Sourdough Discard Naan
Sourdough discard naan is the softest and most tender naan you can make at home. This no-yogurt naan recipe is super easy to make and needs no expertise at all. Sourdough gives the tang of yogurt to these naan bread which makes them irresistible.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the naan dough
- 300 g All-purpose flour 2 ½ cups
- 112 g Whole milk ½ cup
- 70 g Sourdough discard
- 6 g salt 1 tsp
- 11 g Vegetable oil 1tbsp
- 80 g water ⅓ cup
Ingredients for garnishing
- 6 clove Garlic finely minced
- ¼ cup Butter
- Cilantro Chopped (optional)
Instructions
Step 1 Making the naan dough
- First, bring the sourdough discard to room temperature. Take it out of the fridge at least 1 ½ to 2 hours before making the dough. Let it get bubbly on the countertop before using it.
- Now, combine salt and flour in the bowl of the stand mixer and whisk to combine nicely.
- Now add sourdough discard to the water. Mix well. Then add milk and oil to it. Whisk well and add to the dry ingredients.
- Put the bowl on the stand mixer and attach the dough hook attachment. Start kneading in a stand mixer at speed 2 (KitchenAid). Knead for 7-8 minutes until the dough comes together. Now bump up the speed to 6 on KitchenAid. Keep kneading until the dough leaves the sides of the stand mixer bowl and becomes smooth.
- The dough will not be sticky at all and separate itself from the sides of the bowl.
- Now remove the sourdough naan dough into a greased bowl. And cover with a cling wrap. (Read recipe notes for kneading with hands)
Step 2 Bulk Fermentation/ First Rise
- Now keep the dough to proof in a warm corner of your kitchen until it doubles up in volume. This step will take longer than a standard sourdough recipe as we have used sourdough discard. This can take 5-8 hours depending on your ambient temperature and how old is your discard. In winter I like to keep the dough for bulk rising inside my oven with the light switched on.
Step 3 Divide the dough and make dough balls
- Once the flour has doubled in size and volume, take it out of the bowl and transfer it onto a flour-dusted working surface.
- This recipe will make about 8 sourdough discard naans, so divide the dough into 8 equal parts. You can use a weighing scale to divide the dough or just eyeball it.
- Then take one piece and gather all the edges to form a round. Flip and rotate under the hand to form a small round ball with a smooth top.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces of the dough.
- Keep them covered to prevent the surface from drying.
Step 4 Rest the dough and Prepare the garnishes:
- Dust some flour on the rounds and let them rest covered with a clean kitchen towel for about 30 minutes.
- In the meanwhile, you can work on the garnishes. I like to add butter and minced garlic in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it.
Step 5 Rolling the dough, shaping, and making sourdough discard naan:
- For rolling a naan, take one dough ball, dust it with flour and start to roll using a rolling pin.
- Turn and lightly flour again with all-purpose flour and keep rolling till a thin (about 1 cm thick) oval shape is achieved. Set aside and cover.
- Repeat the process with all the dough balls.
- Once you have rolled all the naans, cover, them and let them rest for 15 minutes.
- This resting allows the gluten to relax so that we can roll it thinner right before putting it on a skillet without much resistance from the dough.
Step 6 Cooking the naan bread on a cast iron skillet
- Now heat a cast iron skillet. Heat it at a high flame such that it is radiating heat. The skillet needs to be hot to cook the naan, but not burn it.
- Take one of the rolled ovals and roll it again using a rolling pin to thin down the edges.
- Now lift it in the left hand and apply water on the side facing upward. Use a pastry brush or water spray to apply water.
- Now with the watered side facing down place the naan on the skillet. Doing this will give us one flat side and the bubbles will appear on the other side. Exactly as an ideal naan should be.
- Cook at medium heat for half a minute or till the bottom side becomes golden. (Observe naan forming little bubbles in images).
- Flip and cook the other side for another minute or till evenly cooked.
Step 7 Garnishing/ flavoring the sourdough naan bread:
- Remove from heat and immediately brush with the melted garlic butter and sprinkle chopped cilantro.
- Cover the sourdough Discard naan immediately with the kitchen towel to keep them soft for longer.
- Similarly, cook all the naan bread and brush them with garlic butter.
- Serve warm alongside your favorite curry.
Notes
- You can make this Naan using a 20 percent sourdough starter instead of a discard. The naan will be equally good.
- Making the sourdough discard the flatbread dough with your hands: Start by combining flour and salt. Then add any kind of fat. I am using cooking oil. Combine it with the flour by rubbing it between the hands. Then start kneading by adding the milk, followed by the sourdough-water mix. When it forms into a dough mass, transfer it to the lightly floured surface. And start kneading the dough by stretching it forward and then folding it on itself while bringing it back. Keep repeating till the dough becomes smooth and elastic. It should take about 7-8 minutes.
- Instead of microwaving, you can melt butter in a pan and add the minced garlic. Cook for half a minute and remove from heat.
- Always keep the dough covered or grease the surface with oil to prevent drying from the outside. Also, cover the dough balls quickly, so that the balls do not dry from the outside.
- Brush the naan with garlic butter just as they come off the heat. It keeps the naans soft. Also, cover the naan immediately with a kitchen towel.
- Another way of adding garlic to the naans is by spreading the minced garlic on the rolled naan and pressing it into the dough with a rolling pin.
- If going to consume only a few naans, then retain the rest of the balls in an airtight container and refrigerate. Remove them the next day, an hour ahead for making them fresh.
- If making all naans in a day, store the leftover naans at room temperature covered in a towel, and then place them in a box.
- Instead of a stovetop, you can easily make these sourdough discard naans in the oven also.
📋Nutrition Facts
Nutrition
Calories: 173kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!