Accidentally Gluten Free Garlic Naan

I made this naan to go with my Coconut Curry Soup recipe, but it didn’t quite go as planned… There’s a difference between how you’re supposed to make naan and how I made it this go around. This all came about because I was planning on buying some naan at the store, but I looked at it and knew instantly that I could make a healthier (and tastier) version. Trying to stay true to my goal of eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods and making most of the bread products I consume, I searched for a recipe. Here’s what I found on how you’re supposed to make naan from The Kitchn:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

• 2 teaspoons fine salt

• 1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt

• Cooking spray

EQUIPMENT

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Small liquid measuring cup

• Stand mixer

• Kitchen towel

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Proof the yeast: Combine the water and sugar in a small measuring cup. Sprinkle with the yeast and set aside for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

2. Knead the dough: Add the yeast mixture and the yogurt to the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. Increase the speed slightly and mix until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Don't worry if the dough is sticky or stringy — this is the nature of a yogurt-based dough.

3. Rise the dough: Form the dough into a ball. Coat the mixing bowl with cooking spray, return the dough to the bowl, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Divide the dough: Flatten the risen dough into a disk. Divide the disk into 8 pieces as you would a pizza. Cover the dough with the towel.

5. Griddle the dough: Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Working with 1 or 2 pieces of dough at a time, roll the dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds or ovals. Irregular shape is fine, as long as the dough is the same thickness across. Place on the griddle and cook until golden-brown and lightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove the cooked naan to a plate and cover with a towel. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Accidentally Gluten Free Garlic Naan with Coconut Curry Soup with Sweet Potato and Riced Cauliflower

Being a novice baker, I intended to stick to the recipe, but due to extenuating circumstances, ended up doing this instead:

Ingredients:

• 3/4c warm water

• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

• 3 tsp active dry yeast

• 5 1/4 cups oat flour

• 3 teaspoons fine salt

• 12 oz 2% Plain Greek yogurt

• Cooking spray

• 4 Tbsp butter

• 2 Tbsp minced garlic

• 1 Tbsp garlic powder

Now, as a fairly experienced cook, I should know better than to mess with a bread recipe, right? WELL, let me just tell you. The issues started at the grocery store and didn’t end until the naan was done 😂

FIRST, there was no way to buy plain whole milk yogurt in a small quantity (I would have had to buy at least 4c, which I was not up for today). So, after staring at the yogurt options for 10 minutes, I settled on 2 small containers of 2% Plain Greek yogurt. This meant I would have to throw some away or do some math to get the ratio of the rest of the ingredients right.

Since I had 12oz yogurt instead of 8oz, I multiplied the rest of the ingredients by 1.5 to get the ratios right. Although whole wheat flours don’t rise as nicely as white flour, I was going for increased nutrient density and higher fiber. Confident I had whole wheat flour at home, I checked out and headed home.

JUST MY LUCK- I had no whole wheat flour at home. About 1/2c of white flour was left in my cupboard, but this was not nearly enough to make a 1.5 batch of naan as I had planned. I scrounged my kitchen for other options, coming across a package of oats I had bought a while back for a crumble. I pulled out my food processor and made oat flour! I had just about the right amount, so I decided to go for it. I followed the directions above to proof the yeast, but since the oat flour was already in the food processor, I figured this could work as a mixer.

This was a bad idea. A minute of “mixing” after combining the yeast mixture and yogurt with the oat flour led to the food processor smoking! I quickly stopped it and attempted to knead the dough (like I was supposed to from the start), but it was so sticky that I was getting nowhere. I got as much of the dough as possible into a sprayed bowl and covered it to rise for an hour. During this time, I started on the Coconut Curry Soup with Sweet Potato and Riced Cauliflower.

While it hadn’t doubled in size as it was supposed to after an hour, I was determined after all this trouble to have naan with my meal, so I persevered! I split the dough into 1/3c sized balls and flattened them with my hands (after putting some oil on them so the dough wouldn’t stick). I preheated the oven to 200 degrees and heated a large pan coated with cooking spray to medium high heat and placed 3-4 flattened dough pieces in to cook. After about 3-4 minutes on each side, I transferred them to a sheet pan with foil and topped with a small amount of butter, garlic powder, and minced garlic. I placed the finished naan in the oven to keep warm while I cooked the rest, adding more the the pan as they were done.

Luckily, these turned out delicious, albeit denser than a typical naan. The moral of the story here is that once in a while, winging a bread recipe will work, but it’s typically better to not leave things to chance with baking. Feel free to try out portions of my method, but if you want a sure fire awesome naan, go with the steps outlined in the original instructions, swapping out all or 1/2 of the flour for whole wheat flour and adding spices like garlic to increase nutrient density and flavor. Whatever you do, do not, I repeat DO NOT use a food processor as a mixer. Happy baking! :)