Topic: Restaurant Naan Bread Recipe

[Masala Mark]

Hi All,

Last night I was given the task of using the tandoor at the restaurant and making the naan breads, of which I have done neither before at the restaurant. I got to make the naan dough and then do the cooking and was completely amazed at how they turned out having been the one who made them.

The chef cooked the first couple showing me how it is done in the tandoor and asked me to taste them. I said they tasted great, and he replied "that is your dough" and it hit me that it was.

The recipe is very simple and again probably not too different from what is already known here, but perhaps some of the ways in which it was done technique wise may be.

It makes about 18 naan dough balls.

Restaurant Naan Dough Recipe

Ingredients
1 litre container flour
1 tbsp kalonji
200ml container sugar
2 tbsp salt (slightly rounded) The tbsp is the dessert spoon you would eat breakfast with, not a measuring spoon.
1 tbsp baking powder (slightly rounded)
0.5 pkt yeast (7 gram packet)
750 ml warm wtaer
6 tbsp yogurt (very large heaped, greek yogurt)
oil (perhaps 2 tbsp)

Method
1. Place flour and kalonji in bowl, mix together
2. In a separate bowl, add water, yogurt, sugar, salt, baking powder and yeast, mix together
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add liquid, small amount at a time, mixing through
4. Knead the dough until it is soft, and free from any lumps, some extra water may be required, it will be quite sticky for a while
5. Once it is nice and smooth, it should be kneaded until it no longer sticks to the edges of the bowl, additional small amount of flour may be be added
6. Using fists, push the dough down into the bowl for a minute or so
7. Cover with oil, a fair amount(I usually add maybe a tsp if that, this was perhaps 1-2tbsp squirted over) and repeat the push the dough down again, flip it over in the bowl and cover with oil again if needed
8. Remove from bowl and give a quick knead on the bench rolling into long thick roll, fold it in on itself and knead again
9. Return it to the bowl, push down and cover the dough with cling wrap. The cling wrap should be on the dough, not on the top of the bowl.
10. Leave to sit for 1-2 hours


Making the naan dough balls
1. Pull a big handful piece of dough and using both hands push the dough up from underneath with the fingers until a smooth round ball is formed, tuck the edges in underneath and twist and remove the excess
2. Drop the ball down onto a floured surface and gently cover with flour
3. Repeat the process for the remaining dough
4. Cover with towl for an hour or so, or place covered in fridge for up to 3 days

The ball process may be a bit hard to visualize, I'll see if I can find a video on the web that shows the process as it is different to what I have always tried at home.

They went into the tandoor on the pillow, sprinkled with a little water to help stick, and pulled out after a minute or so. Brushed with butter/garlic butter, sliced and served.

It was all very simple really, couldn't believe how hot the tandoor was though. Was grateful for the tip of turning it down before putting the breads in and then adjusting the heat. I was scared stiff at first when the chef told me to try putting my hand in there, the heat was incredible.

Cheers,
Mark

[curryhell]

Thanks for sharing your recipe Mark.  Similar but not identical to others on here but with no egg :.  I'll give this ago next time.