November 18, 2008

Garlic and Red chilly Naan/Flatbread - Oven method

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Among all the breads I have posted here, not one is an Indian flatbread (excluding the "chapathis" of course!)
This is where that leaves me... this time staying close to my natural abilities, and came up with my own version of "Naan" which is fondly referred to as the Indian flatbread.
The flour used in this recipe is "Atta", a whole wheat stone-ground flour (Or you may just use the regular whole wheat flour.)
If you are close to an Indian store, try to grab a small bag of this (Atta). They do have heavyweights like the 20lbs. bags! But if you are new to these kinds of breads you may not end up using all of it, so in this case smaller is in fact better! :)

Dried red chillies add a hot zing with the garlicky flavor complementing it perfectly. Being my own creation, I did go a little high on the heat levels, but the recipe listed below uses a saner amount of chillies.

A small tip about removing garlic smell from your hands after peeling them... rub your fingers over a stainless steel spoon keeping both spoon and hands under flowing water. This will remove the stubborn smell from your fingers and prevent it from getting onto other food that you maybe multi-tasking with. Works for me!

And again, this is an oven version of the flatbread, I will be posting other methods of making them sooner or later. This is my first attempt at Naan and I just hope it will get better from now on. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Garlic and Red chilly Naan/Flatbread

Ingredients:

Atta/Whole wheat flour - 3 1/2 cups
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Crushed dried red chillies - 4-5 (Depending on how much heat you can take)
Salt - To Taste
Olive oil - 3 tbsp + a little for brushing on top of the bread.
Water - To knead bread

Method:

Chop and roast the garlic along with dried red chillies in a small pan with olive oil. Set aside.

Add the warm water to the yeast, add sugar, mix well, and let it sit till frothy (about 10 min)

Mix flour and salt, add the yeast mixture, garlic and red chilly flakes and add water enough to form into a not-so-tight ball.

Knead this dough ball for about 15 min to develop the gluten and it should be smooth when you are done.

before rise

Coat with a tad bit of oil, cover and let it rest in a large bowl for about 2 hours. The dough will expand.

After a couple of hours, the dough will look like this.

after rise

Preheat oven to 425F.

Take it out on a floured board and fold over for about 4 to 5 times and pinch out large lemon-sized balls and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin or just use your hands to spread it out like a pizza dough.

Place on a baking stone or sheet, and bake for about 10-15 min or till it is brown on top.
Brush with olive oil/butter as it comes out of the oven.

Enjoy warm with your choice of vegetables and yogurt to make a nice balanced meal. Or make it extra special with rich gravies.

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Sending it off to Susan's Wild Yeast Spotting event

66 comments:

  1. looks delicious..using whole wheat flour is a healthy idea..I have seen recipes only with maida/plain flour..this one sounds good..

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  2. We are thinking alike today! I made flatbread too :) Chilli+garlic is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I love how your naan looks buttery and glistening! Very yum..

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  3. Woww wat an amazing work anu...i love naans..am drooling now here...hope u asked me whether am from pondicherry, yep am from pondicherry..born n brought up in pondicherry, rite now living in Paris...intha kelvi thana ketu irrunthinga'nu nenaikuren,sorry for replying u late,am kinda busy nowadays...good tips for removing garlic smell...

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  4. I wouldlove to try my hand on makingnaan, till now that is something i have not did after a disaster in making them.
    This looks yumm; loved the addition of chillie flakes

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  5. Wow this looks yummy. Nice, soft and spicy. Garlic might have bought extra flavour to the recipe. Perfectly rocking pics dear.

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  6. I make excellent Naans. But never tried with garlic & chilies. Shall give it a try next time let you know. I hope I can use your recipe. :)

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  7. wow!! what yummy pictures !! tempting me to make it now.
    I usually make this;not in the oven yet..
    will make this
    Thanks for sharing

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  8. wow.. really yummy & fantastic Divya,,,

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  9. Great presentation. Nice idea to add chilli flakes and garlic to the dough.

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  10. Looks so soft and nice,love naan but not garlicky ;D Looks good!:)

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  11. That looks lovely! Nice recipe!

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  12. Looks perfect, loved the one with butter glistening on top...mmm yum..good tip about removing the smell of garlic...will keep it in mind...

