Skillet Flatbread Recipe | Easy No Yeast Naan (2024)

FAQs

What is difference between naan and flatbread? ›

Naan is another flatbread traditionally served in Indian restaurants but the difference is that there will already be a filling inside these flatbread pockets. Naan may be stuffed with curd, fresh desiccated coconut, butter, nigella seeds, and raisins.

About Naan

In the modern days, yeast & other leavening agents have replaced the bread starter. So most restaurants either use yeast or another leavening agent like baking powder & baking soda. If you order naan in Indian restaurants you may not find the texture & flavor to be the same in every place.

Naan is essentially a leavened flatbread, which means it contains some form of raising agent to provide its airy texture. Hence for this naan, the raising agent we will be using is yeast. Other variations do exist which may utilise self raising flour or baking powder/baking soda.

Though they're flatbreads, naans traditionally get their bubbly texture from yeast (and, very traditionally, from wild yeasts). Some more modern variations, such as that in Vivek Singh's Curry, use baking powder instead, with Jaffrey also adding extra bicarbonate of soda.

While it may contain more carbs and sugars, it earns its reputation as a healthy alternative with its relatively generous amounts of protein and fiber. Despite its high carb content, naan can be considered a more nutrient-dense alternative to white bread and pita.

Pita is a flatbread whereas bread comes in loaves. Despite their difference in shape, pita and bread have similar ingredients - largely water, yeast, flour, and salt. Because of the similarity in ingredients, the nutrient profiles of pita and normal bread are basically identical.

Classic curries and soups

One of the most popular Indian delicacies that we know of; curries are creamy with the right amount of spicy, curries pair perfectly with warm, fluffy naan.

From health perspective, flat breads made of whole wheat flour (roti/paratha/chapati/phulka) are better than the ones made with all-purpose flour (naan & kulcha).

Kulcha is a mildly leavened bread prepared with all-purpose flour without any yeast, but rather leavened with yogurt and/or baking powder. Though it's similar to naan, you don't need a tandoor oven to make kulcha; you can easily prepare it on a griddle.

You sprinkle water to keep the naan bread soft. Naan bread will naturally stiffen when not eaten straight from the pan, so eat it as soon as you possibly can.

Why is my naan not fluffy? ›

If you don't see the dough puffing up, you should turn up the heat under the griddle. Take the naan with thongs and turn on an adjacent gas burner. Flip the naan on top of this gas burner and leave until it's nicely charred.

The key I have found when using your hands versus is a rolling pin is to be sure to stretch the naan out as well as possible — if you don't get good length, parts of the naan will be really thick and doughy — again, delicious, but not the ideal texture for naan.

2% milk works well, but I do not recommend using fat-free or skim milk. Full-fat Greek yogurt. The full-fat dairy in this naan recipe gives it a soft texture and rich taste. You can use a 2% or fat-free Greek yogurt, your bread may just not be as pillowy soft.

INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, ASCORBIC ACID ADDED AS A DOUGH CONDITIONER, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, ENZYME, FOLIC ACID), WATER, BUTTERMILK (NONFAT MILK, DRY BUTTERMILK, BACTERIAL CULTURE), SOYBEAN OIL, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, GHEE ( ...

The recipe also works with standard active / dry yeast, but we've found the naan is slightly fluffier and softer using instant yeast. Unusually, we dissolve the instant yeast in warm water then leave it to become foamy – a step usually bypassed with instant yeast, which is typically mixed straight into dough.

Naan bread is soft, fluffy, and chewy, whereas pita bread is denser with a slightly crispy texture on the outside. Naan bread also has a buttery flavor due to the ghee and buttermilk in the dough, which adds an extra dimension of flavor compared to pita bread's more neutral taste.

Naan is a single-layer bread with a light and slightly fluffy texture and golden-brown spots from the baking process. It is made primarily from white flour or wheat flour and a leavening agent (usually yeast), which results in the formation of air pockets in the dough that impart fluffiness and softness.

A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread.