Snowshoe Naan Recipes

Steps:

• Put the chapati flour into a large bowl and add the salt and the yeast. Use your fingers to mix and blend the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the melted butter, the yogurt and warm water. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment or, alternatively, with your hands, combine all of the ingredients. Knead the dough with the mixer on low speed until it becomes smooth, 8 to 10 minutes. Again, alternatively, knead the dough on a lightly floured flat surface.
• Pour the remaining 2 teaspoons of melted butter into a bowl large enough to hold the dough. Coat the sides and bottom of the bowl with the butter and put the dough in the center. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and keep it in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly grease 2 baking sheets with some canola oil. Slide the baking sheets into the center of the oven for a few minutes. (Chef's Note: Be careful to not leave the baking sheets in the oven for too long, otherwise you'll risk the oil getting too hot and smoky.)
• Gently roll the dough into a 9-inch circle on a lightly floured surface so it is about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Cut the disk into quarters. Roll each quarter to 1/8-inch in thickness and still be able to fit 2 on a baking sheet.
• When all the ovals are rolled, brush off any excess flour. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and arrange the naan in a single layer, 2 pieces per pan. Bake until they are light brown and puffy, about 5 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and transfer the naan to a serving platter lined with kitchen towels to keep them warm.

Steps:

• You will need a large bowl, and unglazed quarry tiles or a baking stone for the next-to-bottom rack of your oven.
• Place water in a large bread bowl, add yeast, and stir. Add whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour and stir well, then stir 100 times in the same direction to develop the gluten (one minute). Let this sponge stand for 1/2 hour to 3 hours, covered.
• Sprinkle salt over the sponge, then add another cup flour and stir. Continue adding flour and stirring until you can stir no longer. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly, about ten minutes, until dough is smooth and easy to handle.
• Clean out bowl, oil lightly, and return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a convenient place for 2 to 3 hours. When the dough has more than doubled in volume, push down gently and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and shape each into a flat oval shape, approximately 4 inches wide by 8 inches long. Leave these flat disks out on the work surface and cover with plastic wrap to let rise for approximately 20 minutes. Place quarry tiles or large baking stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven, leaving a 1 inch space between the tiles and the oven wall to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Five minutes after the oven has preheated, begin shaping the first bread. Place a small bowl full of cold water by the edge of your work surface. Using your fingertips, first dip them in the water and then, beginning at one end of the disk of dough, make tightly spaced indentations all over the surface of the dough, so that it looks pitted, though not pierced through. Now stretch the dough gently into a long oval strip by draping it over both hands and pulling them apart gently. The dough should stretch and give, and after several tries will extend to make a long oval about 12 inches long with attractive stretch marks along it from the stretched indentations (hence, the name "snowshoe bread").
• Place the bread back on the work surface, sprinkle with a pinch (less than 1/8 teaspoon) of black onion seeds, then using both hands, place the bread directly on heated quarry tiles or stone. While the bread bakes, begin to shape the next bread. Cooking time for each bread is approximately 4 minutes. You will soon develop a rhythm so that you can bake two breads side by side across your oven, one going in when the other is half done. When done, breads will have golden patches on top and a crusty browned bottom surface. To keep breads warm and soft, wrap them in a cotton cloth five minutes after they come out of the oven.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Whisk the egg and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the milk, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup water. Stir until smooth. Add 4 1/2 cups of flour and mix slowly. Add additional flour if necessary. Knead the dough until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Preheat a lightly oiled grill on high, about 500 degrees F.
• Divide the dough into 3 to 4 tennis-ball-sized pieces of dough. Roll the balls out into a thin circle and place on the preheated grill. Cook, turning once, until puffed and lightly browned, less than 1 minute. Continue the process until all of the naan is cooked, then brush with melted butter.

Steps:

• Combine the yeast and sugar with 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside until it begins to froth, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour with the salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the center and add the yeast-mixture, yogurt, ghee or butter, warm milk and lemon juice, if using. Mix well with your fingers until it forms a sticky or shaggy dough. Add more flour if too shaggy or a little water if too dry.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a larger lightly-oiled bowl, tightly cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place, such as an unlit oven, until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• If using a pizza stone/steel: An hour before baking, put a pizza stone or steel on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 500 to 550 degrees F. If using a cast-iron skillet/griddle, just before baking, heat the skillet or griddle on the stove over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Put some melted ghee or butter in a small bowl. Add the remaining flour to another bowl.
• Divide the dough into 8 balls. Dab each ball in flour, flatten on a lightly floured surface and stretch or roll into an oval shape, thinner in the center and slightly thicker on the sides. Don't worry too much about the shape; I love making various countries when I make my naan! Dust off any extra flour. Brush some ghee or butter on the top of each and sprinkle with nigella seeds if using (add a little more than you want as you will lose a bunch while charring).
• Transfer the stretched naan onto the hot stone or skillet. Cook until you see some bubbles on top, 2 to 3 minutes. Take it out with tongs and flash-cook over an open flame, turning it so that it gets a few brown charred spots on both sides. Spread with a generous pat of butter/ghee and serve hot. Repeat with the remaining naan.