Fluffy Indian Style Garlic Cheese Naan (Without Yogurt)
Today I'm going to share with you once again another dish that is so dear to my family.
I'm so passionate to try to make staple dishes from various cuisines, because sticking to a routine, mundane cooking habits and prepare the same dishes everytime will definitely kill my cooking interest.
To always stay motivated, I need to explore recipes and cook new dishes which allows me to improve my cooking skill and the most important is, to serve delectable delicacies to my dearest one.
So, here it is...
INDIAN STYLE GARLIC CHEESE NAAN.
Naan is a flat, yeast-leavened bread popular especially in Indian culture.
It's fluffy, soft in texture is definitely a heart-throb for Indian Cuisine lovers.
It's a must have dish to be serve in all Indian and Mamak restaurants.
Naan can be oval or round in shape, and is usually serve with curry, dhal and chicken tandoori.
Everytime I make my homemade naan, I'll prepare curry and tandoori as it's side dish.
The original naan version is plain flat bread, traditionally cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven shaped like a chimney pot.
The naan dough is stuck to the wall of the tandoor and cook until brown spots appear on the naan surface.
Because of the unique cooking method of naan, it is more common to be known as "Roti Tempayan" in Malay culture.
The tandoor used to cook naan is similar to the shape of tempayan (although both have very different functions).
Instead of designed to cook naan in Indian Culture, tempayan is a large container made of pottery, usually used to store water.
Popular naan recipes - like garlic naan or cheese naan are the modified versions of the original, plain naan created to add more variety to the naan lovers.
My favorite naan is always the one with cheese.
But the recipe that I''ll share this time is as it's title, naan with added cheese along with garlic.
Garlic, especially if using the fresh garlic make the cheese naan flavorful and aromatic.
My hubby likes this naan version very much.
It's awfully delicious when enjoy with chicken tandoori and chickpeas curry that I'll provide the recipes in my next entry.
If this is going to be your very first time to make your homemade naan, don't hesitate because the good news is, it's easy to be prepared especially when you got the help from bread maker or stand mixer to do the kneading part, which I can say it's easy yet can be challenging to handle the quite sticky dough particularly when your do it by hand.
If you're going to knead the dough manually, you may need to prepare extra flour for dusting dough surface, coat your hands and dust your working board.
Alternatively, introducing too much flour can cause your naan to gets hardened, so what you can do is, instead of using flour to prevent sticking to your hands, you can oil your hands and to your dough surface.
Due to it's fluffiness and fullness of cheese and garlic flavors, my hubby started to ask me to prepare this again!
As a matter of fact, as I'm updating this entry, it's actually my second time, after I made the initial naan the day before.
We finished off the first batch before I managed to take a single picture of my homemade naan!
So this picture that I took is my second batch of the similar version of naan that I just made.
It's so desirable and close to the restaurant-style naan, or..if it's not too much, I want to confess that this naan version is far much better than the restaurant or the store bought naan.
I can make extra batches of these and keep them refrigerated.
So whenever we feel like eating them, all we need to do is just reheat them on a pan.
Here, since most of us don't have tandoor available at our home, you can cook your naan in two ways - by oven or stove top method.
I've tried both method but I still prefer to cook my naan on a stove top.
Why I prefer stove top method?
Simply because naan is originally cooked or roasted in a tandoor in a high heat generated by charcoal or wood fire.
Thus, this method allows direct cooking of food with live fire.
Due to a higher temperature (can be up to 480℃), naan is cooked for a very short period of time.
Oven does not has this capability and when we cook for a longer time in oven with temperature less than 200℃, it will results in dry and your naan will become stiff.
I think the best way to overcome your naan from getting stiff and dry if you prefer to bake it in oven, try to set oven temperature between 220 - 240℃ and do not bake for more than 10 minutes.
But I would still prefer to cook my naan manually, on a stove top in a non-stick pan.
It's quicker and convenient especially for those who doesn't own oven at home.
FLUFFY INDIAN STYLE GARLIC CHEESE NAAN
Adapted From : chefdehome
Cuisine : Indian
Yield : 8
Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of garlic powder/3 finely chopped garlic cloves
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 cup of warm water
1/2 cup of fresh/evaporated/almond milk
2 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable/corn/coconut/olive oil
8 sliced cheddar cheese - cut into 4 each (naan filling)
More flour/oil for kneading and rolling naan
Toppings & Garnish (optional)
Melted butter/ margarine/ghee - for brushing cooked naan
Chopped fresh parsley
Prepare Naan Dough
Manual Way:
In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, yeast and milk.
Wait until it's foamy.
The, add flour, salt, oil and garlic paste/powder.
Knead the dough until a smooth and elastic dough formed (which is about 10 minutes).
If it's too sticky to handle the dough, add in more flour or oil.
The dough should not to wet or dry.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel or cling wrap and let it sit under warm place until it doubled in size.
Using Bread Maker:
Put in all the ingredients (except cheese) in the bread maker bowl and select the menu "Dough."
Wait until it finishes the kneading process which should takes place about 20 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough into the prepared bowl and cover it with a dampt towel or a cling wrap and let it sit for 40 minutes (or more) until it doubled in size.
Shape The Naan
Once the dough doubled in size, punch in the dough and knead for a 1 minute to break the large air bubbles.
Floured your work surface and transfer the dough onto it.
Form a round shape, flatten it a bit and cut into 8 equal portions.
Form a small ball for each portion, cover the dough balls with a damp towel and let them rest for 5 minutes, so it'll be easier to roll the dough later as it won't retract too much.
Cook The Naan
Stove Top:
Preheat your iron cast skillet or a non-stick pan in a medium heat, lightly oiled the pan.
Take one ball, flatten with a rolling pin (not too thin) and place 4 small pieces of cheddar cheese at the center.
Wrap the cheese neatly and roll it to form a flat, oval or round shape naan.
When the pan is hot, place one rolled naan on top and cook until you starts seeing a lot of bubbles form all over the naan's surface, which takes about 2 minutes.
Flip to the other side and cook until you see brown patches appear on the naan's surface.
If necessary, flip one more time to other initial side to brown the skin.
Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
Cover the cooked naan with a towel, or put in a container with cover to prevent it from getting hardened.
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| Flip the naan to the other sides once you start seeing bubbles formed |
Serve The Naan:
Serve the garlic cheese naan warm with your favorite dipping sauce and toppings.
While it's still warm, if you want, you can brush the naan with melted butter or ghee and sprinkle with chopped garlic, parsley or chili flakes or chopped cilantro.
I prefer it plain, as I enjoy it with chickpeas curry and chicken tandoori.
Store The Naan:
If you plan to make ahead your garlic cheese naan, cook your naan halfway, just until the bubbles start to form.
Cool the cooked naan before putting them in an air tight zip lock bag or container and store in refrigerator of freezer until ready to use.
Reheat The Stored Naan
If you freeze your naan in a freezer, you need to defrost it first for 10 to 15 minutes then reheat the naan on a stove top or oven until it turns soft and fluffy again.
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