Naan is a leavened thick flat bread that is very popular in Indian food and Western Asian cuisines. It is commonly served in Indian restaurants with Indian curries such as matar paneer, and palak paneer and comes in several varieties like plain naan, garlic naan, bullet naan, and stuffed naan to name a few.
This garlic naan recipe is made without eggs and uses plain yogurt and yeast. The naan dough is made in a bread machine but can be made in a stand mixer too.
Ingredients
Naan bread is a leavened flatbread made with all-purpose flour and uses yogurt (which makes it soft) and yeast for rising. Garlic naan is made by topping naan with minced garlic. This is no egg Indian naan bread recipe and here is the complete list of ingredients.
Wet ingredients
- Water
- Yogurt
- Oil
Dry ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Sugar
- Instant yeast or Bread Machine yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
For garlic naan
- Nigella seeds (optional)
- Cilantro (chopped)
- Garlic (chopped)
- Butter (for brushing)
Instructions
It is a multi-step process to make naan. First, you need to make a soft dough by kneading all the ingredients. Allow the dough to rise and then roll it into a flatbread. Finally, bake it in the oven on a baking tray.
It might sound tedious to make garlic naan at home. But it is quite easy and simple to make and the end result is absolutely satisfying!
Make dough
To make naan bread at home, you need to make a soft naan dough. You can easily knead the naan dough in a bread machine, stand mixer, or even by hand. Personally, I make the naan dough in the bread machine.
To make naan dough in a bread machine, place all the wet and dry ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Some machines require wet ingredients first and some at the last.
Select and start the "dough" setting and allow it to complete. The naan dough will be ready and through its first rise once the cycle completes. You can also read my post on how to make dough in a bread machine.
Once the dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the pan and place it on a lightly floured surface and divide it into equal size parts.
Roll naan
Take a piece of dough piece and make a smooth ball by rolling it between the palms. Dust some flour on the rolling board and on the dough ball and roll the dough ball into a thick flatbread using a rolling pin. Roll the naan bread about 3-4 mm thick oval shape.
To make garlic naan, sprinkle some minced garlic, chopped cilantro, and some nigella seeds on the rolled naan flatbread. To stick it all in the naan, roll once again with the rolling pin.
Bake naan
Preheat the oven to 500 °F temperature to bake the naan in the oven. Place the rolled naan bread in a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes.
Naan will puff up and you will start seeing some golden-brown spots, this means naan is done. Take out the garlic naan from the oven and apply some butter with a basting brush.
Cover the naan with a kitchen towel to keep them soft.
Variations
The naan dough is versatile and can be used to make different types of naan. Butter naan can be made by baking naan and applying melted butter once baked.
Bullet naan is a very spicy naan in which the naan is topped with a lot of chopped spicy green peppers and then baked.
Stuffed naan is similar to stuffed paratha and can be made by stuffing a potato or paneer filling. Check out these aloo paratha and paneer paratha recipes for inspiration.
Serving suggestions
You can enjoy naan with your favorite Indian dish or Indian curries like matar paneer, palak paneer, navratan korma, dal makhani, and dal fry. Naan can also be served as an appetizer with some dips like broccoli cheese dip, spinach artichoke dip, or hummus.
Storage
Fresh homemade naan bread can last at room temperature for 2-3 days. Any leftover naan can be refrigerated for about a week. When you are ready to eat, simply reheat the naan in a microwave or in the oven.
Naan bread is a perfect make-ahead bread and freezes well for up to a month. While freezing, place a parchment paper between two naans so that it is easy to separate them once they are frozen.
When you are ready to eat, simply reheat the naan in the oven at about 400 °F for 4 - 5 minutes.
Not just naan bread, but naan dough freezes well too! You can freeze any leftover naan dough, or even make the dough ahead of time and freeze it.
A good way would be to portion the dough and freeze it so that you only need to thaw the amount of dough you need. To thaw the frozen naan dough, simply keep it in the fridge overnight and then use it to make naan.
FAQ
What can I use instead of yogurt in naan bread?
If you do not have yogurt or for some reason do not want to use it, you can replace it with milk. However, you will have to reduce the quantity of water by about half so that the dough does not become sticky.
How to make vegan naan?
To make vegan naan at home, simply replace the yogurt with vegan yogurt and use vegan butter for brushing once the garlic naan is baked.
How to make fluffy naan bread?
The key to fluffy and light naan bread is a soft and well-kneaded dough. To make a perfect dough and get consistent results every time, weigh the flour with the help of a digital food scale instead of using measuring cups. Also, whisk the yogurt before measuring.
Don't forget to check out these popular Indian bread recipes
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📖 Recipe
Bread Machine Naan
Equipment
- Convection Oven
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup Water
- ½ cup Yogurt
- 2 tablespoon Oil
Dry ingredients
- 360 grams All purpose flour (3 cup)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- 7 grams Instant Yeast or Bread Machine yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
For topping
- 1 teaspoon Nigella seeds (optional)
- 3 tablespoon Cilantro (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon Garlic (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon Butter (for brushing)
Instructions
Making naan dough in bread machine
- Place all the wet and dry ingredients in the order (wet first and dry later or vice versa) recommended by your bread machine manufacturer
- Select and start the dough cycle
- Dough will be ready once the cycle is complete
- Remove the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface
Making naan in oven
- Preheat oven to 500 °F (I have placed the rack at mid level)
- Divide the dough into 8 equal parts (about 75 grams each)
- Make a smooth ball from a dough piece and dust it with flour
- Using a rolling pin roll into a naan of about 3-4 mm thick
- Spread some nigella seeds, garlic and cilantro over the rolled naan
- Roll once again to ensure all the toppings get stuck in the rolled naan bread
- Carefully lift and place in a baking tray.
- Bake for about 5 minutes until it puffs and there are few golden brown spots.
- Remove from the oven and apply some butter with the help of a basting brush
Notes
- It is best to weigh the flour using a food scale for best and consistent results.
- Dough can also be kneaded in a stand mixer and then proved in the instant pot or oven for about 1 hour before shaping into rolls.
- Check out this post for detailed instructions on how to knead dough in stand mixer and proof it in the instant pot.
- Follow the remaining steps starting from " dough"
JJ White says
Winner, winner, Greek Chicken Gyros dinner! Delectable!!! Next time I'll roll out a bit thinner, and only bake on the center rack, but man oh man, homerun! My husband's still talking about last nights' chow. Best Naan bread we've ever had. Thanks for sharing.
Alpa says
So glad to know and thanks a lot for sharing your feedback and experience.
Donna says
Could Greek yogurt be used instead of regular yogurt?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Donna
Yes, you can use Greek yogurt. You will have to add a little more water though, you can try adding a teaspoon at a time until it forms a soft ball.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
sugandha says
Hi Alpa,
I reduced the weight of ingredients and made the dough for 6 naans.
However after the dough cycle, the dough was very sticky. It was very difficult to work with it. (had use flour to make it relatively easy while making balls and rolling). Is this ok? Any tips to improve the outcome next time?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Sugandha,
Yes, you need flour to dust and roll. It is not possible to do without it. Sometimes the brand of ingredients and the ambient temperature can make the difference in the consistency of the dough to be hard or soft. It is best to observe the dough for initial 5-10 minutes, you will know if it needs more water or flour. You can add a tablespoon of water or flour at a time as needed.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Seth says
I don’t know how this doesn’t have more reviews. My first attempt at naan and it turned out great! I highly recommend this recipe. I had to make 2 substitutions:
I used bread flour because that’s all I had, and dried parsley instead of cilantro because I ran out of time to chop cilantro.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Seth,
Thankyou for your feedback and glad to know you liked my recipe.
Regards
Alpa
Bina Pannell says
Weight are far more reliable than cups so why do people insist on stating 'cups' instead of weight?
Most people have weighing machines or scales than measuring cups.
What exactly is a 'cup' in grams or ounces?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Bina,
Yes, weight is always more reliable when it comes to flour measurement. I have added cups for those who don't have a food scale handy. Standard weight for all-purpose flour or bread flour is 120 grams = 1 cup.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Veronica says
This looks super tasty. Since I unfortunately don't have a bread maker or a stand mixer, how long do you recommend that the dough is kneaded by hand? Thanks.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Veronica,
If you are making dough by hand then you may want to consider below changes
1) Use active dry yeast (not instant yeast) and proof it in warm water (1/2 cup as mentioned in the recipe) and sugar for 10 minutes until you see foam on the top of the water
2) Make a sticky dough by mixing all ingredients. Then knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5-7 minutes until it is non sticky and smooth.
3) Proof the dough in oven for about an hour or until it doubles (you can warm the oven for 5 minutes and then turn it off)
4) After the dough rises, punch it down, divide it and make naan.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Guitar Pro says
I have a bunch of active yeast and a bread machine. Can't I activate the yeast, sugar and liquid and use the machine? I can even let it rise after the machine... Thanks
Alpa says
Active yeast should work although it might take a little longer to rise.