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Authentic Butter Garlic Naan Recipe India, Asia

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We strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though

Introduction & history

A traditional Indian flatbread and one of the best-known types of naan, butter garlic naan is prepared much the same as regular naan. Flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, and yogurt or curd are needed to make the dough. The yogurt or curd is added because it relaxes gluten, making for a soft and supple flatbread. The dough is shaped into a teardrop or an oval and baked traditionally in the tandoor oven. When prepared at home, it is oven-baked or fried in a tawa (a wide pan). When baked, it is brushed with a mixture of melted ghee and chopped garlic, which will occasionally also include chopped cilantro. 

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Cooking tips

  • flour

    If you're using flour with more gluten instead of Indian maida (all-purpose flour), which has less gluten, mix a wetter dough, and knead it shortly. Also, you can replace a part of the flour with whole wheat flour, about 20-30% of the total amount of flour you're using in the recipe.
  • baking

    If you do not own a tandoor oven, you can bake the naan in the oven or on the stove. If baking in the oven, make sure the oven is heated to a maximum temperature and use either a pizza stone or an inverted baking tray that's been previously heated in the oven to replicate the heat of a tandoor as much as possible. If baking on the stove in a pan, turn the pan over the flame midway through so the top ... Read more
  • variations

    Recipes vary very little. Some of the variations include using baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast, replacing a portion of the water with milk, adding pureed garlic to the dough, or pressing the garlic into the dough before baking.

Butter Garlic Naan

PREP 25min

COOK 35min

RESTING 1h

READY IN 2h

4.8

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The following recipe shows how to prepare a classic butter garlic naan. As with regular naan, the recipe is pretty much the same, except here, the dough is enriched with yogurt, which relaxes gluten, making for a more soft and supple dough. The baked naans should be brushed with melted ghee and garlic and kept warm to stay tender until consumption.

Ingredients

6 Servings

2 tsp (7g) instant yeast

120 ml (½ cup) warm water

300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose bread flour - plus extra for dusting

1 tsp (5g) sugar (caster or superfine)

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp (5g) salt

150 ml (½ cup + 2 tbsp) natural yogurt

FOR BRUSHING

75 g (5 tbsp) melted ghee

1 tsp salt

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp dried cilantro - or 4 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Preparation

Step 1/9

Add the yeast to a bowl with warm water, stir to dissolve, and let it sit for 5 minutes until bubbles form on the surface.

Step 2/9

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, the yeast-water mixture, and yogurt. Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook and mix ingredients in the bowl until they've come together. Then, continue kneading with the stand mixer for 10 minutes, to get a sticky dough.

Step 3/9

Oil a bowl, place the dough inside the bowl, cover with cling film or damp cloth, and let it rise for 60-90 minutes. It should double in size.

Step 4/9

Lightly flour your work area. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts, dust each with flour, and roll them out into teardrop shapes, about 18cm (7 inches) long and 12cm (4.7 inches) wide at the broadest point.

Step 5/9

Set your oven to the lowest temperature to keep the naan bread warm later on.

Step 6/9

Place a large frying pan (non-stick or seasoned cast iron) over high heat until hot. Moisten one side of each naan bread (with water, so it sticks better to the pan), then cook each naan bread for about 3 minutes until it puffs up, and flip and cook for another 3 minutes to develop golden spots. For darker spots, cook longer (note: this may cause the pan to smoke, requiring cleaning between naans).

Step 7/9

Mix the melted ghee, salt, garlic, and dried cilantro (optional) in a small bowl to get the mixture for brushing the naans.

Step 8/9

After cooking each naan, place it on a baking tray and brush generously with a mixture of ghee and garlic. Cover with foil and keep warm in the oven.

Step 9/9

Repeat the process for each naan, stacking them and re-covering with foil to keep them soft.

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