Naan bread: Feel the fear and cook it anyway, episode 6


As recipes go, the idea of making naan bread has always given me the fear.

Don't get me wrong, I love eating it, but it's very rarely found in its vegan form. So, when I stumbled across a recipe for naan bread that was egg-free, dairy-free and all the rest, I knew I had to get involved and satisfy my naan needs.

Despite the fact that the recipe looked like it would take forever to make, I decide to make it because, well... dudes, just check out the recipe and tell me you don't want to make it too: chec it out - it's Dan Lepard's chickpea naan roll.

It's a glorious dish - a single hand-sized package of naan-y outside and chickpea curry insides. And, handily, it's all vegan to begin with - no egg replacers or any of that malarkey required.

Still, if you're one of those annoying people that says nothing good is ever easy, then this one's for you: it's good, but it's definitely not easy.  It's a lot of stirring, kneading, waiting, scraping dough scraps off your hands, worktop, and random areas it's found its way into, and then staring expectantly into the oven while it all cooks. But it's worth it.

Actually, I'm lying a bit there: the dough feels like it's hard work because it take ages to make, but most of the time you spend on it is time spent waiting for it to rise. The waiting time also gives you a bit of a gap to make the filling - a mix of chickpeas, veggies and spices (I added some red lentils in, because, well - most things go better with red lentils. Except Greco-Roman wrestling arenas and red lentil allergy cures.)

What's actually hardest about making naan is trying to roll out the sticky dough without it attaching to other bits of itself, yourself, the rolling pin, passers-by etc etc. and then putting enough filling inside the dough so that it's nicely stuffed, but not too much that it will burst when cooking.

But, let me say it again - it's all worth it. If you can brave it, you'll end up with a dainty little all-in-one parcels of curry and naan that you can stick in your lunchbox and impress your vegan and omni friends alike.

Naan, consider yourself vanquished!



Comments

  1. That looks delicious! I've never made naan bread before so this will have to go on my ist of things to try :)

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  2. Well done. Cooking can't be easy all the time — what would be the fun in that? :)
    Now you can tackle anything. I'm considering making dosa, but all the hours of soaking and fermenting have me on pause for the moment.

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  3. Yummy! I love that Dan Lepard writes all these vegan recipes :D
    Another one adding it to their "must-try" list here!

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  4. Sweet baby jesus those look good! I'm all over the stuff stuffed inside of other stuff meals but sometimes laziness wins out and I end up making a wrap, so boring. I totally want to make these, as long as it's not complicated and is only time consuming I think I can handle it :)

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  5. This looks delicious! And you're right, I am a bit fearful of making bready things. Wanna just send some my way? :-)

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  6. A naan wrap -- what a brilliant and delicious idea! And perfect for the lunchbox.

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  7. Holy naan, that looks fantastic! I am not kitchen-technique-blessed in the bread department, so serious applause from here!

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  8. I never see vegan naan bread. That's so awesome you went to all the trouble and effort to make it. It looks great! :-)

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  9. I've made naan a few times before, it is time-consuming with the waiting, but I make bread fairly often so it's not that different. Never stuffed it before though! Like an Indian pizza pop. :) It works really well if you cook (unstuffed) naan on a super hot pizza stone right under the element, the heat causes it to puff up, it's so cool. :)

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  10. Anything encased in bread is delicious, but curried chickpeas more so than most things! That said, I've only made things of this ilk (hand-held apple pies, empanadas, pierogi) a few times because there's so much work involved. It's the kind of thing I dream about working on in big batches, so that I can freeze half of it for an easy treat later. I'm glad all of the work was worth it! :)

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  11. Ooo, that looks good! Isn't naan the bread that the cooks slap on the sides of an oven pit to cook?

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  12. I've made stuffed parathas before and naan topped with garlic but have never thought to make stuffed naans - what a fantastic idea! My better half actually sent me a link to this naan recipe a while back as he was keen on me making it and I can't believe I didn't scroll past the top part of the recipe - totally missed the chickpea stuffing!

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  13. I have to say they look VERY impressive. My vegan friend at work also swears by a Dan Leopard nan and pitta bread recipe.

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  14. We've tried making naan bread from BBC recipes and guess what, that was the same guy and the article. It was pretty good so far. You can check it out here: http://instagram.com/p/cVKbmuKaox/

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  15. I would never have the patience, but I'm glad you did; those are beautiful and, I'm sure, totally tasty.

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  16. Fantastic! I too love naan but haven't felt compelled to make my own... Yet. Now that I've seen these stuffed naan roll, there's much more merit in whipping some up from scratch, since you simply won't find these anywhere else. This recipe is officially going on the to-do list.

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  17. Oh good idea to pack that for lunch. Would make all the colleagues jealous!

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  18. What a great idea!!! Looks delicious

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  19. Love naan! I am usually too lazy to make it. Yours looks naan-tastic [groan!]

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  20. this looks so delicious and so impressive - I don't find bread baking too difficult but the idea of stuffing bread is enough to have me running screaming!

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