Naan

I love naan. It is a fantastic flatbread. Chewy with the right amount of bite. I utilize a really warm fermentation to try and help the lactic aicd bacteria create a yogurt-y creamy sourness that can be found in naan made with yogurt. The dough is pretty dry so it is easy to work with and the risk of over-proofing is very low, making the timeline highly adjustable. If you cannot find Maida flour, use the lowest protein soft white flour you can find, “cake flour” in the US, “plain” in the UK.

Yield

8 Naans (100g)
See table below for other quantities

FEED

4-10 hours before PREP:
Mix 21g of sourdough with 42g of water 21g of bread flour and 21g of whole wheat flour (1:2:2). This will be enough for the recipe +20g.

Ingredients

234g warm milk (55%) (97˚F/36˚C)

13g salt (3%)

26g melted butter or ghee (6%) + more for coating

1 egg yolk (~17g / ~4%)

85g peaked sourdough starter (20%)

426g Maida flour (100%)

Optional: 1/2 tsp (~2g / 0.5%) nigella seeds

PREP

24 hours before BAKE, with 5 hours to make the dough, a 12-hour fridge rest and a 7-hour room-temp rest.

Target dough temperature is 80˚F (27˚C).

Mix: Combine milk, salt, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Add egg yolk and mix. Add starter and mix; it’s okay if the starter remains a bit clumpy.

Add flour. Mix just until combined, until you cannot see any dry flour. Turn out on a clean surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. You shouldn’t need more flour.

Let rest, covered with a damp towel or lid somewhere warm, 15 minutes.

[Feed the remaining starter for future use. You won’t need any more for this recipe.]

After 15 minutes, form a ball using a tuck & rotate technique, stopping when the dough is smooth. Ensure the seam side is down and smooth side is up.

Let rest, covered, somewhere warm, 4.5 hours.

If you have space in the fridge to cold proof in balls, divide now into eight equal pieces (~100g) and shape into dough balls. Cover and rest dough balls in the fridge for 12 hours. If you do not have space in the fridge to rest as individual dough balls, rest as one large dough ball and shape after the 12 hour fridge rest.

Remove dough from fridge, ball if needed, and allow to rest at room temp for 7 hours. 

BAKE

Preheat a dry cast iron or heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.

Wet a dough ball and pat with wet hands to about 4-5″ round, then stretch to 5”-8″ish oblong.

Cook in hot cast iron over medium to medium0high heat 45 seconds to a minute each side, starting with the smooth side up. The wet dough will stick to the pan a bit, but shouldn’t fuse.

After cooking, brush liberally with melted muter or ghee and put directly into a towel to cover and steam. This will give the naan the signature texture, and also keep it warm while you make the rest of the naan. Serve warm!

Mod: If you only have US All-Purpose flour, up the milk to 58%. Also, you can cold proof these in the fridge for up to 3 days! Huge thanks to @giaculpa for the help on peer reviewing this recipe!

Alternative Yields6101224%
Warm Milk (g)17629335170255%
Salt (g)101619383%
Melted Butter (g)193238776%
Sourdough (g)6410612825520%
Egg Yolk (g)132126514%
Maida Flour (g)3195326381277100%