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Sunday, January 3, 2016

Homemade Spelt Naan

Ahhh naan, it's the reason you go to an Indian restaurant, especially if they have a tandoor oven in which they make this fresh, delicious flat bread. You would think that it could only be made well in such a specialized oven, but fear not dear reader, you too can make delicious naan at home!

It does really help if you have a cast iron flat pan or griddle, but supposedly you can make it on a pizza stone as well (this sounds totally reasonable to me, although I have never tried it.)

When wheat and I parted ways, spelt came to my rescue and this is my version of naan with white spelt flour. As usual, it requires a little less liquid in the dough, but still makes a wonderfully chewy naan that everyone really appreciated!

Spelt Naan 
(makes 6-8 pieces)

1/3 cup hot tap water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups white spelt flour (plus more for shaping)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons plain yogurt (greek is ok but add a little more water to compensate)
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a mixing bowl combine sugar and water and stir to combine. Add yeast and let sit until it becomes frothy, about 5 minutes. In another bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder and whisk to combine well. Add yeast mixture along with oil and yogurt and combine gently with rubber spatula to make soft dough. Don't over mix, just until flour is absorbed. Cover with a damp dish cloth and allow to rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. Remember, spelt rises fast so keep an eye on it.

Once doubled in size, heat flat top skillet over medium heat for at least 15 minutes. Moisten your hands with cold water and break off a fist size piece of dough; it will be sticky. Flatten it between your hands, stretching it gently into a tear-drop shape; if it tears, just repair the hole. Place it on the skillet and cover with a pot cover, glass if possible. Allow to cook for at least 3-4 minutes; it should bubble up and begin to look like cooked dough. Flip it once it has some nice browned or black spot and cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Place in foil in a low oven to keep it warm and repeat with remaining dough. Serve immediately. Any leftovers make great pizza crusts!

Hugs!

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