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Fluffy, soft and so delicious tastes the Indian flatbread from the pan. Simple and with few ingredients you can make the naan bread yourself according to this vegan recipe, which tastes just as delicious as in the Indian restaurant. It is ideal as a side dish with a soup, with a warm curry or dal and as a snack with a dip, with herb or garlic butter in between. You can find a detailed vegan naan recipe with exact quantities and step-by-step instructions here at the very bottom.
What is naan?
Naan is a popular Indian flatbread that is also common in other Asian countries. The dough for naan bread is a yeast dough prepared with yogurt. The lactic acid bacteria make the bread particularly fluffy. There are also naan recipes with baking powder instead of yeast. Traditionally, Indian flatbread is baked in a tandoor (clay oven). Translated from Persian, the word “naan” simply means “bread”.
Why make naan bread yourself?
Of course, you can simply buy Indian naan. After all, it is offered in stores. But the Indian bread from the supermarket contains unhealthy additives and ingredients that you probably don’t want in your food. For your homemade naan bread, you decide what goes into the dough. Plus, you can make it vegan. The vegan naan bread recipe is simple, and it takes hardly any effort to prepare. So why not make it yourself!!!
How to make naan bread: according to the original recipe
If you don’t want to make the Indian flatbread vegan, you can replace the vegetable ingredients in the recipe with animal ones. Instead of plant milk, just use cow’s milk. Instead of vegan plain yogurt, use dairy-based plain yogurt. That’s it. Everything else remains as indicated in the recipe below. But I can assure you that the vegan naan tastes just as delicious as the original with animal products.
Indian naan bread without yeast
Don’t have time to wait for the yeast dough to rise? Or you just don’t want to use yeast for the Indian flatbread from the pan? Then you can make it without yeast and with baking powder instead. For the recipe below you need 9 g baking powder. You can omit the sugar in this case.
Note that Indian naan tastes better when it is made with yeast. It is fluffier and softer than naan bread with baking powder. Especially in the next few days, Indian flatbread with baking powder gets a little dry.
To prepare naan bread without yeast: this is how it works
As for the ingredient list, you just replace yeast with baking powder and omit sugar. Everything else remains as it is specified. Then, when preparing, you must first mix the dry ingredients and then add the liquid ones, so:
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt. So that your dough doesn’t get too dry, it’s best to use a little less flour first and add some more as needed while kneading.
- Add vegan plain yogurt, vegetable milk and olive oil and knead it into a soft dough that is not dry, but not sticky either. You don’t need to knead this dough for about 7 minutes, like you do with yeast dough. It is enough to knead all the ingredients into a homogeneous dough.
- Now you can divide the dough into pieces, roll out into patties and fry.
Serve Indian flatbread from the pan
The vegan naan goes perfectly with warm Indian or other main dishes. For example, you can serve it as a side dish with vegan Indian chickpea curry. It also tastes delicious with a soup or with a salad. And of course, the vegan Indian flatbread is perfect for snacking in between meals – with various dips, for example homemade hummus, spices and fresh herbs. Indian naan tastes best still warm directly from the pan.
Serve the Indian flatbread thus:
- as a side dish with warm main dishes or soups,
- as a snack with dips, garlic or herb butter,
- with fresh herbs or spices.
Storing Indian flatbread
Naan tastes best immediately after frying, when it is still warm. However, if not eaten right away, store the flatbread in an airtight container, such as a Tupperware, in the refrigerator. It will keep for about a week. Before serving, you can warm up the naan bread briefly in the oven. However, make sure it doesn’t burn or get too dry.
Naan bread recipe
You can find the exact quantities and step-by-step instructions to make the naan bread vegan yourself below in the box recipe.
The recipe for Indian naan vegan is quite simple. You only need a few common ingredients that you might already have at home. The preparation is also quick. Only for the rising of the yeast dough you need to plan enough time.
For the Indian flatbread from the pan you need
- vegetable milk,
- vegetable yogurt,
- flour,
- yeast,
- some olive oil,
- a small amount of sugar
- and a little salt.
