Easy Homemade Naan Bread Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

FAQs

Why is my naan bread not fluffy? ›

Naan doesn't get bubbles – Pan not hot enough, dough not moist enough or improper leavening. Naan turns hard – Toasting for too long, not enough moisture in the dough, toasting on low heat or not kneading the dough enough.

Naan has a thicker, fluffier texture because it is made with yogurt. Pita is thinner bread made with less ingredients (flour, water, salt, etc) and no yogurt. Naan is cooked in a skillet while Pita is usually baked at very high temperatures in the oven.

If your heat is too low, the naan bread will dry out before bubbles start forming. The heat is too high. If your heat is too high, the underside can start burning, so you'll need to flip it before it can start puffing up and before bubbles can start forming.

My favorite homemade naan recipe is made with basic bread ingredients (flour, water and yeast) plus a generous dollop of yogurt, egg and baking powder to make the bread extra soft and chewy.

The baking powder-yeast dough compared to the yeast-only dough were nearly identical — similar air bubbles in the pan, similar dough texture, similar flavor — so, in the end, I stuck with yeast alone as a leaven.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

While it may contain more carbs and sugars, it earns its reputation as a healthy alternative with its relatively generous amounts of protein and fiber. Despite its high carb content, naan can be considered a more nutrient-dense alternative to white bread and pita.

Some chefs and recipes include eggs in the naan dough to enhance the texture and flavor.

You sprinkle water to keep the naan bread soft. Naan bread will naturally stiffen when not eaten straight from the pan, so eat it as soon as you possibly can.

Make the dough up to the end of Step 5 – Proof 1. Then after the dough has doubled in size, put the bowl with the dough it in the fridge overnight (I've done 24 hours). Do not punch dough down or touch it – just put it in as is. The fridge stops the dough from rising any further.

How do you make naan dough rise faster? ›

You can also speed up fermentation with temperature, by allowing your dough or batter to rise in a warmer environment (near the pre-heating oven, for example); the closer the temperature is to 95° F, the more efficiently the yeast is feeding and producing carbon dioxide.

The large bubbles on the surface of the naan are created by an extremely high heat. Because naan is traditionally made in an extremely hot tandoor oven, we have to try and recreate this at home. Make sure your tawa is 'pre-heated' and almost steaming hot before putting the naan to cook on it. Never start on a cold pan.

One of the most popular Indian delicacies that we know of; curries are creamy with the right amount of spicy, curries pair perfectly with warm, fluffy naan. Naan bread also serves as the perfect companion to soups and stews, absorbing their rich flavors and adding a delightful textural contrast.

In Indonesia, naan is popular in Indian Indonesian and Arab Indonesian communities as well as in Malay, Acehnese and Minangkabau communities–with other variants of roti like roti canai. This dish is usually locally known as roti naan or roti nan and cooked using Indonesian spices, such as garlic with a local taste.

ˈnän ˈnan. variants or less commonly nan. : a round flat leavened bread especially of the Indian subcontinent.

Potato Flakes or Potato Water

Starch helps the dough by trapping the gas from the yeast in the dough and makes the bubbles stronger. This helps the bread to rise and be lighter and fluffier. If you are boiling potatoes, you can use the unsalted water in place of the water in your bread recipe to help out the yeast.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

One of the most common reasons for dense bread is over or under-kneaded dough. Kneading your dough directly affects gas production, as it increases the rate that fermentation occurs. Without kneading, bread dough will take much longer to ferment fully.

Cook naan: Place a naan dough in the skillet and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until the underside is deep golden / slightly charred – the surface should get bubbly. Flip then cook the other side for 1 minute until the bubbles become deep golden brown.