When I was in graduate school, I baked regularly. A couple of loaves of sourdough whole-wheat bread every week, a big pot of lentil soup, and I had regular but boring meals every night of the week.
Insert extended detour for marriage, child, divorce. I didn't bake bread.
I saw the New York Times no-knead bread recipe and thought, "I can do that!", and indeed, I can. I have been making it with sourdough. I recently branched out to sourdough English muffins and naan.
I'm here because I've scoured the net for a recipe for sourdough naan and I can't find one. My Afghan cookbook says that naan is made daily, and leavened with a blob of dough from yesterday's batch, but gives a recipe made with the usual dry yeast. ALL the naan recipes I've found online use dry yeast.
I don't imagine that many Afghans/Pakistanis/Indians spend money on dry yeast when they can use free starter. Sourdough naan has to be the norm, not the exception. But I can't find any #$%#@$% recipes!
Does anyone here have one?
Naan, naun, it's basically the same bread all over South and Central Asia. If you have a recipe, I'd like it. Proportions and rising time are what is needed.
I also posted in the sourdough thread. I'm a little worried about putting yogurt into a sourdough mix and leaving it overnight (or however long the first rising should be). Will the yogurt spoil?
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Felila
Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it.
Okay, here is the recipe--from Ed Wood's "World Sourdoughs From Antiquity"
Naun
2 cups proofed starter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup white bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
Mix dough (you already know how to do this). Oil hands and divide dough into 8 to 10 balls. Flatten with hands or an oiled rolling pin and form elongate ovals 1/2 inch thick. Place on baking sheet and proof, covered, at 85°F for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. With an oiled finger, make three parallel grooves about 1/2" deep on the surface of each. Preheat oven to 450°F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.
I always though naan was a flatbread, and while this is sorta flat sounding it is definitely thicker than some flatbreads. Does it sound like what you are looking for?
That recipe looks like it might work! I just started a no-knead loaf, but I'll definitely try the naan after I finish the regular bread. I'll probably fry it in a cast iron frying pan rather than bake it, however. Thank you very much!
Once I know how the dough should "feel," I can try substituting some yogurt for the water. It's not a long rising, so I don't need to worry about things going bad.
Naan is a thick puffy flatbread. Flat flat flat is a chappati or roti. Yes, it should be that thick.
When I get the naan working, I may try sprinkling it with stuff. Like chopped green onions, or zaatar, Middle Eastern spice mixture, which is my newest enthusiasm. I took some no-knead bread to a potluck, with some zaatar mixed with olive oil for a spread, and both the bread and the zaatar disappeared.
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Felila
Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it.
Hello Felila,
I am much interested in this Naan recipe from SourdoLady! But I would like to know if were thinking of replacing all of the water with Yogurt or only some?
Let me know, I think it would taste much better if made with Yogurt...
Thanks a lot
Srishti
I think I would have to experiment with the yogurt. My first thought is to replace the 1/2 cup water with an equivalent amount of thinned yogurt. Or perhaps 1/2 cup yogurt and a little extra water.
Unless someone here has a Punjabi grandmother who knows exactly how it should be done ...
I learned to make Persian-style rice by experiment. My friend Monir couldn't give me exact directions, because it depends on the pot and the stove. After burning or undercooking the rice a few times, I learned what exactly what heat setting works in my kitchen. I expect that, ditto, I may eat some not-so-great naan bread along the way to good bread.