Amongst the many breads in the Indian cuisine, like the roti, phulka, paratha, kulcha, poori, bhatura, another one is the naan. Naan is an Indian bread, that is made with the addition of yeast in the dough, that is flattened by hand , usually elongated in shape, cooked in a tandoor. 'Naan' is a persian word which means 'bread''.
Most of our Indian breads are flat breads, where a dough is made, usually with whole wheat flour and water, but sometimes also with all purpose flour, milk, curd or even drinking soda. The dough is then made into medium sized balls, that are flattened into discs, by patting them between the palms, or rolling it flat using a rolling pin and then cooked either on a hot griddle, or tawa as we all know it, or in a cylindrical clay/metal oven known as the tandoor.
The naan dough is ideally made with the all purpose flour or maida, but a healthier approach, of using half and half of all purpose flour and wheat flour is an equally good idea.
Naans are usually served as is, hot just out of the tandoor, slathered with butter. Many a times, the naan is flavoured with garlic and stuffed with cheese. The naans are also stuffed with potatoes sometimes, or topped with cranberries and nuts to make them richer.
Serve these naans with delicious and creamy dals or gravies either vegetarian or non vegetarian.
So go ahead and decide the kind of naan you want to serve to your family.
