A great naan bread for these yeastless times

I fell in love with Indian food the first time I visited a 'real' Indian restaurant. I especially love the way in which this particular cuisine lends itself so well to the concept of sharing and man, I really really love the naan.

I had intended to order a takeaway this past weekend but on hearing that the (best) local Indian had temporarily closed its doors, I once again turned to the Curry Guy for inspiration. Dan Toombs is a US native who now lives in the UK and has meticulously researched and documented how to create hundreds of authentic Indian and 'British Restaurant Style' curries. For my little curry night, I cooked his chicken tikka masala, saag aloo and chana masala. The first recipe involves several stages and takes a good degree of effort but sure I had a bit of time on my hands and the end result was very good.

Then there was the issue of the naan bread. I'm all for a shortcut at the best of times but would honestly rather do without than eat that strangely sweet, rubbery pre-made naan from the shops. It's just offensive. However, with the recent surge in home-baking during this pandemic, yeast has become almost impossible to find either on supermarket shelves or online. The packet I had in the press was so old it was no longer active so I knew I would have to look for another option.

Luckily, Dan came up with the goods again with this fantastic yeast free recipe. What's even better is that, once proved, it can be made on a hot frying pan in just minutes. I was surprised that it needed proving at all given that it contained no yeast but it is still a crucial part of the dough making process. In place of yeast, he includes Greek yogurt, the bacteria in which raises the dough more slowly over a longer period of time but which gives a very tasty, chewy result.

I cooked up some of the dough after about 12 hours and the remainder 24 hours later. Both batches were delicious (especially when brushed with garlic butter) but I would say the longer proved naan had a slight edge.

I was so happy with this naan bread and would choose to make it again and again over a standard yeast dough. It's so good that I'm actually planning on using the recipe soon to make pizza (minus the nigella seeds). I'd better keep getting those (Government sanctioned) walks in or at this rate I won't be able to get out the door.

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