Easy No Yeast Garlic Naan Bread Recipe - Sandhya's Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Do Indian restaurants use yeast in naan? ›

About Naan

In the modern days, yeast & other leavening agents have replaced the bread starter. So most restaurants either use yeast or another leavening agent like baking powder & baking soda. If you order naan in Indian restaurants you may not find the texture & flavor to be the same in every place.

Naan has a thicker, fluffier texture because it is made with yogurt. Pita is thinner bread made with less ingredients (flour, water, salt, etc) and no yogurt. Naan is cooked in a skillet while Pita is usually baked at very high temperatures in the oven.

Naan is essentially a leavened flatbread, which means it contains some form of raising agent to provide its airy texture. Hence for this naan, the raising agent we will be using is yeast. Other variations do exist which may utilise self raising flour or baking powder/baking soda.

If you roll out your naan too thinly, it can fully cook through or dry out before bubbles start appearing. Make sure that you don't roll it any thinner than about ⅛ inch (4mm). It's too thick. If your naan is too thick, it won't puff up and it can also end up undercooked in the centre.

Naan is a leavened bread (meaning it uses yeast), while roti is an unleavened bread (meaning it doesn't). The different ingredients give a far different texture: naan is soft and chewy, while roti is dense and thin.

Classic curries and soups

One of the most popular Indian delicacies that we know of; curries are creamy with the right amount of spicy, curries pair perfectly with warm, fluffy naan.

While it may contain more carbs and sugars, it earns its reputation as a healthy alternative with its relatively generous amounts of protein and fiber. Despite its high carb content, naan can be considered a more nutrient-dense alternative to white bread and pita.

Naan bread is soft, fluffy, and chewy, whereas pita bread is denser with a slightly crispy texture on the outside. Naan bread also has a buttery flavor due to the ghee and buttermilk in the dough, which adds an extra dimension of flavor compared to pita bread's more neutral taste.

Though they're flatbreads, naans traditionally get their bubbly texture from yeast (and, very traditionally, from wild yeasts). Some more modern variations, such as that in Vivek Singh's Curry, use baking powder instead, with Jaffrey also adding extra bicarbonate of soda.

Can I let my naan dough rise overnight? ›

Make the dough up to the end of Step 5 – Proof 1. Then after the dough has doubled in size, put the bowl with the dough it in the fridge overnight (I've done 24 hours). Do not punch dough down or touch it – just put it in as is. The fridge stops the dough from rising any further.

Instant yeast may also be marketed and sold as rapid- or quick-rise yeast. This yeast has also been milled into smaller particles so it doesn't need to be dissolved into water. In addition, enzymes and other additives are included to make the dough rise faster.

Set the bowl of dough in the microwave and shut the door.

Leave the glass of water in the microwave with the dough. The glass of water and the heat from the microwave will create a warm, moist environment that will help the dough rise faster.

6) The longer the naan dough rises (up to 4 hours), the better the flavor. But honestly I think that the best result was to let the dough rise for 2 hours, then knead and make the dough balls, and let them rise 30 minutes. Then roll and cook.

Use Preheated oven at 425°F (220°C) or set your grill to medium heat. Remove one naan bread from its packaging and place the naan bread directly on the oven rack, a baking sheet, or the grill. Heat the naan for 2-3 minutes, or until it's soft and heated through. Keep a close watch to prevent overcooking.

The recipe also works with standard active / dry yeast, but we've found the naan is slightly fluffier and softer using instant yeast. Unusually, we dissolve the instant yeast in warm water then leave it to become foamy – a step usually bypassed with instant yeast, which is typically mixed straight into dough.

The distributions of yeast species show 13.5% of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 86.5% of some non-Saccharomyces spp. in Indian fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, based on the reported literatures available till date.

My favorite homemade naan recipe is made with basic bread ingredients (flour, water and yeast) plus a generous dollop of yogurt, egg and baking powder to make the bread extra soft and chewy.