Naan Bread with Garlic Oil
This recipe was challenging to get just right. I tried so many different recipes to get a feel for what I liked and didn’t like. My husband kept telling me “this one is pretty good”. I don’t like pretty good. I finally settled on a combination of several recipes and I love the end result. The addition of the garlic oil takes this over the top and is every bit as good as what you can get at your favorite restaurant despite the fact that it is gluten and dairy free!
Ingredients:
1 cup GF flour blend with or without xanthan gum
1 tsp. xanthan gum - ONLY if flour blend does not have any, otherwise omit
½ cup cassava flour
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar or alternate natural sweetener (Monk Fruit/Allulose)
¾ tsp. salt
1 egg
½ cup dairy free plain, unsweetened yogurt (cashew/almond/coconut)
1Tbsp. olive oil
Up to ¼ cup warm water (as needed to make a soft dough)
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil (for spreading after baking)
¼ cup parsley or mint, finely chopped (optional)
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine 3 cloves of minced garlic with ¼ cup olive oil. Set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl (GF flour blend. Xanthan gum only if there is none in your blend, cassava flour, baking soda, sweetener, and salt)
In a liquid measuring cup, measure out non-dairy yogurt. Add to this one egg and 1 Tbsp. olive oil and whisk till combined.
Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients and mix with wooden spoon. It will be very dry.
Add warm water, Tablespoon by Tablespoon, using your hands to mix/knead together. Make sure water is well absorbed before adding more. You will be done when your dough is well combined and soft. It should not be too sticky. Cover dough bowl with a clean towel and set aside for 15-30 min. while you get everything set up to cook the bread
Divide the dough into 6 evenly sized balls. Keep balls of dough covered while rolling out other balls.
Heat up cast iron skillet over medium high heat. While heating up your skillet, roll out one ball of dough between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8” thick. Once skillet is beginning to smoke, gently lay rolled out dough into skillet. Brush top of naan with plain olive oil. Allow it to cook undisturbed for about 30-45 seconds and gently flip it over. Brush this side with garlic olive oil that you prepared in advance, and sprinkle with sea salt and parsley/mint (optional). Continue to cook for another 45 seconds or so, until bottom is nicely browned. Remove to towel.
Keep cooked naan wrapped in towel while working on the rest of the dough. You can roll out your next piece of dough as the naan is cooking in the skillet.
*Best served warm