Eggless garlic Naan

What could be more satisfying than freshly made garlic naan that melts in your mouth. Naans are usually made a special oven called tandoor which is a dome shaped clay oven.  The temperature reaches very high and the purpose is to cook the breads or meat very fast thus preserving the softness inside.  Once the naan is rolled, one side is made wet and then quickly patted on the inner wall of tandoor.  The heat quickly cooks the naan which is taken out with the help of skewers.  Dollop of flavored butter makes for a heavenly naan.

In the absence of tandoor, kitchen ovens are used.  My mother used to make them on a skillet or tawa and that is what I plan to make today.

Ingredients:
3 cups maida / all purpose flour
1/2 tsp instant rapid rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup warm milk
approx. 1 cup warm water
4 tbsp butter/ ghee/ oil
1 tsp salt

optional:
poppy seeds
sesame seeds
nigella seeds

To be applied to naan after cooking:
2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Method:
Mix butter, garlic, coriander leaves in a bowl and keep it aside.
Sift flour, add instant rise yeast, sugar, salt and mix.

Add yogurt and warm milk to the flour and knead thoroughly.  Now, get ready for some arm exercise.  Knead the dough till soft.

Add butter and start kneading again.......

till it becomes a soft and leaves the side of bowl.

Cover with a cling film and let it rest.  The resting time will depend solely on the room temperature.  If it is cold, keep the dough in an oven.

The dough should double in volume.

Knead it again and divide it equally in small roundels.
Flatten and if desired, sprinkle few nigella seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds.  Roll and make tear shaped naans.

Heat an iron tawa or pan.  Do not use a non-stick one.  Naans slip away from a non-stick one. When the skillet or tawa is hot, apply a little water on underside of each naan and stick the wet side of the naan on the tawa.

Cover and let it cook a little.  Covering the naan also makes it more spongy.

Remove the cover, and turn the skillet up-side down along with the naan still stuck.  You need to keep it at a little distance so that the flame browns the naan evenly and does not burn it.

Check for even brown specks.

Remove the naan and spread a lavish dollop of the flavored garlic butter.

I tried another version of making naans in an oven which was more faster but the end result was not that soft as the skillet ones.

My Notes:

Do not let the dough rest too much, it will become sour.