LAMORINDA WEEKLY | This delicious delicacy helps folks dive into decadent sauces


Naan with Cilantro-Lime Butter Photo Susie Iventosch

We love a good naan and it's hard to beat when you go to a restaurant that has this delicious item on the menu. Hot out of the skillet, naan is the perfect implement for scooping up sauces - especially curry sauces, but really any good sauce that's worth savoring every, single drop! I've made naan many times in the past, but this is the best recipe I've found yet. It comes from Upbeet Anisha's food blog and it's super easy to make, too, which is always a plus. Her recipe calls for no yeast, and is made with simple ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, water, olive oil and yogurt. It's nice and soft and forms just the perfect air bubbles while cooking. She makes hers vegan style, using non-dairy yogurt, but I used regular nonfat plain Greek yogurt and it was superb. I have a new favorite Greek yogurt called Esti and I absolutely love their nonfat plain yogurt with fruit, or mixed with cottage cheese, or as a base for condiments for enchiladas, or even a spoonful straight out of the container. It's so good and it was perfect in this recipe, too.

Anisha makes her naan with fresh garlic, which is delicious, but we had it for lunch so decided to go the more subtle route and used lemon pepper and fresh lime juice instead of garlic. A sprinkling of parmesan cheese would also be delicious on this bread. I made a few minor changes from her recipe in terms of quantities and those are reflected here in this column.

The best way to cook the naan is straight on a cast iron skillet, so be sure to have one on hand before you dive into this recipe. It cooks the naan quickly and gives it the perfect air bubbles, so I highly recommend using one if you have one. I have yet to try baking this bread on any other type of pan or baking sheet, so if you try it, please let me know. Soon I am going to try making this with a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour, and will report back how that works out as soon as I have a chance to try it!

Original naan recipe from Upbeet Anisha: https://upbeetanisha.com/instant-garlic-naan-no-yeast/

Naan with Cilantro-Lime Butter

INGREDIENTS

Naan

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. Himalayan pink salt

1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1/3 cup lukewarm water (I found that 1/3 was a a little too much water the second time I made this, so add the water a little bit at a time.)

1 tsp. olive oil

Cilantro-Lime Butter

2 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

2 tablespoons freshly snipped cilantro

1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp. lemon or lime pepper

DIRECTIONS

Add flour, baking powder, and salt to a mixing bowl. Blend with a fork. Add yogurt, olive oil and all but 2 tablespoons of the water, and mix well. If you need more water, add the rest, but if not, just let it be. Mix until everything is well-incorporated and you can form the mixture into a ball.

Place dough on a floured board if it is still a bit sticky, just knead a few seconds with enough flour to make it smooth. Divide dough into six pieces and form each into a ball shape. Allow the dough balls to rest, covered, for at least 15 minutes. You can let it rest longer, too. When I've made this recipe, I've let the dough rest, covered, for up to an hour at room temperature before cooking it.

Before you cook the bread, mix the butter, lime juice and lemon or lime pepper. Snip the fresh cilantro leaves right into the butter and mix well. (If you want to use garlic, add a couple cloves of either saut ed or fresh menced garlic to the butter.)

When you're ready to cook the bread, preheat the cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the whole surface of the skillet is hot, roll out the dough balls into circles about 6-inches in diameter and about -inch thick. (I roll the next one out while the current one is cooking, but you can roll all of them out at once if you have a large enough board.)

Place the dough round in the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes, or until you see the bottom beginning to turn golden brown and small air bubbles form. Flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time, or until it looks perfect!

Immediately spread the cilantro-lime butter over the top of the naan and serve while it's hot.

Note* If you make these all at once and want to keep them warm, you can preheat a second cast iron skillet and transfer the cooked ones to that to keep warm, or keep them in a warm oven until ready to serve.