naan bread*

We made this yummy naan bread to go with our chicken tikka masala last Friday. I am telling you this recipe is easy easy easy! I have only made homemade bread...well, I can count on one hand how many times I have made homemade bread - so if you are a beginner bread maker, this recipe is for you! Plus, I made this for about 180 people on my first attempt, so I have total faith that you can make this for your family!

It is pretty good and definitely reminded me of the naan bread at Bombay House, although I am sure that if it were baked in a tandoori oven that it would taste even that much more authentic. But I was pretty pleased for our first go-round! We made the dough balls a little smaller than they needed to be, so next time we can almost double them and still have enough dough. It's always hard to estimate making that much bread we will need for that many people, but next time we will have it right on! Oh, and I would highly suggest that you add the garlic into the dough. It's pretty amazing!!

Naan Bread
from allrecipes.com

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Yummy yummy in my tummy. This bread is excellent when trying to scoop up the extra sauce from the chicken tikka masala! I think I could possibly live off this meal for the rest of my life. As long as it was served with basmati rice. Seriously. It's good. Add ice cream of dessert and that would do it. My forever meal.

Speaking of ice cream for dessert, I found a recipe the other day where you can make homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker!! It has my name written all over it! And just in time because I told Landon that my next kitchen accessory would be an ice cream maker. However, my cupboard space is limited so if this recipe turns out to be as amazing as I hope it will be, I may have a new obsession in life. Imagine the mix-ins...! Nutella, hot fudge, chocolate chips, peanut butter, Oreos, fresh raspberries, caramel, Reese's Pieces, grasshopper cookies, Caramellos - ok ok I'm done. I am trying to be on a 30 day sugar fast because I seriously have a problem with sweet treats, but I told myself I can have some sugar on the weekends or I may die (why risk it?). This weekend - homemade ice cream w/out the maker. I am counting the days/hours/minutes. Stay tuned...

-alyssa*