HOME MADE NAAN -HENRY K'S

I'm so glad I signed up for foodbuzz because I found this wonderful recipe on Henry K's Flavour's blog through foodbuzz. He called it Excellent Home Made Naan and with a title like that how could anyone resist trying the recipe. Also I noticed that there were five stars next to the recipe so I never gave it a second thought and decided to make it.

Like I always do, I skimmed through the recipe, picking up only the important parts, scrawled the recipe (ingredients only) ona scrap of paper and tried to remember the rest in my head. Computing has a way of making you detest handwriting.

The original recipe called for unbleached flour and 1 tablespoon of wholewheat flour. I used plain white bread flour and instead of peanut oil I used olive oil.

3 cups plain bread flour plus 1 tablespoon
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

In a small bowl add water, oil, sugar and yeast. Stir. Keep aside and let it froth. I always thought this step was not necessary when using instant yeast but I wanted to follow instructions so I did it anyway.

Put flour in a large bowl and put in the frothed yeast mixture and 1/2 cup of milk. Mix first with a wooden spoon and then with your hands knead until smooth. Maybe 5 to 10 minutes. Add flour bit by bit if sticky. When smooth let it rest for 10 minutes on the board. I have no idea why but that was what Henry K said to do. Then put into a greased bowl and leave it to rise till double the size with a damp cloth over the bowl.

When the dough had risen I put it back on the board and pressed it GENTLY with my knuckles, careful not to push it forward, as per Henry K's instructions, as you would normally do when kneading other kinds of bread. When I pressed it down into a rough rectangle, I then, according to Henry K's instruction, folded one end over midway and then the other end over it. I pressed the dough down again GENTLY into a rough rectangle and did the same folding over again. Then I was not sure whether I should make it into a long roll or what.

In the end I did not do anything like that but instead just divided the dough into 8 equal parts and then formed them into balls by gathering up the edges and pinching it underneath until they formed a ball shape. Henry K gave strict instructions not to roll the dough between your palms like modelling clay. The feel of the dough should all the time be soft and spongy.

Cover the rolls with a damp cloth (I did not use cling wrap) and let them rise a little....about 5 - 10 minutes.

At this point heat up the oven to 200 C. Place an ungreased baking tray to heat up in the oven at the same time. Henry K suggested a pizza stone! If anyone out there (In Malaysia) has a pizza stone I'd like not to know.

Then take one roll and with your thumbs and four fingers press it into a flat circle and continue doing so until the circle gets bigger and then start flipping it from one hand to another until it develops into a naan shape, oval, that is. Somehow the circle never got bigger so I had to pull it bit by bit to make it get bigger. Watch the video on the link to Henry K's blog that I am going to give you at the end of this post (after you have finished with mine).

Do this for all the other rolls of dough and when all are ready then cover with a damp cloth/tea towel, let them rest for about 5 minutes and then just before putting them into the oven on the heated baking tray give the naan a few more flips. I put in 3 naans at a time.I used a pretty large tray. I did not use the broiler though because I did not remember reading that Henry K said to use the broiler. I could not go looking at his blog while I was so busy focussing on flipping the darn naan.

I baked them in the oven until it turned lightly brown and they bloated up. The puffiness subsided after a while out of the oven (thank god) otherwise it would have looked quite unbecoming. It didn't take long at all actually...I did not time the baking it but I would say about 5 minutes.

My naans looked nothing like Henry K's. They were no dark brown spots and they were thicker because I could not keep checking his blog to see what they looked like exactly. So depending on my memory, If you can call it one, I thought the naans were supposed to look like how I made them. Nice, thick and fluffy looking.

Also I did not look at his video on flipping the naans until I had finished eating my naans because my computer is so S-L-O-W. So you should look at the video first if you have to urge to make the naans. Henry K's were thinner and I am sure that that was how they were supposed to look. But it tasted really good anyhow and I liked the puffiness. They went well with the chicken curry. Yum.

The link is here.

TIPS : All on Henry K's post.