Peshwari or Sweet Naan

I missed my boys last week.  They headed out early Weds. morning in search of "food storage".  Hunting birds with grandpa and Uncle Eric is always a favorite thing for my boys.  There's a lot of driving involved, and a lot of talking, joking, movie watching, and walking their guts out.    The results  of a houseful of boys hunting, is a handful of girls left home, on their own, with cooking on their minds.  Emma has got the bug.  She loves to "make something delicious!" as she puts it.  So Fri. afternoon she made her favorite meal.  Chicken Tikka Masala.  My favorite part of the whole meal is the Naan bread we make to go with it.  Of course it's an improvisation of the original.  I don't have a Tandoori oven, and I don't usually think far enough ahead to make the Naan that takes hours, but I do have an incredible 5 minute version of Naan.  I've posted this recipe before, but today we're going to be talking about Peshwari or Sweet Naan.

I could live on this stuff.  As long as I had some of this delicious flat bread, and a big pot of sauce to dunk it in, I could be happy forever.   The first time I had Naan it was of course Garlic Naan.  It was wonderful, but the next visit to an Indian restaurant, the Tandoori Oven here in Logan, I decided to order the Sweet Naan.  I loved it!  The sweetness was perfect.  Nothing too sweet just right.  The sweetness come from a mixture of raisins, nuts (I use cashews) and coconut.  It's just a great mix rolled inside the dough and then cooked.  When I make it at home I usually take a tablespoon sized clump of the raisin, nut, coconut mix and place it in the middle of a dough ball.  I then pinch the sides together and then roll the dough out.  This works magic as the sweet paste is spread all the way through the dough.  Cook as directed and then brush with butter and a little shredded coconut and you will be in Sweet Naan heaven.

My brother made this recipe the last time I posted it and it didn't turn out so well.  I think the part that didn't work was his use of cooking spray.  He sprayed his fry pan before the dough went in.  Don't worry about spray.  All you need it a hot dry pan.  I promise it will work magic.  I'm also going to leave a link to the Chicken Tikka Masala recipe we love.  It's from The Pioneer Woman and we love it!  Enjoy!

5 Minute Quick Naan Bread! 

Courtesy of (Never-Home) Maker

What you'll need . . .

1 cup bread flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch salt

2/3 cup water

extra flour for rolling

Method . . .

Whisk together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Add the water and stir. Then knead with your hands for a minute or two. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

Dough should be smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 balls.

Roll out each ball until it is about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.

Heat a large frying pan until nice and hot.  When hot, place one of the pre- naans (the rolled out dough) on it.  *Do Not add any cooking spray or oil of any sort.  The bread just needs dry, hot heat.  Press down a bit with your hands or a utensil. Cook until golden.  It usually only take 2-3 minutes per side.  You want some browned spots on your Naan. 

Then flip and cook until golden.  If you have a gas stove, I grab the Naan when it's about done and put it directly over the gas flame.  I loved the charred marks.  Repeat with remaining pieces.

Use a pizza cutter to cut each piece into 4 triangles if you want.

This recipe made 4 perfect sized Naan's. 

To make the Sweet Naan I took a handful of raisins, and handful of coconut, and a handful of cashews and buzzed them in a food processor with a little water until a rough paste formed.  I then put a tablespoon full of paste in the middle of a dough ball.  Folded it over and sealed the edges so the paste was inside the dough.  Then you roll the dough out as directed and cook as directed.  When the bread was done we brushed with butter and sprinkled some more coconut on top.  Yum!! 

Here's the link to the Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe!

It's awesome!!