Easiest Stovetop Homemade Naan - Video Recipe
This stovetop naan is a classic Indian bread served with many Indian meals. This simple, easy and effortless recipe makes a deliciously soft and chewy homemade naan on the stovetop or the oven. Serve it with your favorite Indian meal or enjoy it as a sandwich wrap and pizza base too.
If you love Indian food then you probably have eaten naan. If not, the next time you visit an Indian restaurant make sure you order naan. yep! Absolutely amazing Indian bread. Taste delicious and is perfect for any Indian dish.
What is Naan?
Indian flatbread!! Naan is actually a Persian word for bread and it's pronounced as 'NAHN'. The traditional naan is baked in a tandoor oven which is why you don't often get it made at home. We at home don't own tandoor ovens so we usually make other Indian bread like chapati, roti, paratha, kulcha, etc.
Of course, the bread is so delicious that it's a pity if you have to wait to go to a restaurant every time you craved for naan. right? So often we make naan at home despite the lack of a tandoor oven.
The recipe itself is simple and easy. It's the process and time needed to ferment and add that depth of flavor that makes a huge difference. If you asked my mom, to make naan you have to make the dough the night before. Also, it needs to be kept in the fridge until it has time to ferment. So the yeast has time to make do its thing.
Stovetop vs Oven Cooking
I have tried making naan in my oven, as well as on the stovetop just like my chapati. The difference - the oven has to be at 220 C, or 440 F, kinda hot!! Hence, you have to make sure you take it off just at the right moment. If not it can dry out making it really tough. Sometimes it can even get hard due to overcooking.
I have given you both methods below because I have tried both. You can choose which one you prefer. Over the years I have found that making the naan on the stovetop, just as I do my chapati, works the best for me.
Naan Variety (Save/Pin)
The naan has come a long way over the years with many creative ways to serve it.
- Brush the naan with butter to make a butter naan.
- add a few crushed garlic cloves in the butter before you brush it over a hot nana to make garlic naan.
- Brush some butter over hot naan and sprinkle with nigella seeds or caraways seeds.
This is my nigella garlic butter naan, one of my absolute favorite. I will be sharing this with you very soon. I think you will love this.
Ingredients and Substitutes (Save/Pin)
- Flour - Naan is traditionally made with all-purpose flour. And yet, go ahead and substitute some of that with whole wheat flour. It tastes delicious. I know because I've tried it. I will share it with you soon too.
- Yogurt - Apart from adding softness and flavor this really helps with over-night fermenting. Also, it adds a unique special flavor. Try not to substitute.
And yet, if you must, try non-dairy yogurt like coconut yogurt. I have not tried yet. If you try, please let us know in the comments below. - Egg - Helps keep the naan soft and flaky. If you need to make it eggless, you can replace the egg with ¼ cup more yogurt.
- Warm water - The water MUST be warm, not hot or cold. Hot water will kill the yeast, while cold water will not revive the yeast. So it has to be around 110 F.
- Instant dry yeast – I like to use instant dry because I’ve always had great success with it. If you have to use active dry yeast you will need 2 ¼ tsp or one packet. And if you use fresh yeast you will need about 21 grams. It’s not necessary to activate the yeast but I like to take the guesswork out and make sure my dough will rise
Overnight Naan Bread
I don't think I ever saw my mom make instant naan. She always made the dough the night before. In fact, she proved most of her bread doughs overnight. So, if you plan your naan bread ahead of time, I highly recommend you prepare the dough the night before and let it rise in the fridge overnight. The overnight resting adds a unique fermented flavor that's very authentic and delicious with that strong bread smell you get at a bread bakery.
Just make sure you thaw the bread for a good two to three hours before you plan to roll it out. When thawed the dough be a pleasure to work with and you will find yourself making naan more often than you think.
Useful Tips and Tools
- Flatbreads are easy to make and don't need a lot of equipment. A mixing bowl with a spatula and your hands are all you need for the dough. These are easier to knead, so you don't always need to remove the stand mixer. And yet, you certainly can make these using your K-mix or Kitchen-aid.
- The consistency of the dough is important. Too much water can make it difficult to work and too little water will result in tough flatbreads. Use measuring cups and spoons and follow the recipe correctly.
- I prefer to cook my flatbread on cast-iron pans. These retain heat and distribute heat evenly. In India, we use a pan called tava, which is thick and does exactly the same thing as the cast-iron. You will see me using it in most of my videos.
- If you make bread often, then always have clean kitchen cloth or muslin cloth handy. These cheesecloths are best to keep the bread soft.
How to make Stovetop Homemade Naan Bread
Prepare yeast mixture
- In a measuring cup - add warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil.
- Let rest for a while until foamy (about 5 minutes).
Prepare dough
- Place flour in a bowl - add salt. Mix well.
- Add the yeast mixture - start mixing in.
- Followed by the yogurt and the egg.
- The dough should be soft and sticky.
- Continue to knead in a mixer for 3 minutes on medium or by hand on a floured surface for about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once the dough is soft and springy. Your dough is ready.
Proofing the dough
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap.
- Rest it out for an hour or two until doubled in volume.
- During the resting stage if the dough does rise more than double in volume - just punch down and let rest again until you are ready.
