Naan

Today I am having my parents and mother-in-law up for and an Indian lunch. Before I was married, I heard horror stories of awful, overbearing mothers-in-law. I got lucky with my mother-in-law! She is a wonderful woman and I truly enjoy spending time with her.

Neither my parents nor my mother-in-law have had Indian food before, so I am fixing a traditional lunch of chicken tikka masala, basmati rice, and naan. Naan bread is yeasted flat bread, similar to pitas. If you have never worked with yeast before, this is a great recipe to start with.

The dough is easy to work with and the recipe is not as involved as other yeast breads. Using a bread machine to mix and rise the dough makes the process even easier. This naan recipe produces a bread with a nice chewy outside and tender inside, perfect for mopping up all the tikka masala sauce!

To make the dough in a bread machine, after letting the yeast proof, empty all ingredients into the machine and set to dough setting. Check the dough after the first 5 minutes to see if a little more milk is needed to hold the dough together, adding only a tablespoon at a time. After the dough cycle is complete, proceed with rolling out and baking the dough.

NAAN INGREDIENTS

(MAKES 3 LARGE NAANS)

• 2 cups all purpose flour or white bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 4 tablespoons lukewarm skim milk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tablespoons melted butter, for brushing

WHAT TO DO

Mix the flour and salt together into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix with milk with yeast and sugar and set aside for about 10 minutes or until it gets foamy.

Add the yeast and milk mixture, oil, and egg to the flour. Combine the mixture until it forms a soft dough. Add a little more milk if the dough is too dry.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until it feels smooth. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450. If your oven has a separate broiler, preheat that as well. Turn the dough back onto the floured surface and knead for another 2 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, shape into balls and roll out into teardrop shapes about 10 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 1/4-1/3 inch thick.

Place the naan on a baking sheet and bake for 3-4 minutes, or until puffed up. Switch oven to broiler setting and broil naan until tops brown slightly, around 1 minute.

Brush with butter. Cut up into smaller portions if desired. Serve warm.