Naan Guilty - Indian Food Part 1.

I have a new love for Indian food. Especially Naan.

Regardless of your take on Indian food in general, it's impossible not to love naan. Especially when it's garlic naan brushed with melted butter as it's pulled out of the broiler. Not loving naan would be like not loving warm, perfect garlic bread--like I said, impossible and perhaps inhuman.

I would like to say something fascinating about the history of naan here, but wikipedia didn't tell me anything groundbreaking. Instead, I'm just going to say that it's awesome.

For a non-Indian person, cooking Indian food is intimidating. I think it's hard because many of the spices are unfamiliar to the American palette, so it's difficult to know how to correctly season and adjust Indian foods to achieve the right taste. But, coming from this Texas white boy, it can be done.

I'm posting a whole lot of pictures to go with this recipe, but don't be fooled - it's fairly simple.

Garlic Naan

1 3/4 cup bread flour (measure and then sift)

1/2 tsp salt (I use Alessi Mediterranean sea salt)

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm whole milk

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tsp garlic powder (or more, if you're me)

1/2 tsp curry powder

melted butter 

1. Dissolve sugar in milk and add yeast. Stir to combine and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, blend flour, salt, and seasonings.

3. Pour in the milk and yogurt and stir with a spoon until you are unable to do so. Continue by kneading until all flour is incorporated and dough is soft and elastic. If it's just too flour-y and won't ball, add a few more drops of milk and a spoon of yogurt.

4. Form into a ball, return to bowl and cover with a damp towel for 2-3 hours (or until doubled).

5. When ready, pull dough into 5-10 pieces.

6. Roll out to 1/8″ thickness.

7. Broil on aluminum foil until nicely browned on top. Remove, brush with melted butter, and serve hot.

*Slightly modified from a form recipe at this wonderful food blog.