Hot and Crusty Carbs

I love Indian food, and one of my favorite parts of any meal is the bread! (Nice and delicious carbs.)  And I LOVE my naan, especially the garlic-y stuff! But most Indian restaurants usually don't have a whole wheat naan option. I've seen whole wheat naan in the grocery store, but it just never lives up to the bread they usually serve you at the authentic places.

So, as I was making my Indian food last night from the best cookbook ever, and I decided I want to try to make my own whole wheat naan recipe. I try to eat whole wheat whenever possible, so I was excited to see how my recipe would turn out! I adapted the naan recipe in my cookbook to make it a (mostly) whole wheat version.

The result: well worth the effort! It was nice and golden brown with the right amount of texture. If you are ever brave enough to make your own Indian food, I highly recommend it!

Print this recipe!

Whole Wheat Naan
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 heaping tablespoon instant yeast aka: highly active yeast
• 2 tablespoons lukewarm unsweetened almond milk
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon plain, non fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 3.5 - 5.5 tablespoons water, divided
• Butter and garlic (optional)

Directions

Sift or whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, warm milk, and sugar. (If you are using cow's milk, omit the sugar.) Set aside this bowl for 15 minutes. After that amount of time, the yeast should have at least tripled in size. Like this:

The yeast grew!!

Combine the flaxseed with 1.5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir mixture to remove any lumps. Once yeast has risen, combine the yeast mixture, oil, yogurt, and flaxseed mixture, and 1 tablespoon of water with the flour. Combine together with you hands. If the dough is too dry, add water 1 tablespoon at a time, until a soft dough has formed. 

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead on the counter for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. If dough gets too sticky, knead in more flour. Ideally, the dough should be soft and tacky, but not sticky.

Dough before kneading

Dough after kneading

After kneading, shape the dough into a round ball and set it in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap. Set aside for 1 - 1.5 hrs or until dough has doubled in size.

Pre-rest

Post-rest... It's doubled!

Turn out dough back onto a floured surface and briefly knead for about 2 minutes. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces and flatten out into oblong, or naan shaped pieces. Like so:

Naan Dough

Preheat the boiler to its highest setting and place a baking sheet covered with foil in the oven to preheat. Once preheated, place the dough on the baking sheet and bake for 3 - 4 minutes, until browned and slightly puffed.

Brush with a little butter and/or finely chopped garlic while hot, and enjoy!

Yummy!