Homemade Tawa Naan Yeast Free | Vegan Naan | Eggless Naan

• Tawa Naan . . . . . . . . . . . . checked
• Yeast Free Naan. . . . . . . . .checked
• Homemade Naan. . . . . .. . checked
• Vegan (Dairy Free) . . . . . . checked
• No Tandoor Oven . . . . . . . checked
• No proofing . . . . . . . . . . . . checked

In other words buttery soft pillowy Naan every time at home!

And I’m in cloud number nine!

Yeast Free Naan that also Vegan and can be cooked without any Tandoor or Oven! Sounds like a dream, isn’t it?

Who doesn’t love to dig teeth into warm soft buttery naan? If there is anybody who doesn’t raise your hands I’ll force feed you this Yeast Free Naan and then we will talk! Naan is the king of the flat breads. If you love Indian food naan has to be your crush. It is the only flat bread which needs yeast like western breads. But yeast is still not very familiar in Indian kitchen unless you are a baker or food blogger. Even I dint dare to try it yet! So I had no other option than wasting my money on chewy half cooked whole wheat dough which is known as naan here even in decent restaurants.

Seriously! When people are having dreams to fly over the rainbow I’m struggling to find my peace of mind over a piece of fluffy naan. Trust me it is nothing less than a dream to have pillowy soft Naan in Pune. No, restaurants are not exactly the life saver here. One can find plenty of variations with fancy names on the menu card in any Indian or multi cuisine restaurant. But what will be served to you has nothing in common with Naan actually; though the cost of it will definitely hurt your pocket.

Most of the cases naans are either burnt to charred or raw in the middle. Forget the puffiness; if your teeth are not aching with the chewy naans consider it as your luckiest day (you can even buy a lottery on that ‘auspicious’ day to win the first prize)! And the scenario is pretty much same everywhere in the city, from decent to top restaurants all are more or less guilty of the same crime. Yes making chewy naan is a crime and serving a burnt naan to customers should be a non-bailable criminal offence to a foodie like me! Hence I rest my case and said adios to Indian food.

If you are not familiar with Indian cuisine let me tell you what Naan is. Naan is soft pillowy Indian flat bread which is made of all-purpose flour, ghee and yeast. Like any other traditional bread, naan is also fermented with yeast and needs to rest for rising. The secret of soft non chewy naan is high temperature and fast cooking; that is why naan is cooked in tandoor oven. This puffy flat bread literally has the cotton like texture inside and bit crunchy on the outside. A good naan should be felt like buttery touch in mouth. Naan is served with Indian curries or dal (lentils) on meal. Or sometimes naan can be enjoyed as snack with little bit of chaat masala over a cup of tea.

I was never a fan of Indian food while growing up (in Kolkata) but I always had my own 2-3 preferences. After shifting here in Maharashtra I have almost forgotten what good Bengali cooking is (but I had seen worst here) and my craving got the speed of bolt (Usain Bolt of course). Recently when trial of Chicken Bharta Kolkata style was going on in my kitchen I knew I need something to go with it and it had to be Naan as I never had anything else with this preparation.

So I tried few yeast free (yeah still scared of the yeast monster) recipes and got stomach upset. Lactose intolerance and yogurt don’t go hands on hands you see! I searched more, desperately and got a solution to go dairy free, coconut cream and soy yogurt! I tried this recipe six times in past 3 weeks and finally got my measurements correct. I used this combination to balance the dominating coconut flavour. But I think any other dairy free cream and yogurt can be used for the same. If you try please update me with your experience I’ll include it in this recipe.

Watch my quick step by step video recipe on how to make perfect Yeast Free Tava Naan and Dairy Free without Tandoor oven (Coming Soon).

Read the entire recipe and tips carefully before you start cooking. Do make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (unless mentioned) and weighed or measured correctly in appropriate weighing machine or measuring instruments such as cups or spoons. Remember these are not our regular cups or spoons which we use in our daily life.

Storage & Serving:

Serve Tawa Naan hot, freshly cooked, always. But the dough can be stored in any air-tight container for 2-3 days in refrigerator.

