My family loves naan bread, but my parents and others who wanted to lose weight couldn't enjoy the store-bought kind. I could have just used Joseph's pita from Wal-Mart, which I would suggest drive through Sues do. But I wanted authentic, buttermilk naan. I found a rustic version, and "THM-ed" it up. To make most things sourdough, you usually use a sourdough starter; but, I didn't have one at the moment. What was I going to do? Enter Briana Thomas Burkholder! I had seen delicious looking sourdough pancakes from her before; but, she used a "quick" version. 1- mix dough ingredients, 2- set on counter for 1 hour, 3- refrigerate for three days in a container with a lid. I used this same principle for this delicious bread. Traditionally, this is made in a Tandor: they slap the naan dough to the side of a cylinder shaped oven until it puffs up like a tortilla and falls off. I. Don't. Have. A. Tandor. I researched a modern way to do this, and found a slightly dangerous, but functional way to make this delicious stuff. (See "to cook the naan")
For the naan bread:
2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp honey (this is to feed the yeast)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
1 1/4 c. buttermilk or kefir
Instructions: mix dry ingredients together, then add wet. Let the dough sit on the counter covered with a towel. After an hour, move to a container with a lid, and set in the refrigerator for 3 days.
To cook the naan: 1- Divide the dough into 8 balls, roll out into 6-8 inch rounds. (They should be thin)
2- Heat a large cast iron skillet on the stove. (It really needs to be a gas stove, I don't know if this would work on an electric range, but you could try.)
3- Sprinkle water on the skillet and throw the bread on the skillet, once it's stuck, turn the pan upside-down, and hold about a food from the flame.
4- Continually move the pan from side to side to distribute the heat, once the bread puffs up and turns brown, use a spatula to remove it from the pan. (put it in a tortilla warmer or under a towel to keep warm.)
I used the same spices for both the chicken and chickpeas.
For the chickpeas or chicken:
2- 15oz cans of garbanzo beans/chickpeas
OR 2 c. shredded chicken
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 Tbsp onion powder 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder 1/2 Tbsp cumin powder
2 Tbsp avocado/olive oil for cooking
(All of these spices can be to taste, I actually like more) Instructions: saute beans/chicken in pan with spices and oil until heated through.
Tzatziki sauce:
1 c. 0% greek yogurt, strained
1/2 one lemon's juice
2 fresh sprigs of dill or parsley finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper
1/2 medium cucumber finely chopped
Instructions; mix ingredients in bowl
Tahini sauce:
1/3 c tahini
1/2 one lemon's juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c water (or to desired thickness)
Instructions: mix ingredients in bowl
Tomato/cucumber salad:
1 large cucumber diced
2 roma tomatoes diced
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp parsely
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
Instructions: mix ingredients in bowl
This is a delicious meal that can be turned into an S or an E meal!
For the S version: Joseph's Pita, chicken (dark or white), tahini sauce, tzatziki sauce, tomato salad, maybe add goat cheese!
For the E version: Sourdough naan, chicken (white), chickpeas, tzatziki sauce, tomato salad (omit oil), add extra lemon if desired!
Comments