Healthy Wholemeal Naan with sourdough starter (without tandoor oven)

Naan is a flat bread made from refined white flour that is leavened with yeast traditionally using wild yeast and lactobacilli from yoghurt. The dough is then cooked in Tandoor/clay ovens. However, it can made at home using conventional ovens by grilling or broiling the dough. It can also be made on stove top without oil and, personally, I prefer this method since it works out quicker for me. Naan can be found in most Indian restaurant and whenever we order a take out or eat out Naz usually prefers naan since it is "softer". I generally do not make it often at home and prefer to eat Tandoori rotis as a healthier option even when eating out. With all of us slowly getting better from the flu, I thought I will treat us all to soft Naan, but, with healthier wholemeal. The trouble with using wholemeal flour is that it does not have as much gluten as white flour and hence needs extra help to get it softer. So this wholemeal version works best with sourdough starter than with commercial yeast. This recipe can be adapted to make traditional Naan by replacing wholemeal flour with white flour and sourdough starter with 1 packet rapid raise yeast. Before I go to the recipe, I will tell you the end result of my experiment. All of us enjoyed the wholemeal naan very much with Naz commenting that he could not believe that it was wholemeal with it being "so soft". Nor could he get the "sourdough" taste. I had mentioned in the sourdough starter recipe that it is versatile and can be used in pretty much anything that uses yeast. This experiment of mine goes to show that it can be used even in recipes that are challenging for commercial yeast. Again, I have used my sourdough starter before and am sure that it works well. But if you are unsure about your starter or using it for the first time, you can add a 1/2 tsp of yeast to help with the raising just in case. Here is the recipe:


You will need:
200 g wholemeal flour
200 g white flour
200 g sourdough starter
salt to taste
water to make dough
1 tsp oil






As with all roti recipe, my expert dough mixer, Anjalie helped me with this one too. In a large mixing bowl add and mix all the dry ingredients.

Add the sourdough starter and add little water at a time to make a soft but slightly sticky dough. Doughs made from sourdough starters tend to be sticky. But they turn out great!

Add the tsp of oil and roll the dough around to coat it. Cover and leave to raise for 2-4 hrs. It entirely depends on how long your starter needs so look for the dough to double in size.

Here is mine after 2 hrs!

Divide the dough into 8-10 pieces and roll them out into circles of 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. More thick it is the fluffier the naan! Cover and leave to raise for 20 mins. Mean while, preheat the oven to grill/broil. Place the rotis in a baking sheet (preferably pizza stone) lined with parchment paper and broil for 3-5 mins until top is golden brown. Remember not to place it too close to the top rack to avoid burning.

Now for the stove top method: Heat the tawa/skillet (no oil) to medium-low and cook each side of the naan for 30 secs to 1 min.

Increase heat to high and cook for another min on each side until the naan puffs up and raises up.

When it puffs up fully remove from heat. You can rub with butter or ghee if you prefer when it is hot. Serve warm with your favourite curry.




Sending this one to April edition of Healthy Me & Healthy Us event hosted by Priya.