Want to make a restaurant like Naan Bread at home? Then look no further. This recipe makes the best one ever. Make them on a stovetop on a tawa or use an oven, they will turn up equally delicious.
Want to try more Indian Breads, here are some that you can serve with your special meals – Tandoori Roti, Khamiri Roti, Punjabi Missi Roti, Masala Jowar Roti and Bajre Ki Roti.
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About This Recipe
Naan is a soft, fermented Indian flatbread that is made with all-purpose flour, which is its key ingredient. This is No Yeast Bread, which can be easily made at home.
It is a popular Bread, that you will always find on the menu of North Indian restaurants or even during weddings.
You can also add some whole wheat flour to this homemade bread to make it healthier, but the texture of the bread won’t be as soft as the all-purpose one. Some even skip the all-purpose flour fully and make this bread just with whole wheat flour.
Usually, we eat it in restaurants and avoid it making it at home, thinking that it is difficult to make. But with this recipe, you will see that it is so easy and can be made even for your everyday meals using only a basic stovetop and a griddle (Tava).
Traditionally, this Restaurant Style Naan is made in Tandoor, but here we will prepare it on Tawa or oven making it easy to make at home.
This Homemade Bread is,
- Soft
- Easy to make
- Apt for festive and special meals
- Made on Tawa
Ingredients
This Indian Bread, uses ingredients such as,
All-Purpose Flour – Traditionally, Naan is just made with all-purpose flour, but you can also add in whole wheat flour for a healthy alternative. But the texture will be a bit different.
Baking soda & Baking powder – This helps in the rising of the dough.
Kalonji or Onion Seeds – This is optional, but do add them, it gives a nice flavor to your Naan.
You can also use in white sesame seeds, if you do not have kalonji seeds.
Yogurt and Milk – The dough is kneaded in yogurt and milk, which makes the Naan super soft.
Other Ingredients – Other than this, you will just need salt and sugar.
Step by Step Recipe
Mix all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and yogurt in a bowl.
Add milk and knead a soft dough.
Oil a bowl and transfer the dough in the oiled bowl.
Cover the bowl and keep in a warm place for 1 hour.
Make small balls of the dough.
Sprinkle little kalaungi seeds on the platform.
Dust and roll the dough over the kalaungi seeds to make thin circle or oval.
Apply water on the top surface of the oval.
Heat a griddle. Keep the naan on the griddle with kalaunji side up. It will stick to the griddle because of water applied.
Now turn the griddle upside down over the flame.
Cook till brown spots appear on the surface. Turn the griddle and cook for 20-30 seconds.
Remove using a tong. Apply butter if desired. Serve hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both the bread, Naan and Pita Bread is made of all-purpose flour, but other ingredients differentiate from each other.
While Pita Bread is made of flour, yeast, oil, salt, and water, Naan is made of flour, baking soda, baking powder, yogurt, milk, sugar, salt, and kalonji seeds.
Also, Naan, is an Indian bread, whereas Pita Bread is used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
While I find it easy to make Naan on the stove, you can make it in the oven too. Firstly, preheat oven to 500 F degrees.
Arrange them on a baking tray and then bake for 4-5 minutes or until it turns golden brown from both the sides.
Remove from the oven, apply the butter, and serve hot. If you want a charred texture, you can place the naan in the oven under the broiler.
If you are adding yeast, you can avoid adding Baking Soda in this recipe. Mix the active yeast with water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Add the mixture into the dough while kneading.
For a healthier alternative, you can make it with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
No, this recipe uses yogurt and milk, making it Non-Vegan. To make it vegan, you can use dairy-free yogurt and warm water to knead the dough.
Variations
The benefit of making naan at home is that after preparing the dough you can transform it into any type of naan that you wish to make.
Following are some of the variety of naan that you can prepare after fermenting the dough:-
Garlic – Add some finely chopped garlic instead of kalaunii while rolling the naan. I make this version very often, as I love the flavor that garlic adds to this simple bread. Check the detailed recipe here.
