Indian/Pakistani naan is leavened flatbread traditionally made in a tandoor oven by sticking it to the sides of the tandoor’s wall. Tandoor ovens aren’t common in the US (outside of Indian/Pakistani restaurants), so most home cooks make it in the kitchen oven.
Alternatively, naan can be cooked on a outdoor grill. Kamado style cookers (e.g. Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe) are made from ceramic and do a great job of mimicking the flavors from tandoor ovens.
On a Kamado-style cooker, a pizza stone or ceramic platesetter can be used as a surface to cook. I’ve tried sticking the naan to the inside wall of a big green egg, and it’s a bit difficult.
To pair with this naan, we highly recommend chicken seasoned with our own Texas Tandoori Rub and cooked using a kamado grill like a tandoor. See our recipe for Tandoori Chicken Tikka.
Indian/Pakistani Naan Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 standard packet active yeast
- 1 cup warm water – for yeast
- 1/4 cup water – to mix with dough if needed
- 1 beaten egg
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 4 cups flour
- Butter – to rub on naan after it’s taken off grill
- Granulated Garlic powder – to sprinkle on naan after it’s taken off grill
Directions:
- Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water, and let it stand for 10 minutes
- Add egg, sugar, milk, salt, olive oil and flour. I did this in my wife’s Kitchenaid Mixer with the dough hook.
Getting ready to mix in Kitchenaid mixer. - Knead until it forms a smooth “ball” of dough. I had to add the extra 1/4 cup water to get it to form into a “ball.”
- Place dough into plate/bowl and cover. Set aside and let it rise until it doubles in size. This can take 30 min to 1 hour. I put it in our kitchen oven, which has a “Bread proof” setting (sets temp at 100 degrees Fahrenheit). This seemed to cut down the time to 40 minutes or so.
Right out of the mixer. Before letting it rest/proof. After 40 minutes - Pinch off small balls and give it another 30 minutes to rise again.
- Heat grill to 400-500 degrees. I actually set up two zones (i.e. I put all the coal on one-half of the grill) and then added my plate setter (feet side down). This seemed to create a hotter and cooler side on the plate setter.
- Roll out dough as thin as possible.
- Brush with olive oil.
Brushing with olive oil just before transferring to grill. - Transfer to plate setter on the side above coal. Cook for 2 minutes.
Cooking on the plate setter (above coal) - Flip onto side away from coal. Doing this prevents the “bubble” areas from burning before the rest of the naan surface cooks. Cook for 2-4 minutes until it looks done.
Flipped and transferred to plate setter side of grill away from coal. - Remove from grill. Slather with butter and sprinkle granulated garlic.
Slathering with butter.
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