Let's make Naan
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface again.
- Divide the dough into 16 portions - first in half and then half again, until you have 16 shapes.
- Roll each into a ball and let rest for 5 to 7 minutes (resting helps the gluten relax and makes working with dough easy).
How do you make that naan shape? it's easy!
- Roll each ball into a round circle shape.
- Then pull/stretch the circle from one end and you have an oval shape.
- That's it!! This oval shape is usually quite characteristic of the naan bread.
Stovetop Cooking - Here's how to keep it soft and supple
- Heat a skillet pan on high.
- Place the naan on - let cook for 30 secs on the first side - you see some bubbles.
- The first flip - flip the naan, let cook on the second side for another 30 secs.
- then the second flip - cook on the first side again for another 30 secs.
- Third flip - back to the first side again - 30 secs.
- So you flip three times cooking the naan for 30 secs on each side.
Oven cooking
- Preheat the oven to 220 C/440 F for at least 20 minutes before you put the first naan in.
- Dust the try with some cornmeal or flour - place the naan on the try.
- Place the tray in the preheated oven on the top shelf closer to the grill for about 2 to 3 minutes turning once or twice.
- Until you see it's puffed up and has dark spots.
- Alternatively, place them on a hot pizza stone at 250C / 500 F - for 2 to 3 minutes.
- The time of 2 to 3 minutes will vary depending on how HOT your oven is. So keep a close watch.
Keep it soft
- As soon as you take the naan off the heat, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth.
- This retains moisture back into the naan keeping it soft.
Frequently asked questions
Wrap them in a clean kitchen cloth and into a warm oven at about 100F / 50 C. If you plan to keep them for longer wrap them in a damp clean kitchen cloth and then into the oven. This will prevent them from drying out.
Place the naan between two sheets of a damp paper hand towel or damp kitchen cloth and into the microwave for 20-second intervals. The moisture in the paper towel or cloth refreshes the naan just like freshly baked. Do this just before serving as they do dry out quickly.
Absolutely, just omit the egg and add 2 tbsp more yogurt.
You can, but whole wheat is more coarse so the naans will be a bit stiffer than white flour. If you prefer you can replace half the white flour with whole wheat flour.
Yes, I have shared my garlic butter naan recipe with step by step progress pictures and a video as well - Homemade Garlic Butter Naan Recipe
Naan goes well with any Indian dish non-vegetarian or vegetarian. Here are just a few of my favorites that you may like to try. You can lot of Indian recipes on this blog and my other blog East Indian Recipe
Chicken malai kebabs
Tandoori Prawn Masala
Quick Indian Chicken Tikka Masala
Indian Lamb Biryani
Homemade Garam Masala Spice Mix
Minced Beef Curry
Black beans curry
Kidney beans coconut curry
Lamb Masala aka Mutton Masala
Slow-cooked Beef curry
easy chicken curry in 15 mins
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Stovetop Homemade Naan Bread Recipe aka Indian Naan
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Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups (560 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp (9 g) Instant dry yeast one packet
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 Egg large
- ½ cup (120 ml) Plain yogurt
- ¾ cup (180 ml) Warm water
- ½ cup (60 g) All-purpose flour for kneading
Instructions
Prepare yeast mixture
- In a measuring cup - add warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil.
- Let rest for a while until foamy (about 5 minutes)
Prepare dough
- Place flour in a bowl - add salt. Mix well
- Add the yeast mixture - start mixing in
- Followed by the yogurt and the egg.
- The dough should be soft and sticky
- Continue to knead in a mixer for 3 minutes on medium or by hand on a floured surface for about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once the dough is soft and springy. Your dough is ready.
Proofing the dough
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap
- Rest it out for an hour or two until doubled in volume
- During the resting stage if the dough does rise more than double in volume - just punch down and let rest again until you are ready.
Let's make Naan.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface again.
- Divide the dough into 16 portions - first in half and then half again, until you have 16 shapes.
- Roll each into a ball and let rest for 5 to 7 minutes (resting helps the gluten relax and makes working with dough easy)
How do you make that naan shape?
- Roll each ball into a round circle shape
- Then pull/stretch the circle from one end and you have an oval shape.
- That's it!! This oval shape is usually quite characteristic of the naan bread.
Stovetop Cooking
- Heat a skillet pan on high
- Place the naan on - let cook for 30 secs on the first side - you see some bubbles.
- The first flip - flip the naan, let cook on the second side for another 30 secs
- then the second flip - cook on the first side again for another 30 secs
- Third flip - back to the first side again - 30 secs.
- So you flip three times cooking the naan for 30 secs on each side.
Oven Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 220 C/440 F for at least 20 minutes before you put the first naan in.
- Dust the try with some cornmeal or flour - place the naan on the try
- Place the tray in the preheated oven on the top shelf closer to the grill for about 2 to 3 minutes turning once or twice.
- Until you see it's puffed up and has dark spots.
- Alternatively, place them on a hot pizza stone at 250C / 500 F - for 2 to 3 minutes.
- The time of 2 to 3 minutes will vary depending on how HOT your oven is. So keep a close watch.
Keep it soft
- As soon as you take the naan off the heat, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth.
- This retains moisture back into the naan keeping it soft.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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