NAAN D'AMOUR
Hello my little cats!
We're continuing this themed week with a recipe... So to put things into context, when we went to India, especially in the north, we didn't come across many restaurants offering Naans, but rather Chapati, which are other Indian bread rolls, like an unleavened wafer that can be prepared instantly on a hot plate, unlike Naan which has other characteristics all its own. I remember that when we were there, we were real adventurers of the taste buds, in some restaurants there was no English translation of the menus, so we went in blind and I don't remember any unpleasant surprises, which is how I discovered palak paneer, a crazy spinach dish whose recipe I'm seriously considering making again! By the way paneer is the Indian cheese that forms the basis of many dishes, and in India you can find Naan with Paneer and not with laughing cow or kiri. These cheese naans, which drive us crazy, are an invention to quickly satisfy our little Western palates, as you'd expect, because paneer is a long hard slog to make... We at the Lemonade Studio are big Cheese Naans eaters, so I've come up with a recipe to help you make your own re-visited Indian breads, perfect for an aperitif or to whet your appetite if you accompany them with a colorful salad. Just one more thing, to make a Naan the right way, you'll need a special oven, a tandoor, a sort of cave oven, but you know what, it also works in a very hot wok pan...
For about 4 large Naans, you'll need :
- 275 g sifted flour,
- 1 pinch sugar,
- 10 g fresh baker's yeast, available from your local artisan,
- 1 tablespoon baking powder,
- 3 tablespoons Bulgarian-style yogurt,
- 5 tbsp. melted butter,
- and 8 kiri.
To begin, mix the baker's yeast and sugar in a bowl with 16 cl warm water, then add half the flour. Put everything in a food processor and process for 5 minutes to obtain a smooth consistency. Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Then add the yoghurt, baking powder, remaining flour, and 4 of the 5 tablespoons of melted butter and work the dough again for 5 minutes. Cover and leave to rest for a further half-hour.
Heat a wok pan over high heat and coat lightly with the remaining butter. Take a ball of dough and roll it out on a floured work surface into an elongated oval shape, place 2 kiri and roll out roughly and fold in half, closing the edges by pinching the dough between your fingers. Place the naans in the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Serve hot and enjoy!
