Bread of the Week: Naan

Whenever I'm uninspired to bake new bread, I always go back to this recipe for Naan from The Kitchen Bible. It never fails me. The combination of butter, yogurt, and seasoning makes it soft and fragrant. I substituted in Greek yogurt and garlic flakes, because that's what we had. And because this is a short work week, we don't need a loaf of bread for sandwiches. This fits our bread needs for the week perfectly.  The best part, it only takes 6 minutes to bake!

Garlic Naan
Adapted from The Kitchen Bible

3/4 cup tepid water
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 - 3 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp garlic flakes

Make sure the butter, yogurt, and water are lukewarm, and combine. Mix in the salt and sugar. Then add 1/2 cup of the flour and the yeast. Mix well.

Add 2 more cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until the dough comes together into a ball. Turn it onto a bed of flour and knead for five minutes or until it passes the windowpane test. I didn't think it would because the dough is so soft, but it did. Add more flour if needed.

Knead in the garlic flakes for a minute. Then form it into a boule. Put it in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Let it rise for an hour or until doubled. I think it takes a pretty warm room to double it in an hour. It took me an hour and a half.

Shift the oven racks to the top third and middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto the counter. Cut into four pieces. Form four small boules. Then roll them out into ovals. Place on two baking sheets. Bake for a mere 6 minutes. 

Now is the time to introduce my bread warmer! We got this at our church's fair trade event two or three weeks ago. I finally get to use it. It kept our bread warm for dinner!

Made in Bangladesh

My top ones were browned before 6 minutes were up. If they're not browned after 6 minutes, turn the oven to boil and brown the tops for 30 seconds.

And what better to go with Naan than some curry? The Quick Lamb Curry, also from The Kitchen Bible, did not disappoint. It only took 10 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to cook. While the lamb chop is roasting in the oven, wash and puree the vegetables. The pureed vegetable as a curry base is new to me. I really like it.

Add the curry powder to the vegetable puree. Then add the lamb pieces, coconut milk, tomatoes, and cook for 6 minutes. And voilà.

Serve warm with white rice and Naan. Delicious!