Garlic Naan

I was perusing the 5 Minutes a Day blog, probably in search of good rye bread, when I came across a mention of naan as being one of readers' favorites from the original book. “There’s naan in there?” I asked myself, and when I looked there was, indeed, naan in there. I googled for more naan ingredients and decided to go with garlic, plus some other things I didn’t measure very well.

Note you need a cast iron frying pan (or other durable pan) with a lid for this recipe.

Ingredients (1 naan)

• 1 peach-sized chunk of an allowed dough (see the Artisan Bread Index) or olive oil dough
• about 3 cloves garlic, diced
• chopped garlic scapes, ground cumin, or ground coriander (optional)
• canola oil (for the pan)

Directions

1. Roll out each naan to about 1/8" thickness. I used generous amounts of flour and a piece of parchment paper.
2. Sprinkle naan with the remaining ingredients (except oil). If they’re wet and/or sticky, you can add some flour to make them more spreadable.
3. Roll over the garlic again to make it stick to the dough better.
4. Heat a 10" or larger cast iron pan on the stovetop until water dances on it.
5. Add canola oil to the pan.
6. Put the naan in garlic-side down, optionally with the help of the parchment paper. Smooth out any wrinkles.
7. Cover and cook 3 minutes. (This is your steam step.)
8. Uncover, flip naan, and cook uncovered for up to 3 more minutes.
9. Check the heat of the pan and re-oil before starting the next naan.

The goal is to get burnt spots on the naan without burning it more thoroughly.

Variants

You can mix fresh chopped spices in oil and brush them on late in the process: Herbed Naan – From 5 Minute Dough.

You can “stuff” the naan with onions and/or spices before rolling it out: Stuffed Naan.