Homemade Restaurant-Style Indian Garlic Naan Recipe | ChefDeHome.com (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.

Afghan naan is different in shape, texture, and taste from Indian varieties. While the main ingredient – wheat flour – is the same, Afghan bakers hand-shape the dough, rather than rolling it out, and their use of a tandoor results in large, pillowy rounds.

— but I think these naan are as close to restaurant-quality as is possible in the home kitchen. The bread flour gives the naan “chew”; the yogurt imparts a slight tang; and the use of a cast iron pan gives the bread its distinctive char and smokiness.

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. I also prefer to use touch of honey as a natural sweetener for the bread.

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.

Yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt holds the naan dough together and ensures a tender texture. Make sure you get authentic Greek yogurt and not Greek-style yogurt.

Saturated fat constitutes about a quarter of the total amount of fat in naan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that saturated fat calories account for less than 10% of your total daily calorie intake ( 6 ). As such, you should avoid filling up on naan if you're watching your saturated fat intake.

Butter garlic naan is a traditional Indian flatbread and one of the most popular versions of naan. It's made with flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and yogurt. Once the dough has been baked in a hot tandoor oven, the golden naan is taken out and brushed with butter or ghee, then topped with minced garlic.

Roti is generally considered healthier than naan. Roti is lower in calories and contains zero saturated and trans fats and cholesterol. In contrast, naan tends to be higher in calories and may contain added fats. For a healthier choice, roti is often preferred, especially by those conscious of their dietary intake.

Naan is usually made from Maida ( whitest form of flour) which is not quite good for health. On the daily basis, if consumed, it can give rise to many stomach disorders like constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It can kill your appetite giving rise to many undesirable health issues.

Why do you sprinkle water on naan bread? ›

You sprinkle water to keep the naan bread soft. Naan bread will naturally stiffen when not eaten straight from the pan, so eat it as soon as you possibly can.

From health perspective, flat breads made of whole wheat flour (roti/paratha/chapati/phulka) are better than the ones made with all-purpose flour (naan & kulcha).

Most naan recipes start with all-purpose flour, salt, active dry yeast, and water. Yogurt or milk is often (though not always) added, and occasionally egg is added to the dough. The dough is kneaded by hand and then set aside to rise.

Traditionally with Indian food, naan (or other various Indian breads) is served as an accompaniment to curry, chutney, saag paneers, etc. to scoop the contents of your meal up.

Flour, yeast, milk, and butter make a tender dough that's simply seasoned with garlic and salt, but there is a wide array of naan bread flavors. You'll find everything from coconut and raisin-stuffed bread to saucy lamb-topped naan in restaurants and home kitchens around the world.

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.

A colossal diversity of enzyme- and alcohol-producing yeasts under the phylum Ascomycota has been reported from Indian fermented foods and alcoholic beverages. The distributions of yeast species show 13.5% of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 86.5% of some non-Saccharomyces spp.

The world's best No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread! Irish bread is unique because it's a 4 ingredient, 5 minute recipe made without yeast but still has a proper crumb just like “real” bread. You don't need to be Irish to make this.

These breads range from a simple Tandoori roti which is unleavened bread, to yeast-based khamiri roti, as well as richer and more complex (yeast, milk, egg, etc. -based) naans and kulcha breads.