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  13. I've just found your blog & think it's great - I adore healthy food myself & am always trying to adapt recipes to make them healthier so will have great fun trying a few of yours :) Thanks for your visit to my blog today, too ...
    Lynda, Kilimanjaro, East Africa

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  14. Oh how I love this stuff! I have never made it though. Thanks for the recipe!
    About the butter in the graham crackers-I know a stick seems like a lot. It did make a ton of crackers though...maybe next time we will try to add less...or maybe some canola oil would do the trick? I am all about trying to keep things healthy!!

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  15. Nice tip and Naan smells delicious. Pls visit YAAT post at my blog. I have something for you...

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  16. yum! looks very tempting...garlic naan is my fav and nothing can stop me from eating them....:)

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  17. looks delicous and mouthwatering...i will try this one for this weekend

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  18. looks very temppting Anu. good one.

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  19. Naan looks perfect soft and fluffy and nice tip for removing garlic smell...

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  20. Anu can u believe it I made this exact same thing Sunday?!! my first Naan was a disaster, becoz of the non cooperating yeast. & this time i thought i will make it spicy if I am making it... so i added garlic, red chilly flakes (Lots of them & cilantro chopped).

    :-)) Still have one more left.

    I like oval shape. looks more professional.

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  21. I've never had this before but I must try it...what a fantastic looking flatbread.

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  22. I have made garlic nan with green chillies. Would love to try them with red chilli flakes.

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  23. Naan looks super delicious and I love garlic naan.. Good recipe Anu! I couldn't take off my eyes from your banana brownie/pizza too :) Great work.. :)

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  24. Hi Anu thank u so much for ur comment....Naan looks so yummy. Photos r very nice nd gud.Presentation is also clean and perfect.So happy to c a new friend....

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  25. looks lovely divya .. I have never made naan at home .. you have some lovely flovours there

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  26. Garlic and chillies makes it so much better..great looking naan.

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  27. Oh my God, this one came out perfect. I am drooling gal!

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  28. Wow.They ae beautifully shaped.I too make whole wheat naans. I dont get this shpe at all..Any tips? Love to have with some paneer curry.

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  29. I was just discussing it recently with my girlfriend: I don't think there is any better bread than hot, fresh naan. I've heard that traditional tandoori ovens are at about 800 degrees, what do you think about cooking this naan at an even higher temperature, maybe even a high broil with a midway flip? Thanks for a great healthy recipe for it!

    Glad to see you rediscovered my blog! I recently switched blogging platforms and hosting so my feed changed, welcome back! =)

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  30. Sounds good..nice combo..nice pics

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  31. your naan looks gorgeous!! i've seen packaged naan showing up at our grocery store lately. i guess it's getting pretty popular.

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  32. kalaku po.. loooks tooooo goooooood!

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  33. Excellent!I can't believe that's the first time you made Naan,it looks so perfect. Hot chillies! I don't mind adding couple more in this chilly weather .Garlic is best complement with the hot chillies.

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  34. Hello my friend. Thank you for stopping by. I like this flatbread. You said Mexican cooking and Indian cooking share the same love for cumin in our cooking. This is true. I also think we both like the chilis as well. Hot, smoky and spicy, that's us! :)

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  35. This looks really yummy. Thanks for sharing.

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  36. wowwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait to try it:)
    Keep Cooking & Blogging:)

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  37. this is sth i really thought of trying since a longtime....this reminded me.......

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  38. Looks Good.Your previous posting is outstanding.
    Ramkumar

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  39. Hey Divya,
    This looks so amazing. Love the whole concept of making healthy naans :-). The texture looks soft & spongy. Hmm...garlic & chilli...nice combination..

    Anitha

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  40. I dunno whr I go wrong...i also follow the very same method :(...
    SF(stomach fire...hehhee)urs looks yummy

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  41. Wow looks delicious Anu ..

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  42. Using wheat flour is better than using all purpose flour. Healthy and nutritious and tasty thanks to the spices added in the dough.

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  43. so soft and fluffy naans. gorgeous dear...

    come and pick up the gift from my -ITS A REFRESHING TIME post dear.

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  44. I'm happy that bread like naan is becoming more widespread and even in the supermarket shelves. It's a really good bread. Of course homemade is better though, yours looks awesome.

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  45. That looks great Anu.. I've been meaning to try an ovenbaked version of Naan too. Lovely idea to incorportate chilli & garlic.

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  46. mmm. looks so delicious and mouth-watering Divya!

    BTW, I have tagged you to bake a bread for a worthy cause. Please check it out here for details:

    Eggless Banana Cake with Chocolate Chips

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  47. I like that you have used whole wheat flour. It looks good too.

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  48. I don't think there is a time limit for this tag Divya! Do it at your own pace. No hurry! Thanks for accepting the tag!

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  49. Naan looks great I just love garlics I wish I was there for dinner...

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  50. With regards to ur query, its a phyllo pastry sheets, thanks for probing it reminds me i should have mentioned the same :) thanks dear

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  51. Uma - Thanks, will bake the bread as soon as I can. Thanks for tagging me for a worthwhile cause.

    Ramya Bala - I will post another version soon, it is easier and fool-proof.

    Prasanthi - If it is your first time making naan (like me), this might be a little challenging with the oven. Will post another method soon.

    Mr. Ramkumar - Thanks so much! :)

    Joanna - Yes, it is turning out to be pretty popular these days. You can even use Indian naan as a pizza base. Tastes great.

    Nick - I have updated my feed. Hopefully I can get your updates now.
    Yes broiling the naan would be a perfect idea, being my first time, I did not want to take any risks with high temperatures/burning them. Next time that will be my experiment.
    If you broil it, I don't think we need to flip them though.

    Divya Vikram - Girl, I am the wrong person to ask about naan shapes. I was acutally trying to make them round! He he he. Shhhhh!

    Soma - Refrigerate your yeast.

    Maria - Will look forward to the low fat variation. Can't wait!!!

    Priya - Yes, that is what I asked :) Merci beaucoup!

    Thanks for all the awards yet again!

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  52. Perfect and yummy.Correctly baked.I tried once,but they came out burned :(,so I gave up.Shaping is also a problem .Will try this one.

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  53. Nice recipe. Looks very tempting.

    Have something for you here : http://vibaas-world.blogspot.com/2008/11/wow-is-all-i-can-say.html

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  54. Lovely! Book marked for this weekend.

    I have awards for you. Do pick them up :-)

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  55. so lovly garlicky naan..exact shape u have got it..great divya..

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  56. fantastic! look lovely!

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  57. I actually really enjoy the scent of garlic on my hands :D! Your bread sounds delicious, I like that you made up your own recipe! I'd love to feature it on our blog, please let me know if you're interested.

    Sophie, Key Ingredient Chief Blogger
    sophie@keyingredient.com

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  58. I love naan! I've never had it with the garlic in the dough, only on top -- I'll definitely try it.

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  59. Super-delicious naan, Divya. I could eat one- or all- right now!

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  60. Oven method sounds nice...red chilies in Naan...something I never heard off....sounds interesting. Nice one dude.

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  61. That looks delicious, thanks for yet another amazing recipe :)

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  62. Hello Divya,

    Wanted to try this since I saw the recipe, but couldn't find the right opportunity. Yesterday, we had some guests come over without prior planning and I had no time to roll rotis, so thought of trying this out (thats what I love about baking, all gets done in batches)

    The naan came out so well. Everybody LOVED it and also loved the fact that they are whole wheat (atta). My naan was aerated like a bread though when I cut it in 2 pieces. I haven't seen Naan in restuarant being like that. My guesses were it could be becuase I rolled it a little thick or because of whole wheat? However, that is just a tid-bit. It was a great hit and in my husband's words "repeatable experiment" for me :-)

    Thanks a ton for posting it!!

    -Purvi

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  63. Purvi - Thrilled that you all liked it.
    Ok, this was my first attempt at making naan, so it might have not been the perfect one yet. I am experimenting and I will take that responsibility from you ;)He he he.
    So look for more flatbread/naan recipes yet to come. I promise they will be better with time.
    I will post one later this week for you, deal?

    And regarding the thickness, yes they need to be rolled out pretty thin, it has yeast and they tend to grow when you let them sit, leading to a more thicker bread.
    Roll out very thin, dont let them rest, and immediately toss them into the pan. (Oh, and being whole wheat has nothing to do with it)

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  64. Once again a delicious recipe, thanks :)

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  65. i like plain naan with my korai but will definately try the garlic naan not the chillie

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Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. I will try to respond to queries as soon as I can. If I miss anything that needs to be addressed... please feel free to ping me again.
Happy cooking/baking or whatever it is you are doing in the kitchen! :)