I was wondering what to make for dinner yesterday night and decided to try making Naan at home. I wasn't sure how it will turn out, so instead of buying some chicken dish from the nearby Indo-Pak restaurant, I thought of making Punjabi Chole at home...as I ran out of veggies, chicken and eggs :P And thanks to the videos....I could make Naan at home successfully, thought not soo perfectly, ... and it was so soft and tasty :-) I got the chance to use the packet of yeast first time for this, which I had bought last week to make bread at home :-) I did make a loaf of bread btw - though without yeast- will post that recipe soon !! Now, we can have Naan at home anytime we feel like... ;-)
Naan
Ingredients :
All Purpose flour ( maida) - 2 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Luke warm water - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 tsp
Oil
Milk - 1/4 cup
Method :
Take the luke warm water and add the yeast in it. Add sugar, salt , milk and 1 tbsp of oil in the mixture. Keep it aside for about 10 mins. This will make the yeast active and help the dough to rise.
Take the flour in a big mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and make a sticky dough. I learnt that the dough should be very sticky and soft when you are making naan in oven instead of tandoor. To see how sticky it should be, you can check the video here . There is another version of making naan at home here , but since I dont have pizza stone, I dint follow that.
After making the dough, add 1 tbsp of oil to the dough and coat it thoroughly.
Cover the dough with a lid and keep it for about 20-30 mins. I kept for 25 mins.
The dough did rise,though not double, and was very very soft.
In the meantime, put the oven to its full temperature ... I put it at 500 degrees.
Take the dough and make 6 equal balls out of it. The balls were very soft and light and I had to use flour on my hands to prevent them from sticking.
Then put one ball on the rolling surface and press it with palm to make it bigger and then flip on both palms to give it the shape of a naan ( refer to the video for this :-) )
The baking tray that I have has raised edges...so I cudnt make it exactly like this and I kept them smaller to fit two naans in the tray. BUt it was perfectly alright for us to be enjoyed at home... restaurant -type perfection is not always needed in situations like this :-D
Put the tray to the closest source of heat, I kept in the lowest rack for about 3 mins. After taking it out, I turned the naans and kept again for another 30 secs to 1 min. And then.....it was ready !! :)
I chopped one clove of garlic and added on top of 2 naans to make garlic naan. But since both of us were hungry ... I dint invest too much time on this. Maybe next time... ;-)
After they are ready, smear one surface with butter and enjoy with your favorite veg/non-veg curry. :)
Punjabi Choley
This is one of the quickest curries that I often make with garbanzo beans ( canned chick-peas) and punjabi choley masala. But I have tried with normal turmeric/red chilli/cumin-coriander powder combination as well... and it tastes great too !!
Ingredients:
Chick peas - 1 can ( 130 g) ( boiled)
Onions - 1 medium, chopped
Tomato- 1 medium, chopped
Punjabi Choley Masala - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups
Method :
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions when its hot. Fry them in medium heat till golden brown. Drain the liquid from the can of garbanzo beans and wash them thoroughly. Then add the chick peas and the spices to the onions and mix them well. Fry them for about 7-10 mins in low heat. Then add the tomatoes and cook till they become soft. Add salt as per your taste. Lastly, add water and cook in low flame for about 15 mins and take off heat when it reaches the desired consistency. Chopped coriander leaves can be added on top, I added some chopped onions.
Enjoy with Naan or any other Indian bread !! :)
