This recipe makes naan that aren’t only healthier, but also taste great. Soft and fluffy naans, even on the next day.
I have been trying and testing recipes for over a year to get the kind of naans that I wanted. My aim was to find a recipe that doesn’t use 100% refined flour and uses stove top to cook the naans. Several trials were made, different recipes were tried. The naans tasted good. But the problem that I was facing with 100% whole grain naan was that the texture was hard and chewy. They weren’t as soft and fluffy as the refined flour ones. So, I had to make a mix of whole grain flour and refined flour to get a texture that I am happy with now.
Important Tips to Keep in Mind When Making Naans
- Knead the flour really well: If you have a kitchen machine, make use of it. Knead the dough using the dough attachment of your food processor. If you do not own one, you can knead by hands. By hands you will need to keep kneading for about 10 minutes for the dough to release gluten and make it smooth and soft.
- Make sure to use warm water for kneading: Warm water helps the yeast to work, resulting the dough to rise. It makes the naans fluffy and airy. If the dough hasn’t risen well, the naans will be dense and hard.
- Give enough time for the dough to rise: The dough needs time to rise. Once kneaded, cover and leave the dough to rest for at least an hour. Do not rush this process.
- Do not use too much dry flour for rolling: Using too much dry flour for rolling will result in the naans to get dry. Dust the excess flour off and roll with light hands.
- Make sure that your pan is super hot: If your pan is not hot enough, the naans will dry out. Wait for your pan to get smoking hot before placing your rolled naan onto it. On some stove tops, it might take up to 10 minutes to get the pan nicely hot. The pan should remain hot throughout the process.
Can You Make These Naans on an Induction Top/ Heating plate/ Glass plate/ Gas Top?
You can make these naans on any kind of stove top. The only condition is that it should be able to get the pan hot enough.
What Kind of Pan/Skillet is Required to Make These Naans?
I would recommend using a pan/skillet that could be safely heated up to high temperatures. A thick based pan (like cast iron) that can retain heat is ideal.
Can You Make These Naans Ahead of Time?
Although naans taste best fresh out of the pan, but you can make these a day or two ahead as well. In that case apply ghee on the naan, while it’s still hot and then let it cool down to room temperature. Once cooled, put the naans into a ziplock bag and put into the fridge immediately so they stay fresh for a while. If you want to store them for longer, you can freeze them after putting into a ziplock bag, for up to 2 months.
Ingredients at a Glance
Notes:
If you want to keep the recipe vegan, you can skip the ghee or replace it with vegan butter.
Watch the video instructions below to easily follow the recipe
Healthier, Stovetop Naan
Ingredients
- 300 ml warm water
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp (7 grams) yeast (Backhefe)
- 250 grams refined wheat flour (weizenmehl 405)
- 250 grams whole wheat flour (vollkorn-weizenmehl)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil (divided)
- 100 grams refined or whole wheat flour (dry flour)
- 1 Tbsp ghee (optional)
Instructions
- Add the sugar and yeast into the water water and mix gently to combine. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes.
- In a big bowl, add both the flours and salt. Mix using a whisk.
- To the water and yeast mixture, add the olive oil (reserving 1 tsp for later). Add this mixture to the bowl containing flour. If you have a kitchen machine, knead using a dough attachment for 5 minutes, until the dough is nice and smooth. If kneading by hands, knead for a good 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.
- Form the dough into a big ball and apply the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil all over the dough ball. Put it into a bowl and cover with a thick kitchen towel. Leave it to rise for at least an hour in a darker and warmer place (switched off oven or microwave is ideal).
- Once the dough has risen to double the quantity, knock out the air using your fist. Form 8 equal sized balls with the help of some dry flour to prevent it from sticking.
- Put a pan on high heat and let it heat up.
- In a wide plate/tray spread the dry flour. Place a dough ball onto the plate and cover it with the dry flour. Flatten it using your fingers, then transfer to a clean surface. Roll it using a rolling pin until it is about 15 cm in circumference.
- Once the pan has heated up really well, transfer the rolled naan onto the pan. Wait for a minute until the naan develops bubbles all over. Then flip. Cook the naan on both sides until it develops dark brown spots all over. You can use a thick kitchen cloth or a spatula to press the naan gently so it cooks evenly.
- As soon as the naan is cooked and you take it off the pan, spread some ghee all over to keep it soft (optional). If you want to keep it vegan, you can use vegan butter instead.
- Wrap into a thick kitchen towel until served.
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