Naan recipe without yeast – If there’s anything that will make you fall in love with north Indian food, it’s definitely Naan! Everyone at home love naan and are never tired of ordering this when we visit Indian restaurants, fluffy pillow like dough with colorful garnishes… brushed with butter, ahhhhh… i want one now! Traditionally, the dough is slapped against the chimney wall of a clay tandoor oven and baked, but many home cooks like me end up making the same over stovetop which we call tawa naan, which is equally good as tandoor style naan.
Making naan may sound tedious and daunting but in reality its very easy and anyone can make it at home with just few basic ingredients. There are basically two ways to make the dough rise while making these flatbreads -use of yeast is one option while the other is the use of baking soda which gives the same effect minus the yeasty smell. Today we are going in for the easy version- no yeast dough recipe to make our tawa style naan.
Ingredients for garnish
- Butter 3 tablespoons
- Green chilies 3 (finely chopped)
- Garlic 6 cloves (finely chopped)
- Coriander leaves 3 tablespoons (finely chopped)
Ingredients for the dough
- All purpose flour 2 cups
- Baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
- Sugar 3/4 teaspoon
- Salt 1/2 teaspoon
- Oil 3 tablespoons
- Yogurt 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon
- Milk 1/2 cup
- Extra all purpose flour for dusting and few teaspoon oil for covering the dough
In a bowl take all purpose flour – bleached / unbleached / Maida – all of these work.
Add baking soda.
Add sugar – mine was super fine sugar and i added directly to the flour mixture.
Add salt – any super fine salt is fine. I have used pink salt (any variety is fine) Mix all the dry ingredients really well to incorporate evenly.
Add milk
Add yogurt- i have used plain low fat yogurt. (Any type full fat, low fat works too)
Add oil – any plain cooking oil is fine.
Combine and knead to make a soft dough. It will be very sticky, try to dust with some flour and make a soft dough ball. (Do not make a stiff dough- it has to be soft & sticky)
Pour some oil over the dough ball, smooth it all over.
Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plate. Now keep this undisturbed in a warm place. May be next to the stove while you cook other dishes or microwave / oven would be safe place. Let it sit for 5-6 hours.
After few hours the dough will double in size. The dough will definitely rise but it all depends on the outside temperature and the resting time. (warm temperature does matter, so please place where it can get some warmth)
Punch down the dough, look this stretchy and elastic it should be. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll into little dough balls. Let these cutties rest under that kitchen towel while you work on the toppings.
Ofcourse plain naan taste good with little butter brushed on top. But we are always prefer something fancy on top and hence all these extra work. You may skip this step if you prefer plain naan and move on to the rolling out part. Crazy people like me who prefer a little extra kick, get to work now. Lightly melt some butter and chop some green chilies, garlic and coriander leaves and keep them ready.
Mix the chopped veggies with the butter and keep it ready- oooh… this is exciting! 😛
Take one dough ball and roll out little elongated. You may dust with some flour to roll out and it will shrink as you roll. We are going to make a elongated triangle shape flat bread- shape is not that important, just play with it and make it your way! ( about 1/4 th of an inch thickness recommended)
Now wet your fingers with some water and apply over the surface.
Heat a good tawa with handle and keep it at medium flame. Make sure the tawa is hot enough before starting. Sprinkle some water to see it sizzle. Place the naan over the tawa with water side down. This will make the naan stick to the tawa.
Now cover the tawa with a doomed lid and wait for few seconds.
Now remove the lid – the naan will bubble as shown.
Now flip the pan- do not worry the naan wont fall. Hold it over the direct flame about few inches away from the flame.
Non stick tawa is not recommended as there are chances that your naan wont stick that good to the tawa. But you can still make it – You may use a chapati grill / roti jari / wire rack as shown. It will be handy to catch the naan when you use non-stick tawa, hehhe Cook the naan over flame to get few brown spots on top.
Now flip the pan to see browned naan.
Transfer to a plate and while its still hot brush with the butter+garlic+green chilies+coriander leaves mixture. Serve hot with gravy of your choice. Paneer masala, Butter chicken, Mint Mirch Masala, Chicken Kuzhambu, Palak Paneer, Aloo Gobi Masala anything will pair well!
