It’s time for Bread Baking Day #7, hosted by Petra of Chili und Ciabatta. This month’s theme is flatbreads! The only real rule was that pizza was not to be a contender. I was thinking about my favorite flatbreads, and the one that came to mind as a favorite was Naan bread. Naan is a flatbread traditionally found in the Middle East, India and Asia. Its typically baked in a tandoor (clay) oven, and is often baked whlie hanging, which creates its elongated oval shape.

I really enjoy baking with whole grains whenever possible and I took this as a good opportunity to do so. I went to my copy of Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads book to find the recipe that I wanted to use. What I love about this recipe is that its so simple, and takes relatively little time to make. Its a two-day bread, but the active time is quite minimal.

The recipe goes like this…

3 1/2 cups (454 gm) whole wheat flour
1 1/8 tsp (9 gm) salt
1 tsp (3 gm) instant yeast
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (369 gm) yogurt, buttermilk, soy milk, or rice milk
2 tbsp (28.5 gm) unsalted butter, melted

extra whole wheat flour for adjustments
olive oil or garlic or other flavored butter for topping

1. If mixing by hand, combine the 3 1/2 cups flour and the salt, yeast, yogurt, and butter in a bowl. Stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for about 2 minutes, until all of the ingredients are evenly integrated and distributed into the dough. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky; if not, add some of the extra flour or more milk as needed. If using a stand mixer, put the 3 1/2 cups flour and teh salt, yeast, yogurt, and butter into the bowl. Mix with the paddle attachment (preferable) or dough hook on slow speed for 1 minute to bring the ingredients together into a ball. Switch to the dough hook if need be and mix on medium-low speed, occasionally scraping down the bowl, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky.
2. Dust a work surface with flour, then roll the dough in the flour to coat. Knead the dough by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes while you prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
3. Resume kneading the dough for 2 minutes, adding flour if needed to make a smooth, soft, tacky dough. Place the dough in the prepared bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, divide it into 5 (or 6) pieces, and form each into a tight ball. Place the balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45-60 minutes, until the pieces have grown to 1 1/2 times their original size.
5. Preheat the oven to its highest setting and prepare it for hearth baking (with a baking stone if you have one). You will not need a steam pan. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece of dough into a flat disk 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Dust the disks with flour and return them to the sheet pan, stacking them if necessary. Cover with a cloth towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.
6. Return to the first disk and hand stretch the dough, as you would for pizza into a circle about 1/4 inch thick and 8 inches in diameter. Try to keep the dough as even in thickness as possible and do not stretch to thinner than 1/4 inch. Again, dust the disks with flour and either return them to the pan or move them to a flat surface where they can rest, covered and undisturbed, for 5 minutes.
7. Lightly flour a baking peel (or the underside of a sheet pan). Hand stretch the first piece of dough to 10 to 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to the peel and dock the entire surface with a fork or a roller docker. Slice the dough from the peel onto the baking stone, as if loading a pizza, and close the door. The naan should take about 3 minutes to bake, but check on it after 1 minute. When the dough begins to show signs of caramelization, with spots of rich brown, the naan is done.
8. Remove it from the oven, brush it with olive oil, garlic butter, or flavored butter of your choice, fold, and serve immediately.

For my topping, I sauteed about 10 minced garlic cloves in olive oil until lightly browned and fragrant. Then I poured it into a bowl, and combined it with about 3 more tablespoons of olive oil (extra virgin now), and about 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese, and about 1 tablespoon of dried Turkish oregano. When I ran out of that topping, I used olive oil, oregano, and parmesan cheese. Yum!

As soon as I pulled it out of the oven and topped it, I ate it with some roasted garlic hummus (garlic breath!) and it was *fantastic*. The taste was so rich and complex and garlicky. The perfect appetizer, or meal in itself. This bread, with just melted butter on top would be the perfect accompaniment to chicken tikka masala with some spiced basmati rice. ***dreaming…***

I was hoping to create the big bubbles that are typical to Naan, but I think my fork dockings were too close together and that prevented large bubbles from forming while baking. Next time I’ll put more space between the dock marks. Also, my oven only heats up to 550 degrees F. I let it preheat for a while, but I don’t think for long enough. I think the baking stone should’ve been even hotter, and next time I will try to preheat it for at least 45 minutes.

All in all this was a really tasty and successful bread that I will definitely make it again; The hummus was a perfect match!

Update - The Round-Up is posted here!  Click away to view all of the spectacular flat bread creations!