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Pakistani Cooking

My experience of Pakistani cooking is that of a cuisine that varies according to the time of year as different ingredients come into play. Cucumbers for instance are only available for a few weeks, while other things such as dhal are for sale every day. It can be absolutely delicious, even in quite poor homes, because they know well how to use spices and herbs to make what are often very basic ingredients into something special. Yet, although recipes are passed down within a family they often don’t get any further.

Naan

Naan is a type of bread made with yoghurt that is a speciality of the North West frontier region near the Afghan border. The locals make it in a special pot bellied clay oven, but I find that it can be produced in quite ordinary ovens. Some would say that you need special flour and any oriental grocer will be able to supply this, but it works well with any bread flour, white, brown or a mixture.

Pakistani Cooking - Naan Recipe

To make 4 portions you need to think ahead a little as it will take about 10 minutes to prepare, 10 minutes to cook and you will also need proving time, which will vary a little according to your room temperature or whether you leave the dough overnight in the fridge.

300g or 10 oz of strong white flour - you could substitute some of this with gram flour (made from chickpeas) or with wholemeal.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 sachet of easy blend yeast.
4 large tablespoons of plain yoghurt at room temperature is best, but it seems to work almost as well when I’m in a hurry and take it straight from the fridge as long as you mix it with the flour before mixing with the yeast mixture.
1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
4 tablespoons of hand warm milk.
Melted ghee, butter or a little oil for brushing loaves.

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the center into which you add the yeast, milk and yoghurt and oil. Mix to make a soft dough. If your hands get sticky rub them with more flour. Don’t wash them as this is adding extra fluid. Knead until smooth and then leave to rise until mixture doubles in size. Depending upon the temperature this takes any time from 20 minutes upwards. Knock back the dough and hen divide into 4 portions. Roll each into the traditional teardrop shape ( although authentically this is caused by gravity when dough is slapped onto interior wall of the oven.) They should be about ¼ inch thick an d8 or 9 inches long. Leave for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven – 230C/450F/Gas 7. Put two oven trays in there to heat. Place the breads onto the trays and brush with butter/ghee or oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Variations

You could mix in chopped coriander or other herbs and spices. Another way is to cook up some sliced onions with garum masala or other spice mix. Place a quarter of this mixture on each piece of dough, fold over and then roll out until former size before letting rest until ready to bake.

This can be served with any curry dish instead of rice. Once made it will become a family favourite. Serve with any curry, some chutney and lassi ( a mixture of yoghurt, iced water and either just salt or the pulp of mango.

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