Simple Naan Recipe

If you want to test the full extent of your willpower, cook yourself up this naan recipe and then make yourself wait more than two minutes before you eat a piece. Or eat the entire stack. Naan might just be the most delicious thing you can make with a couple of cups of flour and a frying pan. This "homemade naan is a favorite in our house." says Susan Olayinka, chef and writer behind The Flexible Fridge. And the best part? It's surprisingly easy to make at home.

It's also a rather flexible recipe. Want to make it vegan-friendly? No problem: "Any yogurt with live cultures will work great," says Olayinka. "I have tried it with coconut yogurt and soya yogurt, and it turned out great. The only thing is to remember to get the yogurt all unflavored with no added sugar." And once you're comfortable with the base recipe, you can add in your own herbs and spices.

For this naan recipe, you'll need bread flour (or all-purpose flour if need be), warm water, yeast, sugar, baking powder, salt, nigella seeds, and some Greek yogurt. Let's get cooking.

If you mess up the yeast, you mess up this naan recipe, so be careful here: Make sure the water is warm but not hot and not cold. When in doubt, use a thermometer and go for 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together that perfectly warm water, yeast, and sugar in a cup. (And be sure to mix it in a cup, not a bowl, as a bowl has a larger surface area, causing the water to get cold quickly, and yeast needs warm water for it to activate).

Leave this mixture alone for ten minutes, and once it gets nice and frothy, you're all set.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, and nigella seeds for this naan recipe. Once ten minutes have passed and the yeast blend has frothed up, pour the yeast liquid mix into the flour mix and stir them together.

Now, pour the yogurt into the bowl and stir everything together, making sure it all mixes well. Blending everything well is critical because you'll soon be hands-off for a good two hours as the dough rises.

With some baked goods, you want to work the dough as little as possible, as the more you knead and fold and squeeze, the more chewy and glutenous the final product becomes. With this naan recipe, that chewiness is exactly what you want. Knead the dough for a solid five minutes, working it over on a flat, floured surface.

Now, coat the sides of a bowl in oil (olive, ideally), and place the ball of dough in it. Cover the bowl with a damp towel (to keep the dough moist) and set the bowl in a warm place for about two hours, waiting until the dough has gotten slightly bigger.

Once the naan recipe dough has grown in size (it won't double or anything, but should be appreciably larger), get a chopping board or clear counter space, flour the surface and flour the rolling pin, and roll fist-sized balls of the dough out into ovals around a quarter-inch in thickness.

Meanwhile, start heating a pan on medium-high heat. (You can also use an electric griddle.) Dry fry the naan bread until you see the dough bubbling, then turn the heat down to medium. Flip the dough over and cook on the other side for about 20 seconds.

Now, brush the naan bread with melted butter and top it with fresh herbs and spices of your choosing, with cilantro and scallions both working great. Enjoy this naan with a hearty stew or curry or as the ultimate comfort food snack.