I must confess that Indian cuisine is not my favourite. It’s not that I don’t like it or eat it at all. Simply, it’s not the food I eat often. Most of the time I prefer Italian or French cooking. There is however one thing in the Indian style food that I really like. It’s their breads! Not surprise there I suppose for someone that is basically a gluten addict. Today I want to share my recipe for naan breads. Forget about the pre packed, shop bought variety. Try this recipe and make your own. You will never go back to the mass produced alternative. They are very easy to make and imagine how impressed your guests will be when you serve them home made naans! And they don’t have to go with Indian dishes only. These soft flat breads work great with barbeque food, especially with all sorts of koftas and kebabs. They will also work well as accompaniment to a thick soup or stews such as lentil soup or beef stew. Pulled pork? No problem, simply add some greens and wrap it all with the fresh naan bread. As you can seen the possibilities are endless.

Makes 4 large or 6 – 8 small breads

Equipment required: large, heavy base non-stick frying pan

Ingredients:

• 3g dried active yeast
• 1 tsp runny honey
• 15g melted butter (or ghee)
• 250g strong white bread flour
• 125ml lukewarm water
• 5g salt
• 50g natural yoghurt
• 2 tsp nigella seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Place the salt on the bottom of a large mixing bowl and cover with the flour. Sprinkle with nigella seeds and make well in the centre. Pour in the water then add honey and sprinkle with the yeast. With a fork dust the surface of the water with some flour from the edges of the bowl and stir gently. Cover and leave for about 5 minutes.
2. After 5 minutes add the yoghurt and butter. Beat the wet ingredients together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour until you have a rough dough. It should be soft and sticky.
3. Knead the dough on a surface until smooth or work it in the bowl using this method.
4. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for 1 – 2 hours or until doubled in size.
5. Transfer the dough onto the floured working surface and flatten gently to get rid of excess gasses. Divide into 4, 6 or 8 portions (depending on how big breads you want) and roll them into balls. Leave them to rest for about 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes put the pan over a medium high heat. Start rolling the balls into circles about 3 – 5 mm in thickness with a rolling pin. You can roll thicker if you like your naans quite puffed up. I like mine relatively thin.
7. Place the rolled bread in the pre heated pan and cook for about 2 – 4 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes or until cooked through. The bread should not be doughy in the middle but still soft.
8. Brush the bread with a bit of additional melted butter (optional) and keep warm while you roll and cook the remaining breads.