3.11.2004

Naan?

I tried Alberto's recipe for Naan the other day. I measured stuff a bit more specifically (so I'd be in a better position to make changes if need be, no offense Alberto). The specifics:

Ingredients
water, 100 g
plain (lowfat) yogurt, 100 g
active dry yeast, 1 t
butter, 1 T (didn't have ghee)
unbleached white flour, 300 g
salt, 5 g

Prep
-preheated oven to 500F with clay tiles in lower third of oven.
-straight dough method, 30 minute knead
-1st rise, 60 minutes
-2nd rise, 60 minutes
-divided into 4 portions and pressed out into ca. 8" disc
-covered the dough discs with a moist muslin towel and let rest 20 minutes
-docked each piece (poked it with my fingers) and put sesame seeds on 2 of 4 them
-baked about 5 minutes each.

Results
They came out pretty rigid, not like floppy Naan should be. I don't blame anything in Alberto's recipe for this. I suspect it could be one of two things. The flour I used may have been too strong (high in protein) OR the dough may have been not "slack" (wet) enough resulting in a pizza shell-like result. They tasted awesome though, just not like Naan. It was a tasty accompaniment (sp?) to an Indian dish of seasoned chickpeas/tomatoes and chicken. Yum.