Notes
- Makes 6 naans Serves 3- 4 adults
- Topping for naan is optional. Plain butter will do the trick but try to explore. You may use kalonji / onion seeds or red pepper flakes or any herb of your choice. Play with it!
- I have used King Author unbleached all purpose flour for this recipe. You may use any type.
- I have added fine sugar and salt, hence added straight to the flour. If using big granules then dissolve them in milk and then add to the flour.
- When the dough rises, you can punch on it and refrigerate for a day and get back to room temperature and then make naan as usual.
NAAN RECIPE / HOW TO MAKE NAAN? / NAAN STEPWISE PICTURES / INDIAN STYLE GARLIC NAAN RECIPE / HOMESTYLE NAAN RECIPE / TAWA NAAN RECIPE / NO YEAST NAAN RECIPE / NAAN WITHOUT YEAST RECIPE / EASY NAAN RECIPE / HOMEMADE NAAN RECIPE / RESTAURANT STYLE GARLIC NAAN RECIPE / BUTTER NAAN RECIPE / GARLIC CORIANDER NAAN / CILANTRO NAAN RECIPE / STOVE TOP NAAN RECIPE / NAAN WITHOUT TANDOOR OVEN / NO OVEN RECIPE / NORTH INDIAN FLAT BREADS / FLAT BREAD / INDIAN FLAT BREAD RECIPE / INDIAN NAAN BREAD RECIPE / RESTAURANT STYLE NAAN RECIPE
20 Comments
Can I freeze after cooking
Yes you can after it cools a bit. Place parchment paper in between the naan and freeze in air tight ziploc bags. This way they don’t stick to each and will come off easily after freezing. When ready to eat, either defrost for a minute in microwave or place it on a warm pan and apply either butter/ ghee /oil. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the reply, I put a 1/4 of a cup of wheat flour into the bowl of plan flour turned out really good I was very impressed and the wife loved it
That’s awesome, I like the little twist of adding wheat flour, works! Thanks again for trying and dropping in a feedback, really appreciate it! Also have a small youtube channel with recipes explained in English, if you wanna subscribe! Still budding youtuber, please support 🙏
Thank you for recipe. I tried it 100% wheat flour and came out really good.thanks for step by step instructions
This recipe is fantastic and easy to follow. I used the Namaste brand gluten free all purpose flour and it turned out amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. My son who has a wheat allergy was so happy to have a soft, fluffy, delicious gluten free naan!
Sooo happy to know Veronica💕💕💕 thanks a bunch for writing a feedback, 🙏appreciate it!
Great recipe for naan. I doubled the amounts as I have a big family. Everyone loved it with my homemade Nihari. Thank you so much. Very easy to follow!
Thank you Taslim, so glad to hear. Stay safe and regards!
Hi this looks so amazing thanks for posting – quick question, can you substitute sour cream for the yogurt? If not, what do you think would be a good substitute?
Absolutely Stephy, it works go ahead and try it!
made mine with yeast and was still fantastic.
Hi yesterday i made naan first time by using ur receip n it was amazing ,tasty ,easy bt i think half cup of curd is enough to knead the dough my dough became so sticky so itwas lilbit hard to roll out bt overall it was fantastic
Well explained mullai,now am feeling hungry …
Thanks a lot Mullai for this recipe. I have never tried without yeast. Bookmarking this.
Well prepared naan & nice presentation , love it.
Wow! This naan looks fantastic, Mullai! Feeling hungry! 🙂
Thanks dear Anu!
Dear Mullai,
Firstly, Thank you very much for posting with clear, detail and precise explanation. I really appreciate the way you show with pictures, explanation and steps.
I will try the naan with all your steps, but would like to use whole wheat flour.
I tried Mixed vegitable paratha, and it came out super. I would suggest all the readers to please try out Mullai vegitable paratha.
Please keep up the great work for people like me do get inspired with your post.
regards
Hi Gops, so sweet of you…..thanks for trying out my recipes and getting back with a feedback, really appreciate. Whole wheat flour will work but the naan will be very tough, yet to explore on that. I have tried a few times but not much luck, more like a thick batura. I understand that is more healthy but we want that elasticity in the naan..so try half APF and half wheat flour. Hope this helps, thanks dear!