Tandoori Naan Bread Curry House Style

Tandoori naan bread without a tandoor oven can be tricky, but my recipe and techniques aim to recreate that British Indian curry house style.

This recipe will make 8 "appropriately" sized naan, but feel free to go bigger and they freeze wonderfully!

The Naan, King Of Indian Flatbread

I am from Birmingham, and if Brum was a country Chicken Balti & fresh naan bread would likely have been the national dish during my yoof.

Every single visit to an Indian "curry house" consisted of poppadoms, kachumber salad, raita & followed by onion bhaji, then a curry and the majestic tandoori naan bread.

If you are here, you don't need me to explain how good a fresh plain naan is! Slathered in ghee and ready to perform all the heavy lifting for your curry sauce.

Any curry house worth its weight in salt cooks these delicious flatbreads in a tandoor oven. A clay pot with a fire at the base.

They reach a beastly temperature of 500°C or around 950°F. The breads are slapped on the side the base, cooking on the wall, and the presentation side blisters in the fierce dry heat.

Achieving this at home is no mean feat!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it better to make the dough by hand or with a mixer?

The making of the dough really is very simple and requires no special skills.

If you have made any bread in the past, then you are already overqualified, and I have not noticed any difference in the bread made by either method!

I typically use a stand mixer with a dough hook to make this because it contains the mess. However, it is easy to make by hand, you just have more cleaning to do.

Do I have to use a blow torch and pizza steel?

The technique in this recipe aims to "fake up" a tandoor oven.

As a result, your oven needs to be as hot as it can be, but you also need something in there to simulate the walls of a tandoor.

I use a pizza steel, a pizza stone will also work, as will a heavy baking tray or even a heavy-based frying pan.

I also use a plumber's blow torch to apply hotspots to the bread and encourage it to bubble and "delaminate", it will take 15-20 seconds to apply 3 or 4 hot spots, then close the oven.

Can I freeze these naan breads?

I ALWAYS have a stash of these in my freezer because they freeze and reheat wonderfully.

When the homemade naan comes out of the oven wrap them in a clean tea towel until cooked. Then place them in a bag in your serving size and freeze.

To reheat, you can either defrost for best results or cook from frozen. Wrap them in foil, leaving some air in the foil tent and drop in the oven at 150-160°C or 300-320°F and cook for either 10-12 minutes or 20-25 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

As for serving suggestions, well, curry of course! In case you had not noticed I have a few.

I have everything from chicken tikka masala, chicken rezala to achar gosht and chicken keema, chicken chasni to shahi paneer. Simply click on "Curry Corner" in my menu, and you have over 100 to choose from.

They also make a fun "sandwich" to hold my magical fish finger and bean curry.

You can even make homemade naan bread pizza, but only when you have finished my curry list!

If you want to go really left field, how about changing up my masala baked beans on toast recipe by serving it with naan instead of bread?

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Oven.
• Plumbers blowtorch (Optional).
• Pizza stone, steel or heavy baking tray.
• Mixing bowl or stand mixer.
• Rolling pin.
• Kitchen tongs.
• Small saucepan or microwave to heat the milk a little.
• Weighing scales and or measuring jug, cups and spoons.