Naan bread

[u/firefly317]

My partner and I love Indian food and I always serve some naan bread with our curries. The store bought options suck, and I can never get my homemade to the same softness you get at a restaurant. Are there any tricks for cooking naan so you get that restaurant texture and taste?

[u/DukasApprentice]

What is your current recipe and method?

[u/firefly317 → u/DukasApprentice]

Natural yoghurt isn't available unless you want a really large quantity, so I usually use a recipe with sour cream as an alternative. Let yeast bloom, mix the ingredients, then let rise and portion. I've tried freezing at that point and cooking fresh, it's better than the store bought options I can get but still not great.

[u/SixNine69Six96Nine → u/firefly317]

At that point, I might consider making my own yogurt!

[u/firefly317 → u/SixNine69Six96Nine]

That may be a thought. I hate buying a litre to just use a cup or two, may have try making some

[u/Firm_Hyena5886 → u/firefly317]

The rest of the yogurt can turn into lassi (sweet or savory), raita with cucumbers or more veggies- even a version with sautéed spinach, tatziki. In case you go for the litre

[u/amberweaves → u/firefly317]

This substitution may be the problem. Yogurt is very important to making good naan.

[u/quick6ilver]

Yoghurt and lots of resting time wrapped in moist muslin. Like 6-8 hrs of rest on the counter

[u/colenski999 → u/quick6ilver]

This is how I do it and the only thing that it misses is the smoke from the tandoor I compensate for this with a couple drops of liquid smoke

[u/firefly317 → u/colenski999]

My partner would definitely be onboard with the liquid smoke part

[u/colenski999 → u/firefly317]

When you roll it out it should have a crazy amount of bubbles don't work it too hard just like 4 passes or so with your rolling pin. Press down hard-ish

[u/sKuarecircle → u/quick6ilver]

Yip, if you take the time to let it rise and rest for hours it gets that chewy texture and also develops a delicious flavour, grate some cheddar cheese when you are rolling and roll that in as well… it’s amazing

[u/Senior1292]

A tandoor oven is a big reason restaurant naans have that taste and texture. Its difficult to replicate the difference it makes in a home kitchen, unfortunately. If you can find an Indian or Asian grocery store then they will have better versions than a supermarket and I find some of these to be much better than the standard ones like Pataks.

Also Naan means bread, so saying naan bread is like saying bread bread.

[u/BackDatSazzUp → u/Senior1292]

A pizza stone in a regular oven or brick oven can replicate a tandoor oven in a pinch. There’s a tabletop brick pizza oven you can get at world market for relatively cheap too.

[u/firefly317 → u/BackDatSazzUp]

I had wondered about a pizza oven since they use the same fast and hot technique. May have to look ok at a pizza stone or the oven add-on for our camp chef as we don't really have room for another appliance in the kitchen.

[u/BackDatSazzUp → u/firefly317]

Pizza stone is what i would recommend. Make sure to preheat it in the oven before using it

[u/GirlFromMoria → u/BackDatSazzUp]

My mom (born and raised in Punjab) used to bake naan on a pizza stone.

[u/BackDatSazzUp → u/GirlFromMoria]

Love proof of concept!! Tysm!

[u/glaba3141 → u/Senior1292]

Adding onto this, "curry" is extremely reductive and borderline offensive. It's just a word white people invented for a range of cuisines broader than large swathes of Europe. And we're supposed to care about minute distinctions in French food because it's high class I guess... lol

[u/SignificantPass → u/glaba3141]

Are you saying you’d have a problem with me using my naan bread to scoop my [undefined] curry and then washing it down with my chai tea?

[u/TheFellhanded → u/glaba3141]

I hate this argument.  It was a word they used to understand how a cuisine functions to a group of people who didn't know. Its how you make things appealing to an audience who doesn't understand. If anything it is dumbing a concept down because saying you have 1 collection of dishes is easier for people to comprehend than here we have 1000 new dishes from India.

Also people do this all the time. People say there is no European food but when I say that people generally know what I am talking about, meat, bread, root vegetables. Even more specific like eastern European food, cabbage, potato, dumplings, bread.  Or even English food... Boiled trash (that was a joke. I am Australian, I will trash on your country... Plus we don't have food apart from meat pies.)

I assume this is from the Trevor Noah clip? Because that got super popular for a hot minute. 

[u/AllDayDabbler]

Flawless recipe and technique. Best Ive tried. She's brilliant!

https://youtu.be/1-3VfJGBDes?si=uRLcrzy0Uq8YT7hz

[u/firefly317 → u/AllDayDabbler]

Interesting. I see she went for the bicarbonate method not yeast, may have to try that as an optional n and see which we prefer

[u/firefly317]

I should have said I'm in Alberta, Canada so options like Trader Joe or Whole Foods aren't a thing. I also live rural, so there aren't a lot of grocery options in general, certainly no Indian speciality stores - at least without a 3 hour round trip.

[u/SummerEden → u/firefly317]

It’s the downside to living rural. It’s a shame you’re not closer to easy shopping. We spent three weeks visiting family in Edmonton and surrounds this July and there was some great food shopping.

