Food52
Naan, which means "bread" in old Persian, is a delicious fermented flatbread that is traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven. It is said to originate in Mesopotamia, was brought to India by the Persians and was considered a delicacy in the Imperial courts of the Mughal dynasty around 2500 years ago. It is now ubiquitous to North Indian food and one can find it everywhere from fancy restaurants to streetside dhabas (shacks). Sourdough also has its origins in Egypt and traditionally naan was made with wild yeast as there was no commercial yeast available. Sadly, most restaurants in the South Asian subcontinent and in the US make naan with commercial yeast or baking powder. Making naan with sourdough starter is not only the real deal but also results in a greater depth of flavor and a better tasting naan. Of course, combine that with a tandoor or wood burning pizza oven and you are in heaven; but to my great joy it is pretty good when made at home too! I developed this recipe for a pop-up restaurant that I was running in Gowanus, Brooklyn. They had a pizza oven, though sadly not a wood burning one. I developed the dough recipe and my cook, who is a tandoor chef, showed me how they make the dough balls in restaurants with a hollow inside. If we had any dough balls left over, we would cover them with plastic wrap and leave them in the refrigerator to use the next day. But you must bring them back to room temperature before rolling out. You can add a tablespoon of yogurt to the dough for a little extra tang, but it’s not imperative as you do get some tang from the sourdough starter. What I love about this naan is how it is slightly crisp yet pillowy and chewy and with amazing depth of flavor. It’s actually pretty simple to make. The only tricky part I found was sliding it into the oven. You can make it on a hot cast iron skillet on the stove and char the top on a naked flame, but my preference is to cook it in the oven.
