Recipe For Tandoori Naan

Ingredients

All Purpose flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Yogurt (or Milk) - 1/4 cup
Water(lukewarm) - about 1/2 ( or as needed)
Butter/ Ghee - to spread on naan
Salt - 1 tsp (or to taste)
Sugar - 1 tsp

Method

Dissolve active dry yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water. Set aside until it becomes frothy (app. 10 min).
Take the maida (all purpose flour) in a wide bowl. Add some salt, oil and yogurt to it and mix well.
Next add the water-yeast mixture little by little to the flour and knead it. Add additional water if necessary.
Knead until you get a very soft dough. The dough will be little sticky in the beginning which is perfect and ensures very soft naan. After kneading for about 5-10 minutes, it will become non sticky and pliable.
Cover the dough with a moist paper towel and keep in a warm place for at least 1-2 hours. The dough should double in size.
Divide the dough into lemon size balls. Roll it out into oval shape (the typical naan shape) using rolling pin or with hand.
Preheat the oven to the highest temperature. If there is a broil mode or grill mode in your oven use that. If you have a pizza stone preheat the stone also for half an hour. If not you can use a normal baking tray or grill rack. Place the rolled out naan on the pizza stone/ baking tray/grill rack and cook it for 2-5 minutes till you see brown spots. (If the pizza stone is preheated, you can remove it in 2-3 minutes. If not flip the naan and cook for another 1 min). Remove the naan immediately. If you keep it longer, the naan will become dry and hard.
It can also be cooked on stove top over high heat just like regular rotis. Cook for 2 minutes each side till you get black spots.
Your soft Plain Naans are ready to enjoy.
To make Butter Naans, ss soon as you remove the naans from the stove, apply some butter on top. For Garlic Naans, mix some minced garlic and finely chopped cilantro with some melted butter. Apply this over the rolled out naans before roasting.
Detailed Steps to make Naan

Dissolve active dry yeast and sugar in lukewarm water and set it aside until it becomes frothy. Add some salt, oil and yogurt with the maida in a large mixing bowl.

Next add the  activated yeast mixture little by little to the flour and mix it. 



Keep kneading until you get a very soft dough. It will take 5-10 minutes of kneading.



Cover the dough with a moist paper towel and keep in a warm place for about 1-2 hours.



The dough should have doubled in volume by now due to the air bubbles formed. This is very important to have soft naans.



Take a small lemon sized balls of the dough. 


Flatten it with your palm.



Using a rolling pin roll it out into an oblong shape. Mine was not a perfect shape but thats ok.


Heat a pan over high heat. Gently place the rolled out naan on the pan. Cook for couple of minutes until the bottom gets some brown spots.


Flip the naan and cook the other side too. 



To make in the oven, preheat the oven to the highest temperature or put it in broil mode or grill mode depending on your oven model. Place the rolled out naan on a pizza stone or a baking tray  or the grill rack. Cook it for 2-5 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute. The timing changes from oven to oven.



Either way you cook, remove it as soon as you see brown spots on both sides. Cooking for longer time will make the naans hard.



For Butter Naan

After removing the naan, brush some butter on top while it is still hot.



For Garlic Naan

Sprinkle some minced garlic on top of the rolled out dough before cooking. Else melt some butter, mix some minced garlic and finely chopped cilantro with it. 


Spread this butter over the rolled out naans and then roast as before.


Aromatic Garlic Naans are ready to enjoy.


Tips

If you do not have oven, cook the rolled out dough on stove top like making chapattis. Keep the heat to the maximum.

If you prefer making naan without yeast, substitute 1 tsp of Baking Powder and 1/4 tsp of Baking Soda for the yeast in the above recipe.