Incredible Easy Vegan Naan
Equipment
- 1 Large cast iron skillet or non stick pan
- 1 Large Bowl For the dough
- 1 Small Bowl For activating your yeast
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Dough Cutter (or very large knife may suffice)
Ingredients
- 2/3 Cup Luke Warm Water Helps the yeast to multiply
- 2 Teaspoons Organic Cane Sugar To feed your yeast
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder To help give the yeast a boost in rising the dough
- Fresh Herbs (Cilantro or Parsley) for topping optional
Instructions
- Heat up 2/3 cup of water until it’s luke warm, then pour into a bowl.
- In your bowl of water, whisk in organic cane sugar until completely dissolved.
- Once dissolved, stir in your active dry yeast.
- Let it rest for 15 mins to allow the yeast to activate.
- While waiting, you can mix your remaining dry ingredients together. (All purpose flour, salt, baking powder)
- After 15mins, your yeast mixture should be foamy/frothy/bubbly. If it is not, your yeast is sadly expired and the recipe will not work properly.
- Add the yeast to your dry flour mixture and mix with a fork until you’re unable to mix any more. Once it’s shaggy and basically in one piece, take the dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean counter.
- Knead the dough for about 5 or 6 minutes until you form one dough ball.
- In a large bowl, dust in just a sprinkle of flour to keep the dough from sticking, and set your dough ball in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and set somewhere warm (not hot!) for 1 hour and 30 minutes to let your dough rest and allow the yeast to grow and rise.
- Your dough should look about doubled in size. Lightly punch your dough to release the air. Use your hands to briefly knead the dough back to a ball. The dough should be smooth and tacky but not stick to your hands.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Use a pastry cutter, do not rip apart the dough with your hands, you want to avoid breaking up the gluten too much. Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Let your dough balls rest for another 10-15mins. This is the second rest, also known as the proofing of the dough.
- Grab a dough ball and put it on your work surface. Roll it out as thinly as you can rolling it from top to bottom and side to side each a couple of times. It should only take about 10 seconds, no need to go crazy with this. (See note #2) You should get an oval-ish shape naturally.
- Take a small bowl of water, and lightly brush it across the whole naan getting one side wet. (The wet side will go face down in your pan)
- Preheat a non stick pan or cast iron skillet on a high flame. Flick a drop of water on it to test if it’s hot enough, the water should sizzle.
- Dip your hands into the water to pick up the naan, and place it with the wet side face down in the pan.
- In about 45-60 seconds, you should see the naan begin to get nice and bubbly. Once you see this and the bottom side looks nice and golden, flip your naan and cover your pan with a lid and cook for 30-40 seconds. Trapping the steam inside gives the naan more flaky layers.
- When your naan is done, part of the dough should look a little doughy and others slightly charred or golden.
- This naan is best served warm. You can serve with melted vegan butter, fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro, a little sea salt, minced garlic, or even just served as is. This naan is wonderful for just dipping in some hummus or other dips.
Notes
1.) If the dough feels dry, add just a few drops of luke warm water. Only add a few drops otherwise the dough will get too wet and adding more flour will make the dough tough.
2.) When rolling your dough, make sure you roll outward and off instead of back and forth over and over so your dough doesn’t stick around the rolling pin. This will help you get a better shape.
3.) If you choose to put melted vegan butter and garlic on your naan. You can grate or mince a couple of garlic cloves in a small dish with a little of the butter, then heat in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds, and brush on the naan.