Naan - Indian Bread

I have been obsessed with Indian food as of late. I posted that Channa Masala recipe and had made it twice since then. Morgan, my 7 year old, does not like indian food BUT, she loves naan, which is a type of bread that is served with indian food. She begged me to find a recipe for it and so I went on a search. I found this recipe and tweaked it a bit. So good and you really can serve it with just about anything.

1 package active dry yeast

1 c warm water

1/4 c white sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp salt

3 1/2 c flour

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 c butter

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1 tbsp sugar. Let stand 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and flour. This should make a soft dough. If you need to add more flour, do so but don't add so much that the dough is hard. Once it is a soft dough, take it out and knead it on a floured surface for 6-8 minutes or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour or until dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough. Pinch of small handfuls of dough, about 1/2 the size of a golf ball, join the them together and roll into a ball. Place on tray and cover with a towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the 2nd rising, preheat the grill to high heat.

Roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Add garlic to melted butter. Brush one side of dough with butter/garlic mixture and place on grill and cook 2-3 minutes, until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter and turn over. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove from grill and continue to cook until all has been prepared.

This recipe makes A LOT of dough. After the first rising and I had made all the dough balls, I froze half of them in the freezer for another day because it made so much.

As far as the grill goes, I used a George Foreman grill and just cooked these on it with the top open. I did read that another good thing to do is to use a baking stone instead of the grill and you can bake them at 600 degrees for 2 minutes. My baking stone is packed away in storage so I couldn't use that option but feel free to let me know if that option works well!!

One more thing, I made mine into cheese naan. When I was making the dough balls, I cut pieces of sharp cheddar cheese and put it in the middle of the balls. You can add anything you want in the middle: garlic, onion, cheese, pecans, raisins, whatever floats your boat. The cheese worked out well, but I think I will try shredded cheese next time rather than just pieces of cheese.

Enjoy your naan!!!

Channa Masala

Hey there, Erin again. About a month ago, my sisters and I went to the Holi Festival down in Spanish Fork and while there, we ate some Indian food and fell in love with the food. My favorite dish was Channa Masala which is chick peas (garbanzo beans) in a curry sauce. I went on a search for a fairly easy recipe to make this dish and this is what I found.

Channa Masala

1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3 tbsp chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1/4 lemon

Toss the butter in a skillet set over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cook unti lsoft and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Stir until combined and cook for 30 seconds or so, or until it is very fragrant.

Stir in the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dump in the chickpeas and pour in the water. Stir until combined and then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add the paprika, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. Cover and cook at a simmer for 10 minutes.


You might ask what garam masala is. I wondered too. Apparently it's a mixture of spices, kind of like curry. I couldn't find any, so I just used curry powder. I will warn you, it was very spicy and I even cut the spices in half. My kids aren't big on spicy so next time, I will probably cut the 1/2 in 1/2 again. But it still was very good.

I complemented the meal with Uncle Ben's Basmati Ready Rice and french bread. Yummy!!