Enjoy this Vegan Yeast free Naan with any Indian curry (vegetarian or non-vegetarian). Chicken Bharta, Chicken Do Pyaza, Mutton Rezala or Keema Matar will be perfect pair with Yeast Free Naan.

Do not forget to serve with dollop of butter or ghee (clarified butter). Naan can be enjoyed as snack with some chaat masala and salad on side.

Yeast Free Naan can be refrigerated for one day only if wrapped in foil or cling film and stored in air-tight container. It will be bit chewy if not reheated properly before serving.

Variations:

1. Unlike traditional naan recipe whole wheat flour can be combined in 1:1 ratio with maida or all-purpose flour.
2. Use ½ tsp of sugar while kneading the dough if you want a slight touch of sweetness in naan.
3. Sprinkle chopped garlic or dry fruits on top of naan while cooking for variations.
4. Stuff naan with your desired stuffing and make stuffed naan .
5. Any dairy free cream and yogurt can be used for this.
6. I combined coconut cream and soy yogurt to cut down the dominating flavour of coconut, if you won’t mind that extra coconutty kick, you can use coconut yogurt.

Yeast Free Naan Recipe | Tawa Naan | Vegan Tava Naan without Tandoor Oven

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Rimli

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 8-10 pcs Naan

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: 2 cups
• Baking powder: ½ tsp
• Baking soda: ¼ tsp
• Salt: ½ tsp
• Oil or clarified butter (ghee): ¼ cup
• Coconut cream: ¼ cup
• Soy yogurt: ¼ cup
• Water: ¼ cup
• To Serve:
• Nigella seeds (kalonji)
• Chopped coriander leaves
• Melted butter or ghee (clarified butter)

Instructions

1. Begin with kneading dough. Whisk coconut cream and yogurt together in a bowl and keep aside until needed.
2. Sieve the flour & salt together in a large bowl.
3. Make well in the center of the flour and pour oil/clarified butter (ghee) in to the well. (See Notes)
4. Mix all together with your palms in such a way that it looks like crumble.
5. Again make a well in the middle; pour coconut cream-yogurt mixture and mix gently with your fingers to mix. (See Notes)
6. Once everything is mixed add water little by little and knead the dough. The dough will be sticky unlike our regular dough for poori or roti so you may want to use a spatula for this.
7. Once you are done cover the dough with damp kitchen towel and seal the bowl with lid. This dough needs to rest for 2-3 hrs. But if you are in hurry wait at least for 30 mins. (See Notes)
8. Next is rolling Naan. After resting period is over sprinkle some flour on dough and knead once again. It will be bit sticky and that's the way it should be for a perfect Naan.
9. Apply little oil on your palms and make small balls from the dough. (See Notes)
10. Take each ball at a time and sprinkle little nigella seeds on top. Flatten the top and roll it with a rolling pin carefully. Don’t stretch it too much; instead press with your fingers. Naans are always found in oblong shape but round like roti is also fine.
11. It should be larger and thicker than ordinary roti.
12. Finally (and most important), cooking Naan. Heat a heavy duty iron tawa on medium flame. Trust me when a non-stick pan freak like me says iron tawa nothing but iron will work here! (See Notes)
13. Cook naan for 2-4 mins or until bubbles come out. Allow the naan to puff up.
14. Then flip the naan and place it directly on high flame with the help of a tong and allow to get brown spots or slightly charred.
15. Remove the naan from flame quickly & serve with melted butter or ghee immediately. You may sprinkle chopped coriander on warm naan before serving.
16. Follow the same way to make all the naan and serve them immediately.

Notes

1. Moyan (adding fat into flour) plays an important role in kneading dough for Naan. It will ensure soft pliable dough.
2. The right amount of water is required to knead perfect dough. While too much water can turn it into a muddy mess, little water can also make dough hard and tough.
3. Always allow the covered dough to rest for enough time. It will help the gluten to make dough super soft.
4. Naan dough is sticky so apply few drops of oil on rolling board.
5. Non-stick tawa won’t produce enough heat in a quick moment to create bubbles or puff the naan.

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