Naan Bread – Crust & Crumb Academy

Crust & Crumb Academy

Naan Bread

⏱

Prep

15 min

🍞

Fermentation

1–1.5 hrs

🔥

Cook

20 min

🎯

Yield

8 naan

💧

Hydration

~53%

🤝

Shaping & Cooking Tutorial

Oliver Wing @oliver-wing-7850 · Portugal

Chef since young, skilled in diverse cuisines — Asian, Thai, Indian, Portuguese and more. Passionate, creative, and always learning.

🍽 Join "Cooking with Ollie" on Skool →

Oliver breaks down exactly how to roll, shape, and cook naan on the skillet — including his layered paratha technique. Watch this before you start.

Tutorial by Oliver Wing · Cooking with Ollie on Skool

Restaurant-style naan from your cast iron skillet. No tandoor required.

Naan Dough

Metric	Volume	Ingredient
Naan Dough
375g	3 cups	Bread flour	100%
7g	2¼ tsp	{{Instant yeast}}	2%
10g	2 tsp	Granulated sugar	3%
6g	1 tsp	Fine sea salt	2%
120g	½ cup	Warm water	32%
80g	⅓ cup	Plain full-fat yogurt	21%
50g (1 large)	1 large	Large egg	13%
30g	2 tbsp	Olive oil or melted {{ghee}}	8%
Garlic Butter Finish
60g	4 tbsp	Unsalted butter, melted
3 cloves	3 cloves	Garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp	2 tbsp	Fresh cilantro
to taste	to taste	Flaky sea salt

Garlic Butter Finish

Metric	Volume	Ingredient
60g	4 tbsp	Unsalted butter, melted
—	3 cloves	Garlic, finely minced
—	2 tbsp	Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped
—	to taste	Flaky sea salt

Process

Bloom the Yeast 5–10 min

Combine warm water (105–110°F), instant yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir gently and let sit 5–10 minutes until foamy. If nothing happens after 10 minutes, your yeast is dead — toss it and start fresh.

Combine Wet Ingredients

Whisk the yogurt, egg, and olive oil into the yeast mixture until smooth.

Add Dry Ingredients

Add the flour and salt to the wet mixture. Stir with a fork or your hand until a shaggy dough forms.

Knead 5–6 min

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 5–6 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky. The dough should spring back when you poke it. If it's sticking, dust your hands — don't add more flour to the dough.

Form a Ball

Shape into a smooth ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel.

First Rise 1–1.5 hrs

Place covered bowl in a warm spot (75–80°F / 24–27°C). Let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1.5 hours. If your kitchen runs cool, turn your oven light on and place the bowl inside with the door cracked — free proofing box.

Punch Down & Divide

Gently deflate the dough by pressing it with your fingertips. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 8 equal pieces (about 75–80g each).

Ball & Rest 5 min

Roll each piece into a smooth ball, tucking edges under. Cover with a towel and rest 5 minutes. This brief rest relaxes the gluten and makes rolling easier.

Roll Out

Using a floured rolling pin, roll each ball into an oval or teardrop shape, about 6–7 inches long and roughly ¼ inch thick (5–6mm). Irregular shapes are part of the handmade character.

Preheat the Skillet 3–4 min

Place your cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for at least 3–4 minutes. It needs to be seriously hot — slight shimmer or wisps of smoke.

Cook First Side 1–2 min

Place one naan on the dry skillet (no oil). Cook 1–2 minutes until the bottom has golden-brown spots and you see large bubbles forming on the surface.

Flip 1–2 min

Flip and cook another 1–2 minutes until charred spots develop. Press gently with a spatula if large air pockets form.

Brush & Stack

Immediately brush with garlic butter, sprinkle with cilantro and flaky salt. Stack on a plate and cover with a clean towel to keep warm and pliable.

Baker's Percentages

Bread flour

100%

Instant yeast

Granulated sugar

Fine sea salt

Warm water

32%

Yogurt

21%

Egg

13%

Olive oil / ghee

📐 Learn How Baker's % Works →

🎬 Shaping Notes (from the Video)

Oliver uses a simple technique worth knowing before you touch the dough. Start with your 80g balls and a lightly floured surface. Apply pressure toward the sides of the rolling pin, not evenly down the center — that's what gets the dough moving outward. Turn it 45 degrees with each pass, keep it moving, and if it sticks, flip it over and re-flour underneath.

For the layered paratha version, he adds a step: once rolled flat, brush the surface with garlic butter and dust lightly with flour. Then stretch and roll it into a cigar shape, pulling gently as you go. More stretch equals more layers. Once you've got your cigar, roll it up into a snail, tuck the end underneath, press it flat, and roll it out again. That spiral creates flaky layers when it cooks.

🔬 The Science

Yogurt's acidity tenderizes gluten strands and helps the dough hold gas during cooking, creating those signature bubbles. The egg adds fat and lecithin for a richer, softer crumb that stays pliable.

💡 Henry's Tip

Use full-fat regular yogurt, not Greek. Greek yogurt has less moisture and more protein, which can make the dough tighter than you want. Cook one at a time — each naan needs full contact with that hot surface. While one cooks, roll the next.

📦 Storage

Room Temp: 1–2 days in a zip-top bag. Best eaten same day.
Freezer: Up to 3 months. Stack with parchment between each naan. Reheat on a hot skillet for 30–60 seconds per side.

Classroom Lessons

🎓 Crust & Crumb Academy

📖

Crust & Crumb GlossaryEvery underlined term links here

▶

Oliver Wing: Naan Shaping & CookingCollaboration Tutorial

📐

Learn How Baker's % WorksBaker's Percentage · Module 4

🔒 Non-members see a preview — join free to watch

Equipment

▸ Digital kitchen scale
▸ Large mixing bowl
▸ 12-inch cast iron skillet
▸ Rolling pin
▸ Bench scraper
▸ Kitchen towel
▸ Pastry brush