Garlic Naan (Pizza Oven)

Soft, blistered naan made with milk and yoghurt, baked in a pizza oven with the flame turned low, then brushed with browned garlic butter.

Untested: I have not cooked this one yet — the pizza oven has not been bought. It is here for the Pizza Ovens dive, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

Dough

• 450 g bread flour
• 15 g fine sea salt
• 225 ml whole milk
• 150 g whole-milk yoghurt
• 8 g golden caster sugar
• 2 g fresh yeast (or 1 g instant)

Garlic butter

• 250 g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce

½ head garlic

• 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Garlic butter. Melt the butter, skim off the milk solids, and keep cooking until deep yellow — almost brown. Off the heat, add the soy sauce (it spits). Cool a few minutes, grate in the garlic and add the parsley. It keeps about 6 weeks in the refrigerator.
2. Dough. Warm the milk to about 120 °F (50 °C) and beat in the yoghurt and sugar. Check it has cooled below 85 °F (30 °C) before adding the yeast. Add the flour and salt and knead 4–5 minutes, rest 10, then mix 1 minute more.
3. Ferment in an oiled container 16–24 hours at room temperature.
4. Ball. Divide into 160 g balls and let them relax 2–3 hours.
5. Heat the oven until fully hot, then turn the flame to its lowest.
6. Shape each ball by hand into a teardrop. Spritz the top with water.
7. Bake in the front third of the oven, turning, about 3½ minutes. Brush generously with garlic butter as soon as it comes out.

Notes

Source Adapted from “Garlic Naan,” on Gozney’s recipe pages. Gozney gives no oven temperature — only “fully saturated with heat,” then the flame at its lowest.

Tandoor naan Naan is traditionally slapped onto the inside wall of a tandoor. A pizza oven bakes it on the floor instead.

The Pizza Ovens dive on the Food site covers the oven, the fire and the dough in depth.