Posted by admin on
Rating: 1 out of 5.
One of my favorite things lately has been this whole wheat garlic naan bread with dinner. It takes just about any main dish to the next level, but particularly pairing this with curries, or with greek food and tzatziki sauce has been incredible. Naan bread is quite different from traditional bread in that it can be cooked directly on the stovetop in a cast iron pan (though traditionally it is cooked on the side of a very hot, stone Tandoori oven). But because most people don’t have a Tandoori oven at home, I prefer to cook it in a cast iron pan on the stove, as it only needs about 30 seconds to one minute per piece of bread to cook! This method makes it much easier to season the bread while cooking, and also to put it aside when it’s done.
CAN I USE ALL PURPOSE FLOUR INSTEAD OF WHOLE WHEAT?
In this recipe, I used fresh milled, whole wheat flour. I also used gluten flour which helps provide some extra softness and flexibility in the bread. Whole wheat flour by itself can tend to be quite crumbly and dry, the gluten flour helps to counter that.
Because this bread doesn’t need much rise (it is a flatbread by nature) the whole wheat can be directly swapped for all purpose flour if you don’t have whole wheat on hand, or just prefer all purpose flour. I have made it both ways and both turned out incredibly. Just note that if you use all purpose flour exclusively here, there will be no need for gluten flour so you can omit that ingredient.
HEAT & PAN TYPE
Cooking the naan bread on the stove here works mainly because it’s in a cast iron pan that gets VERY hot and cooks the bread evenly. I have not tried using other types of pans to make this bread, but you may be able to get away with using a traditional pan, so long as it is very hot. But if you do have a cast iron pan, or a dutch oven (most of which are enameled cast iron), then I would recommend using that to make this bread on the stovetop. When Naan bread is cooked in the Tandoori oven, it’s cooked on surfaces of 500-600 or even 700 degrees Fahrenheit, to give you an idea of how hot the temps need to be. Typically I wait until the whole pan looks like it’s steaming before I put the bread in to sear.
This is such a fun bread to make – I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know in the comments below how you like this recipe!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 5 minutes |
| Total Time | 1 HR 35 MIN |
INGREDIENTS:
*NOTE: If you do not have gluten flour, you can omit this ingredient, and substitute one cup of the whole wheat flour for all purpose flour.
**NOTE 2: Using all purpose flour exclusively will also work for this recipe, and if doing this then you can omit the gluten flour completely.
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix the water, yeast, sugar and salt together and let stand for 5 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients, and mix in an electric mixer with a dough hook until the dough comes together. It should be quite sticky.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Then continue to mix on medium speed (if mixing by hand, wet your hands frequently so the dough doesn’t stick) for 10 minutes until the dough completely comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Pour the dough onto a clean surface. Shape into a ball and divide into 6 (or 8) parts. If the dough is too sticky to handle, continue wetting your hands so that it doesn’t stick to your fingers.
Shape each of the dough parts into a ball and set onto a greased parchment paper. Spray the dough pieces with cooking spray to coat them in oil. Allow to rise for 1 hr.
Heat a cast iron pan on the stove on the highest heat. Once the pan is very hot, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil or butter into the pan.
Using your hands, stretch out the naan bread into the desired shape (usually a rectangle or oval) to about 1/4” or 1/8” thickness. It should be as thin as you can make it – nearly transparent. Then place into the hot skillet. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, sprinkling garlic salt on top while it cooks. Add butter or oil to the pan between each bread to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to the pan.
Top with chives, and serve immediately.
Ready to make some fancier breads with your sourdough? We love a good, sweet and tangy sourdough bread for breakfast and this one (or a variation of it) has been making it into our weekly meal rotation a lot, lately! This bread is mildly sweet, fluffy, and reminiscent of a European bakery – you will […]
Today I’m sharing one of those easy, could-eat-this-3x in a week kind of recipes. These are my favorite enchiladas of all time, so, naturally, they’ve made it into our regular rotation of meals. We love them! This recipe was inspired by a New York Times chilaquiles recipe, which introduced me to cooking with rehydrated guajilo […]
As summer draws near for us, my meal plan (or should I say my stomach) just SCREAMS for Italian food. Maybe it’s because tomatoes are ripe and in season, and homemade marinara simmering on the stovetop is nostalgic for me (my dad was the king of homemade red sauce growing up!). Or maybe it’s because […]
