Butter Naan

Hello folks, this is going to be my first post after a long gap. This is a very special menu that is very close to my heart.This is my husband's favorite dish. Butter naan has become a very popular staple not just in north India, but also in the down south.The combination of Butter naan and Paneer Butter Masala leaves your taste buds longing for more.How about making a very healthy, egg less and an easy version of this popular dish at our home?? Yes, that's what I tried and it came out really well.This recipe has been picked and tried from Sailu's Kitchen and it was super successful and very soft.My husband was surprised and loved it. I would like to share this recipe and my learning here on trying this.

Serves : 8 naans

Ingredients

All purpose flour/maida- 2 Cups
Warm milk-1/2 cup
Curd/Yogurt-1/2 cup
Salt-1/4 tsp
Sugar-1 tsp
Baking Powder-3/4 tsp
Baking soda-1/4 tsp
Coriander/Mint/any green herb-Chopped(handful)
Sesame seeds-1 tsp(Black/White)
Oil-1 tsp
Melted Butter-1-2 tbsp

Method

1. Mix the flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt nicely.Sieve this to form an even mixture.

2. Keep adding sugar,milk and yogurt little by little to the above dry mixture and start kneading the dough.

3. Knead hard and evenly until it forms a soft dough, something very similar to a soft clay.

4. Apply some oil to the dough and cover it completely by a thin film of oil coating.

5. Cover the kneaded dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 2 hours.

6. After 2 hours, gently knead the dough.You can feel that it is much softer.

7. Make small lemon sized balls from the dough.

8. Dust the rolling surface with flour and roll the ball to a slightly elongated shape.

9. Sprinkle few sesame seeds and few chopped coriander and again roll it so that they stick well to the dough surface.

10. Heat an iron tawa and once its hot, place the naan on the tawa and close it with a lid and cook for 40-45 sec on a high flame.

11. When you remove the lid, we can see that bubbles are formed on the naan.

12. Cook the other side directly on the flame by flipping the tawa directly.The heat should be spread evenly and brown spots start appearing indicating that the naan is being cooked.Do this only for few seconds, else will get burnt.Alternatively, instead of flipping the tawa, just flip the naan to the other side on the flame using tongs and follow the same above procedure.

13. Pour some melted butter on the naan generously and serve with the ever delightful combination of Paneer Butter Masala.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

• Make sure both sides of the naan are cooked well by the indication of brown spots.They should not be burnt.
• The oil coating of the dough helps it from drying up and becoming hard.

Paneer Butter Masala

I am posting one of the most exotic dish that is very popular across India. This is one of the must items in menu card, be it any restaurants. The best pair for Butter Naan. I was planning to surprise my husband by making Butter naan and the best gravy that goes well with this is obviously Paneer Butter Masala.Though there are different methods of making this gravy, I wanted to know the authentic way of preparing it. This recipe is really what I wanted.This has been picked up from Samayal Samayal by Venkatesh Bhat. One can learn the professional way of cooking a dish from his video. I have bookmarked several of his recipes. Here am posting the most special one.

Serves:4

Ingredients

1. Paneer/Cottage Cheese-250 gms(Cubed)
2. Cashew nuts-2 tbsp
3. Banglore Tomatoes-4-5 (Medium Size)
4. Ginger Garlic Paste-2 tbsp
5. Bay leaf-2
6. Green Cardamom-3
7. Cinnamon stick-2
8. Kasuri Methi-1 tsp
9. Jeera/Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
10. Kashmiri Red chilli powder-2 tsp
11. Oil-4 tsp
12. Butter- 3 tbsp(Unsalted Cooking Butter)
13. Water-2 cups
14. Sugar- 1 tsp
15. Salt as needed

Garnishing

• Green Chili-1 (Slit)
• Fresh Cream- 1-2 tsp
• Kasuri Methi-1/2-1 tsp

Method

1. Take a pan,add water and bring the water to boiling point.

2. Add tomatoes,cashews,tsp of oil and some salt to the water,close the lid and cook for 5 mins.

3. After 5 mins, strain the concoction. Preserve the strained water as it will be used.

4. Blend the filtered-cooked tomatoes and cashews into a fine smooth paste.

5. Heat 3 tsp of oil in a pan. Add cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaf.Saute well.

6. Add ginger garlic paste to the above pan and saute nicely till the raw smell goes off.

7. Add the strained water to the above pan.

8. Add kashmiri chili powder to the above,mix everything nicely and allow it to boil.

9. Now, add the tomato cashew paste to the above pan and mix nicely.

10. Add sugar,needed salt and allow it to cook.

11. Add the butter and mix nicely.

12. Add some crushed kasuri methi leaves,jeera powder and allow it to cook on low flame.The consistency starts thickening.

13. Add the paneer cubes into the gravy and cook till the paneer becomes soft and covered in gravy sauce.

14. Garnish with fresh cream,some crushed kasuri methi and green chili.

15. Paneer Butter Masala is now ready to be served with any kind of indian flat bread.Goes well with Butter Naan.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

• Sugar is added to give the dish the required sweetness and also a glaze texture.
• Butter can be added depending on your taste and calories required.More the butter, more creamy the dish is.