Awesome Things to Know About Naan Bread & Recipes

I remember first seeing Indian food options when I moved to Woking, which is just outside of London. Before then I had never seen Indian food products offered in the grocery stores I went to in California and there certainly weren’t any Indian restaurants at that time in my neighborhood.

The grocery store I shopped at, Waitrose, presented so many wonderful, delicious looking options to this “foreign” food, I immediately bought several things from their prepared food offerings. Chicken Vindaloo, Butter Chicken, Naan, and Chutneys, oh my!

Check out the mouth-watering Indian Food offerings at Waitrose.

After just one meal I was hooked like a crack-addict. Capital H hooked. Capital O obsessed!

One of the great parts of a good Indian meal is the Naan bread they typically serve with it.

What is Naan Bread?

Naan bread is very similar to a leavened flatbread. It is soft and fluffy with a dense chewy texture, very similar to Focaccia bread. The char that develops during the cooking process adds an extra level of flavor. 

Where Did Naan Originate?

Naan is as rich in history as it is rich in taste. The bread originated in Northern India where they serve it with saucy curries and dals.

Naan is used to soak up the delicious sauce.

Southeast and Central Asia consider Naan a staple food and is especially common in India, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

This delicious bread has been around a very, very long time.

The first recording found of the existence of Naan was way back in 1300AD in the notes of Amie Kushrau, an Indo-Persian poet. The ancient recording states the bread was cooked and eaten at the Imperial Court in Delhi.

So, What Makes Naan So Yummy?

The ingredients to make Naan are very basic and you probably have the ingredients in your kitchen cabinets right now.

The ingredients are common pantry items you likely already have: flour, yeast, salt, butter, yogurt, and milk. It’s the yogurt that makes the Naan bread so fluffy and tasty, compared with other types of breads.

A Tandoor oven is the traditional way Naan has been cooked through the centuries, but a good ole cast iron skillet will work beautifully.

Once the dough has been made, it is slapped onto the sides of the hot clay Tandoor oven.

If you don’t own a Tandoor oven, which most of us don’t, a cast iron pan works perfectly.

Naan is one of the most popular of the bread varieties in India and Southeast Asia.

Varieties of Naan Bread

The options of Naan bread are as far as one’s imagination can go. Here are five of the more common variations.

Click on the links to view recipes for each variation.

Plain Naan – typically just brushed with ghee or butter.

Garlic Naan – brushed with ghee or butter that has been mixed with crushed fresh garlic.

Keema Naan – the dough is filled with minced lamb, goat, or mutton meat.

Kulcha Naan – filled with sauteed onions.

Roghani Naan – sprinkled with sesame seeds and is popular in Pakistan.

There are many other varieties that include ingredients such as herbs, meats, cheese, nuts, raisins, and even filled with mashed potatoes.

Check out this self-professed Best Naan Maker in the World!

Naan is a versatile bread that you can simply brush the flavorings on, fold the flavors into the dough, fill the dough, and even use like a sandwich and fold the Naan over the meat & cheese of your choice.

You can also cut the Naan into individual pieces to use for dips, oils, salsas, chutneys, hummus, and lentil dals.

Interested in investing in an authentic tandoor oven? Check out the options at Luxury Tandoors.

What’s your favorite Indian dish? Comment below.

Now, it’s time for dessert. How about Chocolate Covered Strawberries?

Photos: The talent at Unsplash.