All at once light, tender, and chewy, naan plays an excellent sidekick with a saucy dish, or the foundation for a meal: pizza, grilled cheese, or as a wrap.
In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Mix well to combine.
Make a well and put in the yogurt and oil; mix. Gradually add the milk as needed to form a moist but not sticky dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour. See my first Note.
Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and when you press your finger into it, the dough springs back. If using a Kitchenaid mixer, kneading will take about 2 minutes. If the dough seems dry add a tablespoon of water and continue to knead until smooth and soft.
The dough will bounce back when kneaded long enough.
Form into a ball, coat with a bit of oil, and cover with a damp cloth or saran wrap and place in a warm, draft-free corner of your kitchen, as in the oven or microwave, to rest for 20 minutes. Longer works if you have the time. You can stop at this point and put in the refrigerator to pause the proceedings if you have other things to do. Just be sure to bring to room temperature before going on with the recipe.
Heat your oven’s broiler or grill, and if using a U.S. oven, put an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler. Place a baking sheet under the broiler to get hot. If you have a pizza stone or steel, this would come in handy. If cooking on the stovetop, instructions to follow.
Divide the dough into 4 roughly equal portions (84 grams, if you like to be precise), keeping the pieces you aren’t working with covered so they don’t dry out.
Roll or stretch the dough out to 1/8-inch thick (3mm) on a lightly floured work surface. Top with any topping of your choice except the ghee, and press lightly into the dough. See my second and third cooking Notes below.
Place on a heated baking tray under the broiler for several minutes, or until dough as bubbled up and the first side is brown. Turn bread over and cook for a minute or two, or until nicely browned on top.
If using a skillet, tawa, or cast iron pan on top of the stove, place over medium-high heat and wait for 2 to 3 minutes until the pan is hot. Put the first naan in the skillet and watch for bubbles to form and the first side to be browned nicely; about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip over and cook another minute until the second side is also browned.
Wrap in a kitchen towel to keep warm and cook the rest of the bread. Brush with ghee, if you wish, and serve hot.
To Store: Wrap tightly at room temperature for 1 day, or 2 months in the freezer.
Notes
The key to moist, tender but chewy bread is the moisture in your dough. Go for a dough that is on the verge of slightly sticky rather than heavy and dry, and use a minimum amount of flour when rolling out.
Traditionally, naan is tear or oval-shaped, but any shape you make is great as long as it fits in the pan you are using.
I find gentle stretching or pressure from my fingertips all over the dough works better than using arolling pin. With the rolling pin, the gluten in the dough seems to fight back more. You will discover the best method for you as you practice the process.
Nik Sharma’s (author of the new cookbook “Season” which a must-read) version uses whole wheat pastry flour for more fiber and less gluten, yielding a softer bread.
Homemade naan freezes beautifully, well wrapped, so don’t be afraid to make more than what you need immediately.
Shortcut tip: if you are in a hurry, shorten the rest time from 20 minutes to just 10 minutes.