Proper naan at home is far easier than people think, and you don't need a tandoor. A soft, yeasted dough enriched with real yoghurt and a little butter, cooked in a screaming-hot pan, gives you the same pillowy, blistered flatbread you'd get from a good curry house.
The trick to that puff is a hot, dry pan and a quick brush of water on top of each naan before it goes in, which traps steam and makes it balloon. Brush them with garlic butter the moment they come off the heat.
Naan Bread Recipe (No Tandoor Needed)
Makes 6 naans
Prep
30 min
Cook
15 min
Total
45 min
Makes
6 naans
Ingredients
Dough
To finish
Method
- 1
Warm the milk until it's just lukewarm and stir in the honey. In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, bicarbonate of soda (if using) and salt.
- 2
Add the yoghurt, honey-milk, melted butter and the egg if you're using it. Mix to a rough, shaggy dough.
- 3
Knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand, or about 5 in a mixer, until smooth and soft. It should stay slightly tacky rather than stiff, so add a little flour or milk to get there.
- 4
Cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 to 1½ hours, until roughly doubled in size.
- 5
Knock the dough back gently and divide into 6. Shape into balls, cover, and rest for 15 minutes so they roll out easily.
- 6
Put a heavy cast-iron pan or tawa over medium-high heat and let it get properly hot, about 5 minutes. Don't add any oil.
- 7
Roll each ball into a teardrop or oval about 3 to 4mm thick. Scatter over a few nigella seeds and press them in.
- 8
Brush the top of the naan lightly with water, then lay it wet-side down in the dry pan and cover with a lid. Cook for 1 to 1½ minutes, until big bubbles rise and the underside is golden and spotted.
- 9
Flip and cook for about another minute. For a charred, tandoor look, hold the bubbled side over a gas flame or under a hot grill for a few seconds.
- 10
Brush straight away with the garlic butter, scatter with coriander, and keep the naans stacked under a tea towel while you cook the rest.
Cook’s notes
- Timings: about 30 minutes hands-on, plus 1 to 1½ hours for the dough to prove.
- Garlic butter: warm the finishing butter or ghee with the crushed garlic for a minute before brushing, and stir the coriander in at the end.
- Wholemeal option: for a nuttier naan, swap half the white flour for wholemeal and add a splash more milk, as wholemeal drinks up more liquid. All-white gives the softest, puffiest result, so it's down to taste, not health.
- Dairy-free: use a thick coconut or soy yoghurt, plant milk, and a vegan block or ghee alternative; leave out the egg and add a little extra plant milk.
- Freezing: cool completely, stack with baking paper between each, and freeze in a bag. Reheat from frozen in a hot dry pan or a 200°C oven, then brush with fresh butter.
- Make ahead: the dough is happy to slow-prove in the fridge overnight; bring it back to room temperature before shaping for a deeper flavour.
What you’ll need
- Heavy cast-iron pan or tawa
- Rolling pin
- A lid to fit the pan, traps steam so the naan puffs
Troubleshooting
The naans won't puff up.
Usually the pan isn't hot enough, the yeast is sluggish, or the dough was rolled too thin or too dry. Get the pan properly hot, keep the dough soft, and use the water-side-down-and-lid trick to trap steam.
They came out tough and dense.
Too much flour, not proved for long enough, or over-handled after proving. Keep the dough tacky, let it fully double, and shape gently.
They're dry and crisp rather than soft.
Overcooked, or the dough was too lean. Cook hot and fast, ease off the second side, and brush with butter the moment they come off the heat, then wrap in a tea towel.
The naan sticks or scorches before it puffs.
The pan is too cool, so the dough grips as it slowly dries out. Get it hotter, cook dry with no oil, and keep the contact time short.
The wholemeal version came out heavy.
Wholemeal drinks more liquid and rises more slowly. Add extra milk to keep it soft, give it a longer prove, and stick to half-and-half rather than all wholemeal.
Frequently asked questions
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Written by
UK Homesteading Team
Editorial team
The UK Homesteading editorial team, offering UK-specific, evidence-led guidance on growing, keeping, preserving and the law.
