hi all,

i tried the 'heat baking tray/oven' naan method over the weekend and it worked pretty well. dough had oil in and was quite elastic and i even managed to chuck it around so it was quite stretched out and thin (sorry no pics). the really thin bits were a triumph as they came out quite crispy however the thicker bits were quite cakey but not unpleasant.

FYI i shoved a load of shop bought chicken tikka on top of it along with some yoghurt and mint sauce and another one that i made up with yoghurt, mayonaise, garlic paste, sugar, curry powder and chilli. (sounds disgusting i know but it works) i was trying to emulate the kind of sauce that our local kebab shop serves on its kebabs.

thanks for the vid Curryswede it's always helpful to see what other people do.

Haldi i will post up some pics when i use the tandoor again, the british summer has not yet materialised it seems.

cheers

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

Quote from: joshallen2k on August 07, 2008, 02:35 PM

Quote
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

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

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.