole batch and don't want to add the time of making them on top of everything else you need to fit into a given time period, this seems like the best compromise I can see.  As we all know, cooking them doesn't take much time if you've hot enough equipment, so that isn't the main proportion of time spent during the process.

Cheers,

ast

[Bobby Bhuna]

As for microwaving naan, I've done it, and I'd do it for just us, but I wouldn't do it for guests.  I've never been able to heat bread of any kind in the microwave without it not being the same as being fresh.

This is exactly my motivation for the question. Heating bread from frozen just doesn't yield the same freshness as cooking fresh. Thanks Ast, I am very interested to find out how you get on.

[bishbashbosh]

Cory,
Thank-you so much. I used the basic naan recipe at the start of this thread last Saturday for 5 guests at my first Indian dinner party. Needless to say they went down a treat. I cooked them during the afternoon and then re-heated them by spreading butter mixed with fresh garlic & coriander then grilling untill bubbling.
Thanks for the great (& simple) recipe.

Bish

[buckfast brad]

just tried the recipe for the naan bread & yeah man there pukka  ;D
had to do them in the frying pan but they didnt bubble up like the your pic,but needless to say they went down a treat.
nice 1

[trickyj]

CA  Thank you for sharing such a successful recipe to us all!

I halved all the amounts and made 8 beautiful tasty naans (frozen half and gorged upon 4 with my lady!)

Delicious!   

We brushed the naans when cooking with Ricebran oil and flaked pieces of woodsmoked-garlic upon the top of 2 and created a very tasty and slightly alternative garlic naan! I strongly recommend to all

[Cory Ander]

I'm glad you liked liked them Bish, Buckfast and Tricky...

...and thanks for providing us with your feedback

Tricky....are you trying to fatten your lady up or what! 

Yes, I also sometimes brush them them with chopped garlic/butter and they do make very tasty garlic naans.

Incidentally, frozen naans can also be successfully re-heated in the oven (at about 180C for 10 mins) wrapped in foil.  They tend to come out with a crispier base than when re-heated in a microwave.

[Cory Ander]

Here are some naans where I cooked the undersides using a tava and then slipped them onto a pizza stone, under a very hot grill, to cook the top sides......

[joshallen2k]

Looking good CA!

Have you tried them just on the pizza stone in a super-hot oven?

I found I didn't get anywhere near as good results with the grill heating from above. In fact, I broke my last pizza stone with the heat from the grill doing that!