Kamado-cooked Naan from India/Pakistan

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.

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:

1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water, and let it stand for 10 minutes
2. Add egg, sugar, milk, salt, olive oil and flour. I did this in my wife’s Kitchenaid Mixer with the dough hook.

   

3. 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.”
4. 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.

   

   

5. Pinch off small balls and give it another 30 minutes to rise again.
6. 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.
7. Roll out dough as thin as possible.
8. Brush with olive oil.

   

9. Transfer to plate setter on the side above coal. Cook for 2 minutes.

   

10. 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.

    

11. Remove from grill. Slather with butter and sprinkle granulated garlic.