Mint or Coriander – Replace kalaunji with chopped mint or coriander. You can add garlic with these herbs too.
Pesto – If you want to give it a little Continental twist, then add little pesto, seal the naan and then roll it again. Brush it with melted butter and one you take a bite, you will get that beautiful flavor of Pesto. So we can call it an Italian Naan, maybe?
Butter – To prepare butter garlic naan, cook it in the same way as mentioned below. After that brush up some butter on its surface and your delicious butter naan will be ready to serve.
Aloo – To make aloo naan prepare a spicy boiled potato masala and fill it in the dough ball in the same way as you do to prepare an aloo paratha. Cook it in a similar manner as specified below and aloo naan will be ready.
Paneer – You can prepare some melt in mouth paneer naan in the same way as you would make an aloo naan. Just replace aloo masala with a spicy paneer filling and you are good to go.
Cheese – Prepare cheese naan in the same way as you would make an aloo naan. Just replace aloo masala with some grated mozzarella cheese and your cheesy naan will be all done and ready.
Herb – Top the naan with chopped cilantro or mint along with garlic to make herbed garlic naan.
In order to make the naan look more attractive, you can always top the dough balls with some black sesame seeds, finely chopped coriander and mint leaves as well.
Serving suggestions
My favourite way to serve Naan is along with creamy and delicious Dal Makhani or Butter Chicken and thinly sliced onions.
You can try both Restaurant Style Dal Makhani and Jain Dal Makhani, they taste delicious.
You can also serve it along with luscious curries such as Mughlai Paneer Korma, Malai Kofta, Paneer Masala, Restaurant Style Kadai Paneer, Mushroom Masala, Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala, Chicken Keema Masala and other divine curries that you can make at home.
Storage Suggestions
Freezing Rolled Naan – Once the dough has risen, divide it into equal parts and roll them. Once done, place a parchment paper in between each Naan and stack them. Place it in a freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as possible and freeze.
Freezing the Dough – You can even freeze the dough. Freeze it a freezer-safe sealed container. Thaw the dough completely at room temperature and make the Naans.
I will recommend freezing it for not more than 4-5 weeks, as this recipe uses yogurt and milk.
Freezing Cooked Naan – Cook the naan and cool them well. Now freeze them in a ziplock bag. When ready to serve, thaw until softened. Then place in the heated oven until nicely warmed and crisp. You can even heat them over direct flame.
Recipe Card
Naan Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups Maida / All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/4 cup Yogurt
- Milk ( to knead the dough)
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Kalonji seeds
- Butter ( to spread on naan)
Instructions
- Mix maida, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and yogurt in a bowl.
- Add milk and knead a soft dough.
- Oil a bowl and transfer the dough in the oiled bowl.
- Cover the bowl and keep in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Heat a griddle.
- Make small balls of the dough.
- Sprinkle little kalaungi seeds on the platform.
- Dust and roll the dough over the kalaungi seeds to make thin circle or oval.
- Apply water on the top surface.
- Keep the naan on the griddle with kalaunji side up. It will stick to the griddle because of water applied.
- Now turn the griddle upside down over the flame.
- Cook till brown spots appear on the surface.
- Turn the griddle and cook the naan for 20-30 seconds.
- Remove using a tong.
- Apply butter if desired.
- Serve hot.
Preeti S
You made this look so easy !! thanks for sharing…worth a try 🙂
madhu bhardwaj
These look great. Am going to try them. Will also cheat a little for the sake of good health and use half aata, half maida. 🙂
Divya Shivaraman
naan has turned out wonderful neha….perfectly made
Kamalika
Book Marking this one too…..I loved the idea of turning the griddle and cook it…do we have to rest the griddle on another pan??
Finla
Looks so good. I am bookmarking to try this once.
Radha Natarajan
too good!! definitely to be tried!! and your clicks!! jawdropping ones! well done!
chandhana
I made the naan yesterday and they turned out perfect!! the restaurant naans are so much over rated for me now !!