Instant Gratification- the Indian flatbread Naan!

Naan Indian Flatbread Recipe | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Also, see a video of this method for naan. The video shows an outdoor camping stove, but it works the same way inside on your gas, electric, or induction range…

This is the fastest bread in the book and naan is absolutely delicious and it takes no forethought. The traditional Indian flatbread is made in a blazing hot tandoor oven and then brushed with melted ghee (clarified butter). We assumed that most of our readers would not have a tandoor oven so we decided to make this in a cast iron pan on the stove top. We cook the dough in ghee or butter so that it has the same flavor as the traditional bread, with so much less work. This bread can be made using just about every dough in the book; spinach feta, whole wheat, master, olive, and herb–even brioche dough, which can be fried in butter, drizzled with a little maple syrup and finished it with powdered sugar. It was just like the fried dough at the State Fair and only took a couple of minutes.

To make Naan:

1/2-pound (orange size) piece dough of your choice. Roll the dough to 1/16th-inch thick circle.

2 tablespoons Ghee, clarified butter or European style butter (You can use regular butter, but you have to be careful of the butter burning. The ghee and clarified butter have a higher burning point and allow you to cook without worry of it burning.) Vegan option: swap high-smoking-point oil instead of ghee or butter (canola, peanut, soybean, etc.)

Salt to taste

Melting butter in a cast iron pan on the stovetop | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Heat a heavy bottom Cast Iron Skillet to medium temperature. Add the butter and melt, swirl it to coat the bottom of the pan.

Cooking Naan in a Cast Iron Skillet on the Stovetop | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Lay the dough into the pan.

Cast Iron Pan Covered on Stovetop | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Cover the pan to trap the heat in order to “bake” the bread.

Flipping Naan in a Cast Iron Skillet | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

After about 2 1/2 minutes flip the dough with a pair of Tongs. Sprinkle with salt and cook, covered for another 2 1/2 minutes.

Naan Indian Flatbread Recipe | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Also, see a video of this method…

147 thoughts to “Instant Gratification- the Indian flatbread Naan!”

  1. could you please send me more of your naan recipes thank you so much I really appreciate it a whole lot

    1. Which of our books do you have? There is a little more in the books (though not a lot). Nothing else here on the website.

  2. Thank you so much for posting this simple recipe! I love naan, and this looks like a delicious easy recipe and much cheaper than the store bought varieties.
    However, I am new to baking, do you have a link for how to make the orange-sized ball of dough?
    Thanks for your help!

  3. I’ve leased your book from my local library and I had some issues rolling this dough out – either it was sticking to the counter, the rolling pin, or both! What did I do wrong?

    1. Just use more flour on your surfaces, this dough is wetter than you’re used to. Or maybe you measured with spoon-and-sweep rather than scoop-and-sweep? That measures in too little flour.

      Could just make it a little drier next time.

  4. I been looking at recipes and every time I see something about bread that I really can’t stop thinking about I go to your books and your sites. So now I want to make Naan though I’ve been wanting to make it for so long that it’s unreal. Kids are gone so I can go about in the kitchen freely 😛 So would making Naan with the basic recipe work with an italian 00 flour? I been making pasta with it and I do remember seeing about using it for pizza and wanted to be sure before I used it to make to make naan!

    1. Hi Heather,

      Yes, you can use the 00 flour, but you may need to adjust the water slightly. Depends on the protein content of the flour. Start by reducing the water slightly, but it may in fact take even more than the recipe calls for. You just won’t know until you’ve mixed it.

      Thanks, Zoë

  5. When making GF naan from the master recipe (GF Artisan Free Form Loaf), do you have to allow the dough to rise before cooking it in the cast iron skillet? I see the shortcut recipe on p. 68 of GF Artisan Bread in 5 book for no rest, no rise, just bake for an oven baked loaf, but wasn’t sure how this would apply for naan.

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