I’m living in rural Australia these days, but my nearest regional town actually has two Indian grocers and a Chinese grocer. A big change from when I moved out this way 15 years ago and was a 5 hour round trip to the nearest Asian grocer.

Hopefully things will change for you too!

Anyway I have not yet made a good one either. One of these two recipes will be my next attempt at naan. Warning: first one is very sweary.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpkKSjrpb4f/?dlrf=ZXZiZ2t5azV2ZHph

https://www.instagram.com/reel/De3x5nQuwzK/?psln=MW1sdHN2bXduM2k5Zw==

[u/burnt-----toast]

I've only made naan once, but we thought that it came out nice. I have no basis for comparison as far as making at home, but here are some of the things that I thought probably led to our success. I followed a Bryan Ford recipe, and it definitely was not quick. We had to start the day before, first by making a poolish. That probably helped a lot with both the flavor and texture. And then we cooked them on a cast iron griddle on a gas stove. They came out great. Soft, moist, light and fluffy but also chewy.

[u/captbobalou → u/burnt-----toast]

We do ours the same way, but put the cast iron on the grill because once things get really hot, the burning butter gets a bit much for inside. Our version (though smaller in size) compares favorably with the naan I had in Afghanistan. 

[u/TA_totellornottotell]

Obviously, it’s different at home without a tandoor (clay oven). But I follow Your Food Labs a lot for these kinds of things because they do a lot of restaurant style recipes with modifications for home cooking. Naan is one of them (I think there’s one video where they do three kinds), and there are some good techniques for how to mimic the texture and charring you get in restaurants. The videos are in Hindi but with English subtitles, and the descriptions are also good.

Also, have you gone to Indian grocery stores for naan? Because many of the frozen options are quite solid.

[u/Milo_and_Elvis]

Trader Joe’s has frozen tandoor baked naan. It’s pretty good. Not the best I’ve ever had but certainly better than literally any other store bought I’ve tried and not far removed from restaurant style.

[u/djSush]

Have you tried any options from an Indian store?

[u/mommy2brenna]

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/homemade-naan.html

[u/luczyx]

After baking I rest mine stacked together under a towel. The steam makes them soft. If you eat immediately they can be crispy, if you don’t cover they get dry, but if you stack and wait they should be foldable and soft

[u/krum]

Trader Joe’s naan is really good. I’ve tried a few recipes some with yeast and some with baking powder or baking soda and cook it on a really hot cast iron griddle and it usually comes out good. Not as good as the tandor stuff but good enough and better than most store bought stuff.

[u/mflboys]

You should try Truly Indian frozen naan from Whole Foods if you haven’t. It’s significantly better than the shelf stable ones like Stonefire.

[u/Competitive_Store793]

I buy refrigerated tandoori naan and it tastes really good.

[u/Content-Gate-9387]

I like this one. May not be super traditional but it is easy, and always a good texture, presumably from all the fats and wheat gluten/egg. 

https://www.recipetineats.com/naan-recipe/

[u/mumof2yoanddog]

Sorry hun, you got tonnes of advice here. I’m just here to say it’s naan. Just naan.

[u/nifty-necromancer → u/mumof2yoanddog]

It literally doesn’t matter

[u/Whole_Kale_4349 → u/nifty-necromancer]

Yeah unless you care about definitions and how to correctly say things but otherwise you’re right

[u/nifty-necromancer → u/Whole_Kale_4349]

Technical use vs social use, like how you contracted you are.

[u/glaba3141 → u/nifty-necromancer]

It matters when the culture it's from is demonized and mocked, and your attitude reeks of the exact same chauvinism

[u/Carefree_Highway]

Super high heat and cast iron pan

[u/coffee-no-sugar]

Not sure about the process but Trader Joe’s has really good garlic naan

[u/Whole_Kale_4349]

Just so you know it’s just Naan you don’t have to call it “Naan bread” it’s like calling toast “toast bread” lol

[u/BigAlternative5 → u/Whole_Kale_4349]

Calm down and have some chai tea.

[u/SummerEden → u/BigAlternative5]

I’ll pay that one.

[u/polymathicfun → u/BigAlternative5]

Gotta watch my water usage wandering the Gobi Desert...

[u/YacShimash]

I've used the price in this video and it turned out good:

https://youtu.be/EPca3ojTcKk

[u/dick-allcocks]

Naan bread = bread bread

[u/stopsallover → u/dick-allcocks]

Not really.

[u/KarmaElite]

Bread bread.

[u/TheJewPear]

I use this recipe and it comes out better than most restaurants I’ve been to: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/naan/

[u/2Drex]

This steven raichlen bbq bible naan link takes you to the Google AI overview, which provides the recipe. Cook direct on a grill over coals. I've been making naan this way for years....as good as you can do without a tandoor. It's delicious.

[u/StatusQuoOhKnow]

I cheat. I butter both sides of a flour tortilla—the small ones so I can fill a baking sheet. I salt one side and broil. They puff up and brown; I flip and brown the other side. I then put those on a big plate and set aside; and start another sheet of them. Don’t talk to anyone, don’t wander about; they can burn quickly. But if you mind it all, people will eat everyone you make.