Topic: Tandoori naans

[martinr1000]

Hi, first post for me here so hopefully i'm not re-treading too much old ground.

anyway i recieved my tandoori oven last week and after a curing, repair and simmer firing my wife and i had a go at some tandoori chicken and some naans.

long story short i had mixed results, the chicken came out brilliantly but it took a lot longer to cook than anticipated. the naans where abject failures i.e. naan goes onto clay oven, naan falls off clay oven.  :-[

i think the problem is basically heat (or lack thereof) so next weeks effort will hopefully fix this.

anyway i wanted to ask if anybody knows what the tool is called (if it has a name) that restaurant chefs stretch out the naan dough on before using it to stick the naans to the oven. (the tool can be seen in the video below and looks a bit like a small cushion)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o7y1mDJL-SE&feature=related

i guess if these are not standard fare then it's time to investigate how to make one as it looks useful.

cheers, i'd better get back to work.

[billycat]

hi there

from what i have read during my seaching for indian food

i believe it is a horse hair matting

hope this helps

[Bobby Bhuna]

That movie is awesome. I take it that's some ghee he's brushing on?

[joshallen2k]

Notice how the first couple of naans are heavily bubbling before he's done applying the rest. Wondering if thats because the walls of the tandoor are so hot, or the mix itself is better than we are working with. I cannot imagine the internal temp of the tandoor is VERY hot at this point until the lid is put back on (which he does at the end, I assume to brown the outside).

Even with a smoking hot skillet on my hob, I don't get those large bubbles, always a bunch of small ones. I also think the skillet is hotter than the walls of the tandoor. Mine will be burned within 30 seconds for sure.

Missing something......

-- Josh

[martinr1000]

Hi all thanks for your responses.

i have to admit i would have never thought that the naan stretcher/tandoor insertion tool would be matted horse hair. i had a quick look into it last night but couldn't find much about it so it looks like i will have to improvise.

i think the guy does spread ghee onto the nan at the end but i guess this could just as easily be syrup in the case of a peshwari naan.

the naan dough in the vid in complete contrast to what i was using the other day looked really elastic and pliable so i wonder if there is a good slug of oil in it to make it this way (like a pizza base).   

with regards to the heat of the oven i can testify that the tandoor walls get mega hot when fired, in fact the oven was still pretty hot 7 or 8 hours after we had finished cooking. hopefully i can produce some decent results the next time i fire up the oven and send in some pics but my thoughts on the bubbling of the bread is that you will definitely be getting different types of heat in the tandoor i.e. really hot contact heat on the wall and then hot air temperature from the chimney. i guess the difference on the skillet is that you don't get the same air temperature on the side that is face up and so it doesn't blister in the same way as the tandoor.

i'm no scientist so i eagerly await my theories being sunk

cheers

[joshallen2k]

ooked really elastic and pliable so i wonder if there is a good slug of oil in it

That's a good observation. Mine is never that pliable. In fact while I'm stretching it out, it has a terrible tendency to try and shrink back to original size. I end up having to give them one good stretch immediately before putting on the skillet. I do use oil in my mix (I suppose about a dsp). Perhaps I need to use a bit more to get that elasticity.

i guess the difference on the skillet is that you don't get the same air temperature on the side that is face up and so it doesn't blister in the same way as the tandoor.

Rather than the usual "cook one side and then flip" method of home naan cooking on the hob, I've been experimenting with an alternative method whereby I preheat the skillet (or tava) on the hob, while also pre-heating the top grill inside the oven. When ready, I place the dough on the skillet and then immediately put it under the grill. The results have been inconsistent, to be honest, but the look of the naans is much closer to BIR. The only thing wrong I've found is the naans come out harder in texture and less pliable.

Any suggestions from anyone on an improvements?

[martinr1000]

Rather than the usual "cook one side and then flip" method of home naan cooking on the hob, I've been experimenting with an alternative method whereby I preheat the skillet (or tava) on the hob, while also pre-heating the top grill inside the oven. When ready, I place the dough on the skillet and then immediately put it under the grill. The results have been inconsistent, to be honest, but the look of the naans is much closer to BIR. The only thing wrong I've found is the naans come out harder in texture and less pliable.

believe it or not i was thinking about trying that exact same method this morning on days when i can't be bothered to stoke up the tandoor.

i have a circular baking tray that sits quite happily in our microwave. we have a dual oven/grill mode on that and i was thinking that i could preheat the oven/grill and heat up the baking tray on the stove before doing what you say above.

it's interesting that you have already tried this. when you say inconsistant results what do you mean?

cheers

[haldi]

i think the problem is basically heat (or lack thereof) so next weeks effort will hopefully fix this.

anyway i wanted to ask if anybody knows what the tool is called (if it has a name) that restaurant chefs stretch out the naan dough on before using it to stick the naans to the oven. (the tool can be seen in the video below and looks a bit like a small cushion)

i guess if these are not standard fare then it's time to investigate how to make one as it looks useful.

When I first got may tandoor,I had an Asian friend give me a demo
We made this cushion out of two tea towels
One was stretched over the other, then knotted
Every takeaway I have been in, uses somethong like this
They all look a bit home made, burnt and worn
I don't think you can buy them
If you find a supplier, please tell
Is your tandoor coals or gas?

The naan dough shown in the video, looks far stretchier than anything I have seen before
He's incredibly fast isn't he?

[martinr1000]

yeah i will have to have a go at making one of those cusion thingies. it just looks like it allows you to get a good even contact when you are slapping the naan on the oven wall.

i have a coal fired oven, it's the tandoori-q version. do you have coal or gas? if coal can you tell me how you fill it up with coal after you have lit it? last time i fired mine i kinda dumped a load of coal in from the top when the fire was well in but it ended up more or less putting the fire out.

the dough must imo have a bit of oil in it but i reckon the process of chucking it around when he prepares it helps with the consistancy. i rolled my last nans on flour to stop them sticking but i think this dries/solidifies the dough.

i'm defo gonna chuck my dough around next time  ;D

[Curryswede]

The key to those stretchy naan seems to be a very sticky soft dough with almost no kneading involved. All the Indian chef sources I've seen so far points to this. Check out this youtube clip for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qbCigxf_sc