Quick Naan

I have one recipe for naan on this site. I considered it all I would ever need because I love love love it. And then Friday as I fought to get dinner on the table while teaching my youngest daughter a piano lesson and getting ready for our Friday night singing night with some friends, I suddenly realized the error in my ways. My other naan recipe is completely delicious, but it uses yeast and requires rising time (which equals a certain level of forethought I am not always capable of--cue that crammed in Friday evening piano lesson).

This recipe is almost equally delicious, but uses baking powder and requires only a bit of a "rest" for your bread (which you could probably shorten or even entirely skip if you wanted to). It uses yogurt which gives it a lovely soft finished texture (and makes you feel healthier, though I'm never really sure if cooked yogurt actually is much healthier). And--to be honest--it is easier for bread novices than a traditional yeasty bread. It is not quite as good the next day (you just can't beat yeast for next day goodness), but it was still good enough to make me drool when I thought about eating up those leftovers. So there you go. Now you can have your belated piano lesson and eat your naan too. Or, um, something like that.

Quick Naan
adapted from The Good Loaf
makes 12-15 6-7-inch naan
Prep time: 5 minutes
Rest time: 30 minutes (can probably be shortened)
Cook time: 20-30 minutes
Cost: $1.00
whole wheat flour: .20, flour: .30, yogurt .50

1 C whole wheat flour
3 C white flour
1/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 C plain yogurt (I used full-fat)
3/4-1 1/4 C water

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder.

Add yogurt and 1/2 C water. Mix. Add more water as necessary to get your dough to come together into a nice ball of dough. It will feel dense and just a tiny bit tacky, but it won't stick to your fingers at all.

Let it sit for 30 minutes.

Roll it into 2-inch balls. Heat skillet (I used cast iron skillet) while you roll the dough balls as flat as possible with rolling pin. Add a little oil to skillet. Cook one at a time on medium heat. When one side is golden browned, flip. Cook briefly on other side; it will probably bubble puff in a few areas and should only need 30-90 seconds.

Remove to plate and continue the process.

PRINTABLE RECIPE