Naan Recipe

Naan is the soft, chewy, blister-spotted flatbread of Indian and Central Asian cooking — pillowy and pliable, built to scoop up curry or wrap a kebab. It is leavened (unlike a roti or a tortilla), so it puffs and bubbles, and it is enriched with yogurt and a little fat, which is what keeps it tender and gives it that faint tang rather than the plain wheat flavor of a lean flatbread.

The defining ingredient is the yogurt. Between the yogurt and the water the total liquid lands around 75%, a high hydration that keeps the crumb soft and slightly stretchy. The acidity and fat in yogurt tenderize the dough and add flavor you cannot get from water alone; recipes vary the yogurt-to-water split widely, and the more you lean on yogurt the softer and tangier the naan. A little oil (8%) and a touch of sugar (1.5%) round it out, with 1.2% yeast for a moderate rise.

Technique is all about heat. Traditional naan is slapped onto the wall of a blazing tandoor; at home, the closest approximation is a cast-iron skillet or heavy pan preheated until it is genuinely screaming hot, dry, with the lid on to trap heat and steam. The dough hits the pan, bubbles within seconds, and chars in spots within a minute or two — that fast, fierce heat is what gives naan its leopard spots and keeps the inside soft instead of drying it into a cracker.

Brush with melted butter or ghee the moment it comes off the heat, and add garlic, cilantro, or nigella seeds before cooking if you want a flavored version. Best eaten hot, within minutes — like most flatbreads it stales fast.