Grilled Naan

Two reasons to make your own flatbreads:

1. They sell naan in packs of two for $3.00, and for three bucks in ingredients you can make a dozen or more.

2. Store-bought never tastes as good as right off the grill or out of the oven.

3. It's a lot easier than you might think.

4. For the sake of argument, let's say it's not all that easy. But you can still make it easy-ish by making a large batch and freezing most, to pull out later when you need it. Move it from the freezer to the fridge the morning you want to use it, then take it out to thaw completely about an hour before you need it.

5. The conventional wisdom says that cooking is more art and baking more science. In other words, when you're cooking, there are a lot of ways you can wing it, but baking requires precise measurements for everything to work just right. Could argue that from a lot of angles, but today let's just say, flatbreads are way forgiving. No reason to fear the flatbread.

Okay, that's more than two, but you get the idea.

Grilled Naan

1 ½ tsps dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 ½ tsps sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
6 Tbs clarified butter (called ghee in most Indian recipes) — divided
3 Tbs yogurt
2-3 Tbs sesame seeds, minced onion or garlic, or a dash red pepper flakes, or other flavoring
olive oil


Mix the dry yeast and sugar and add to the warm water. Stir till the yeast is dissolved. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. The mixture should begin to froth.

Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture, 3 Tbs of butter, and the yogurt.

Very gently mix this into a soft dough.

Flour a large work surface (counter top or cutting board) and knead until elastic, which should take at least five minutes.

Coat a large bowl with a few drops of olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rise for 90 minutes. The dough should approximately double.

Punch the dough down and knead for 10 minutes. About half way into this, sprinkle your seeds or onion into the dough.

Divide the dough in half, then each half in half, and then once again. Roll the divided dough into balls. At this point, if you don't want to grill all of the dough, you can put some of it in zip lock bags and freeze it for another time.

Re-flour your work surface and roll out each ball until you have a circle about one-half inch thick. Naan should then be gently pulled into a tear-drop shape.

Get your grill up to medium-high and then generously coat the grates with oil (paper towel and tongs works better than sprays).

Before putting the dough on the grill, spoon the rest of the butter onto each each piece of bread. Or, just spray with olive oil. Grill for 3-4 minutes per side, turning with tongs when done.

The temperature isn't all that important, so if you're cooking anything else, don't worry about having certain zones for each item. Just grill it until it's firm on the bottom.

Serve immediately, or transfer to a plate and cover with foil until your ready to eat.



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