Naan Bread

I was craving curry tonight, so I decided to make my quick curry and vegetables. This time I decided to make some naan bread from scratch, the only problem was I was working late and so I had Nick prepare the dough for me, not too shabby. It was quite easy to make, only problem is it obviously needs to be prepared 3 hours before you eat since you have to account for the rising time.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 tsps yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

optional garlic oil topping (combine all ingredients together):
2 tbsp oil or melted butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp freshly chopped coriander leaves

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast with the flour, salt, and sugar. (If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to activate it before combining with the rest of the ingredients.)
2. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon until you form a ball. Add water if needed to get all the flour mixed into the ball of dough.
3. Once all of the ingredients form a ball, remove the paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook attachment.
4. Knead the dough at low speed for approximately 10 minutes.
5. After kneading, place the ball of dough in a lightly oiled bowl and roll the dough inside the bowl around to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until it doubles in size (roughly 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours).
6. When doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape. While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your naan.

7. After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface. Set a ball of dough on the floured surface. Flour the top of the dough, as well as your rolling pin or hands. Stretch and flatten the dough with your rolling pin/hands and roll out the dough to a 1/8 - 1/4 inch thickness. If the dough is too tough to stretch, cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
8. Open the oven and place as many naan as you can fit on the hot baking surface. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the garlic oil. Return to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes, enough to warm the garlic oil.
9. Serve alongside your most favorite Indian dishes. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/08/garlic-naan.html