Kashmiri Naan

5/5 - (1 vote)

To be fair, we’ll give a recipe for the naan, even though we didn’t use this particular recipe this time. It’s a good recipe and we do use it occasionally, but we already had dough ready for our weekly bread baking session, so we used that, instead. It saved us some time, and the doughs aren’t really all that different. This does mean that the number of pictures is lacking, though. Sorry.

This recipe comes from an eBook by Jolinda Hackett: Cookouts Veggie Style and she suggests putting these right on the grill. We’d definitely do that if we had the grill going, but failing that, we just heat up a cast iron griddle or pan on the stove.

Kashmiri Naan

Servings: 4 naan
Author: Shawn

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp active dry yeast [2 g]
  • 3/4 cup water at 110°F [150 g]
  • 1/2 Tbs honey [10 g]
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour [250 g]
  • 1/2 tsp salt [2 g]
  • 1/2 Tb olive oil [10 g] plus more for oiling
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

  • Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. You really want the water near 110°F.
  • Stir in the honey. Now let it sit until it becomes foamy (about 10 minutes).
  • Add the remaining ingredients. Stir until everything is incorporated and the dough starts to form a ball.
  • Turn the dough onto the counter or work surface and knead for about 5 to 6 minutes.
  • If you want Kashmiri naan, add about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. If you want garlic naan, add several cloves of garlic, minced. If you’re happy with plain, that’s fine, too.
  • Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into balls. Lightly oil and place on an oiled cookie sheet or plate.
  • Cover with plastic and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours.
  • Roll each ball into a 8″ disk, re-oil and return to the baking sheet. Let rest, covered, for about 20 minutes.
  • Grill each naan for a minute or two on each side. Grill until each side is lightly browned, without being crispy.

Ingredient discussion:

For this we also give weight measurements, which we use for most yeast breads. It makes for a more consistent result, and, once you learn how to use a scale with a tare function, you’ll only need a bowl and a spoon to mix stuff up.

Procedure in detail:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. You really want the water near 110°F. Measure with a thermometer if you have one. If not, try to make the water lukewarm. NEVER hot, or it’ll kill the yeast.

Stir in the honey. Now let it sit until it becomes foamy (about 10 minutes). This is known as proofing the yeast (proving that it is alive). We don’t always have a foamy reaction, but we normally forge ahead anyway.

Add the remaining ingredients. Stir until everything is incorporated and the dough starts to form a ball.

Knead the dough. Turn the dough onto the counter or work surface and knead for about 5 to 6 minutes. We like to count the number of strokes, instead of watching the clock. This would be about 300 strokes.

naan dough
Naan dough, ready to go. Once you’ve kneaded your dough and added any optional ingredients, divide it into four pieces.

You now have the dough for making naan. If you want Kashmiri naan, add about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. If you want garlic naan, add several cloves of garlic, minced. If you’re happy with plain, that’s fine, too.

Kashmiri naan dough ready for rising. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.

Pre-shape the dough. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into balls. Lightly oil and place on an oiled cookie sheet or plate.

Let rise. Cover with plastic and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours.

Shape the dough. Roll each ball into a 8″ disk, re-oil and return to the baking sheet. Let rest, covered, for about 20 minutes. We wanted to grill two naans at the same time so we went with more of an oblong shape.

Naan on the griddle. We shaped ours into oblong shapes so we could get two on the griddle at the same time.

Grill. Grill each naan for a minute or two on each side. Grill until each side is lightly browned, without being crispy. Naan is a softer, tear-apart bread.

Serve with your favorite Indian dish and use for scooping up bits and mopping up sauce. And it was all scratched, too.

Worth the trouble?

5 Replies to “Kashmiri Naan”

  1. Just found your blog & am really enjoying dashing forward and backward in time as I read various posts.
    I love that you give detailed instructions and a “worth it” value. So helpful!
    We’ll be dining well off of your work for quite a while, I think! Thank you.

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