Traditional Naan (vegan)

Naan is delicious. Like a pita with savory garlic and onion flavor to it, it is great to dip and soak up any sauce or eat warm off the pan all on it's own. One of my other favorite ways to eat it is as a personal pizza. Just spread on a little sauce, top with marinaded or fresh veggies, some vegan cheese and bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes.

I found this recipe at vegetarian.com. I made a batch of these as the recipe says, and another with the same recipe but with half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour, and they still turned out quite well. A bit denser, and the flour taste was more prominent so if you do decide to try it that way I would raise the amount of each spice a bit so the flavors still shine through. They made really good pizzas, but for plain munching I prefer the all purpose flour naan better. 

It helps to have two people when the time comes to fry the naan. That way one person can roll them out while the other person tends to the frying. They cook quite quickly, so it by the time you are done rolling the second one out, the first one will be coming out of the pan. 

 The naan will puff up a bit as it cooks, so don't be afraid to roll them pretty thin. Here is an example of how big a ball of dough I used for each naan was compared to the size of a finished naan.

The dough will make big bubbles while it cooks but you don't need to pop them or push them down. Once the naan is done and out of the pan they will drop down on their own really quickly. 

Traditional Naan (vegan)

Makes 6-8 pieces, depending on how big you want them

Prep time: 90 minutes + 5 min cook time

1 tsp active dry yeast (about 1/2 a package)

1/2 c warm water

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp non-dairy milk

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 3/4 - 2 cups all purpose flour

oil spray for cooking

1. In a large bowl mix the yeast with the warm water. Let stand 10 minutes until frothy.

2. Add in the sugar, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough, about 1 3/4 to 2 cups. On a lightly floured surface knead the dough for 6-8 minutes, or until smooth. 

3. Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough in and cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for one hour. 

4. Punch down dough and divide into 6-8 equal pieces (depending on how big you want them, or how many you want). Roll into balls and put onto a baking sheet. Cover with the towel again and allow to rise another 30 minutes. 

5. Preheat a pan to high heat (don't use a nonstick pan with teflon, they release chemicals at high heat!). Roll each ball into a thin circle or oval then add to the pan one at a time after spraying the pan with oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the bubbles start to brown then spray the top of the naan lightly with oil and flip and cook the other side another 2-3 minutes. Serve warm.