As vegetable milk I had used lupin drink. But you can take any, for example, almond milk, soy or oat drink. Plant-based natural yogurt is available in soy or coconut base, among others. The important thing is that plant milk is lukewarm and the yogurt is room temperature. For this naan bread recipe, I had used dry yeast. If you use fresh yeast, you need 25 g of it. After frying, you can brush the Indian flatbread with a little olive oil, so that it shines and also tastes soft on the outside.
How to make naan bread: this is how it works
- Mix lukewarm vegetable milk, sugar and yeast and let the yeast mixture rest for 10 minutes.
- Add vegan plain yogurt, olive oil and salt and mix.
- Add flour and knead into a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Divide the yeast dough into pieces, roll out each piece into a thin patty and pan fry until golden brown on both sides. Your Indian naan is ready!
This naan bread is
- vegan – without animal products,
- fluffy,
- soft,
- delicious,
- like in an Indian restaurant,
- from the pan,
- ideal as a side dish to warm meals,
- perfect as a snack between meals,
- suitable to take away or for a party,
- easy to make from common ingredients.
How to make naan: with these tips and tricks you will succeed
- As vegetable milk go, for example, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, oat milk or lupin drink.
- Instead of plant milk you can use water.
- If you don’t necessarily want the naan bread to be vegan, you can use cow’s milk instead of plant milk and regular yogurt instead of vegan plain yogurt, which you can make yourself by the way.
- It is important that plant milk (or water, cow’s milk) for the yeast dough is lukewarm, so that yeast can develop its effect properly. If it is hot or cold, the dough may not rise.
- (Vegan) natural yogurt for the dough must be room warm.
- With a small amount of sugar, yeast can better develop their effect. That’s why a teaspoon of sugar goes into the dough.
- Instead of dry yeast you can use fresh yeast. For the recipe below you need 25 g of fresh yeast. You dissolve the fresh yeast just like dry yeast in lukewarm vegetable milk together with sugar.
- To give the dough the right consistency, add flour little by little. The amount of flour may vary. The dough should be soft and not too firm or dry.
- It is important to knead the dough for about 7 minutes so that the naan bread later tastes fluffy and soft.
- Let the yeast dough rise in a warm place. To do this, place the mixing bowl with the dough on the second shelf from the bottom in the oven (do not turn on the oven!) and place a bowl of hot water on the bottom of the oven (keep the oven door closed afterwards). In this way you create an ideal climate for the yeast dough – with sufficient heat and moisture.
- You can roll out the patties either oval or round – it’s up to your taste.
- If you use a large pan, you can simultaneously fry several patties together side by side in the pan.
- To keep your naan bread warm and soft until serving, cover it with a towel immediately after frying.
Did you make Indian naan using this recipe? I look forward to your result, your star rating and your comment on the recipe below, how you succeeded and tasted the vegan flatbread.
Naan bread vegan
Equipment
- coated pan
Ingredients
- 140 ml vegetable milk (lukewarm)
- 60 g natural vegetable yogurt (e.g. soy yogurt)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 g dry yeast
- approx. 300 g flour
for coating
- olive oil
Instructions
- Mix lukewarm vegetable milk, sugar and dry yeast in a mixing bowl and let it rest covered in a warm place for 10 minutes.
- Add vegetable natural yogurt, olive oil and salt and mix.
- Add flour in batches and knead it into a soft dough. The dough should be soft, not dry, but not too sticky. The amount of flour given may vary. (Note the detailed tips and tricks for this here at the top of the post.) Then knead the dough for about 7 minutes, cover it with a towel, and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and roll each piece out to about 0.3 cm thick to form an oval or round patty.
- Fry the patties in a dry, coated pan, first on one side, then on the other, until brown spots appear on them.
- Brush the hot patties with olive oil immediately after frying.
Notes
- Instead of plant milk, you can use water.
- It is important that vegetable milk (or water) for the yeast dough is lukewarm.
- (Vegan) natural yogurt for the dough must be at room temperature.
- Fresh yeast can also be used instead of dry yeast. For the recipe then 25 g of it are needed.
- To give the dough the right consistency, add flour little by little. It should be soft and not too firm or dry.
- It is important to knead the yeast dough for about 7 minutes and let it rise quietly in a warm place.
- To keep the naan bread warm and soft until serving, cover it with a towel immediately after frying.
- Note the detailed tips and tricks for making vegan naan bread at the top of the post.