Explore the world · Recipe · India · Reference page

Naan

Name: Naan
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 32 min
Total time: 152 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 600 g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting; 0.5 tsp salt; 1 tsp caster sugar; 1 tsp baking powder; 300 g Greek-style yoghurt; 175 ml lukewarm milk; 2 tsp sunflower oil; 4 tsp melted ghee or butter (or oil), for brushing

Soft, puffy flatbread enriched with yoghurt and milk, brushed with ghee as it comes out of the heat. Romy Gill's home version needs no yeast: self-raising flour, yoghurt and a very hot upturned baking tray.

Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.

Servings: 8
Preparation: 30 min
Cooking: 32 min
Resting: 1 h 30
Total: 2 h 32
Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Large bowl
Rolling pin
Baking tray turned upside down and heated in the oven
Clean tea towel

Servings8

Ingredients

Shopping list

Method

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Mix in the salt, sugar and baking powder, then the yoghurt.
Add the milk gradually and knead to a dough. Add the oil and knead in the bowl for 6–7 minutes.
Timer · 7 min7:00
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1–2 hours. It will rise and soften but not double like a yeast dough.
Why Self-raising flour, baking powder and the acid of the yoghurt do the raising; the rest makes the dough easy to roll.
Timer · 1 h 3090:00
Heat the oven to 240 °C (220 °C fan) with a baking tray upside down inside.
Divide into 8 balls. Roll one into a disc about 20 cm across on a lightly floured surface.
Lay it on the hot tray and bake about 4 minutes, until cooked through on both sides.
Why The preheated metal stands in for the tandoor wall: the base sets at once and the bread puffs.
Timer · 4 min4:00
Brush with ghee and wrap in a clean tea towel to keep soft and warm while you bake the rest. Serve warm.

Substitutions

Oven baking → Anjum Anand's grill method: roll thin into a teardrop shape and cook under the grill on a preheated heavy sheet for 1–2 minutes.
Ghee → Melted butter or oil (Gill's own alternatives).

Common mistakes

A cold tray: the naan dries out before it puffs.
Rolling too thick: 20 cm across from one-eighth of the dough is about right.

Storage & reheating

Best warm. Wrapped, they keep a day; reheat briefly in a hot pan or oven.

Allergens

Gluten · Milk

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

Dietary

vegetarian

Tandoor bread at home

Both recipes here adapt naan to a home kitchen by using the fiercest, driest heat available. Romy Gill bakes hers on a baking tray turned upside down and heated in the hottest oven, 4 minutes a bread; Anjum Anand slips hers under a grill on a hot, heavy baking sheet for 1–2 minutes. Both brush the bread with melted butter or ghee as it comes off the heat.

[1][2]

Yoghurt instead of yeast

Gill's dough uses no yeast. Self-raising flour and baking powder react with the lactic acid of the yoghurt, and the 1–2 hour rest lets the dough relax so it rolls out thin and puffs in the heat. The milk and yoghurt keep the crumb soft; the ghee on top keeps it supple as it cools.

[1]