Plain Indian Naan (印度烤饼)

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 5 cup bread flour
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tsp sugar
• 2 Tsp veggie or olive oil
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 3/4 cup room temperature water

Others:

• 1/3 cup of veggie or olive oil - to rub the dough

Tools:

• Pizza Stone or Non-stick cookie sheet
• Pizza peel or 8" metal mesh strainer & the cloth big enough to cover and wrap the strainer

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix plain yogurt, water, sugar, salt, oil and yeast
2. Add bread flour to the mixture.  Use spatula to combine them altogether.  Stop when the all of the flour combine to the mixture and you no longer see the dry flour.  This is a wet and sticky dough.
3. Rest the dough for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, knead the dough for one and a half minute.  Before kneading the dough, rub both hands thoroughly with dry flour to help dough not to stick too much to your hand.  During the kneading, ocassionally rub your hand with dry flour as needed or whenever the dough sticks too much to your hand.
5. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and will need to rest the dough for another 1 1/2 hour.  When it is about an hour, knead the dough for another one and a half minute.  Again, rub both hands with dry flour prior kneading the dough.  After kneading, cover it back with the pastic wrap and let it rest for the reamining 30 minutes.
6. Set aside 1/3 cup of oil in a small bowl.
7. Divide the dough into 12 small equal pieces after 1 1/2 hour of resting.
8. Get the wooden cutting board and brush its surface with oil.
9.  Rub both hands thoroughly with oil. Take each small dough piece and make it a round shape.  Once done, transfer it onto the cutting board.  Generously rub the dough with oil and let it rest there.  Repeat this step for all remaining dough peices.
10. Cover dough pieces with the plastic wrap.  Rest them for another 30 minutes.
11. Place pizza stone in the middle rack of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 550F degree. If your oven has the top rack, remove it to allow more room for placing dough during the baking process later.
12. If you have the pizza peel, skip this step.  About 5 or 10 minutes before baking, prepare a tool which will help place the dough onto the pizza stone or the cookie sheet.  Keep in mind that the oven is very hot so you need something which help you place the dough from a little distance.  Damp the cloth kitchen towel or a piece of clean cloth.   Flip over the mesh strainer.  The round arch shape should be facing to you. Then cover the cloth around the mesh strainer, wrap it and tie a knot at the bottom.

For the best result, use the pizza stone.  If you don't have the pizza stone, use the non-stick cookie baking sheet instead.  Place the cookie sheet upside down to allow easier placing the dough.

Putting Everything Together:

1. Take a piece of dough out.  Flatten the dough using your palm.  At the beginning, it will be about 3-4 inch diameter.  Use your finger tips and gently stretch it outward around the dough until you get about 8 to 10 inch diameter.  During the stretching process, try to make it a round shape or an oval shape whichever shape you prefer.
2. Place the dough onto the peel or the tool that was created at step#12 above.
3. Carefully place the dough onto the pizza stone or the cookie sheet.  Bake for about 4-5 minutes each.  Adjust the baking time according to your desired crispness.  If you prefer the soft Naan, 2-3 minutes baking time should be enough.