Monday, February 26, 2007
Persian Naan
The look of this bread is at once dramatic and rustic. Long — snowshoe-shaped, actually — and dimpled from stem to stern with fingerprints that give it an undulating appearance and and interesting crisp-here-chewy-there texture, this thin flatbread of Central Asia is traditionally baked in a tandoor, a deep clay oven. But you need no out-of-the-ordinary equipment to turn out authentic breads at home. The making of the dough follows standard techniques for mixing and rising — it's the shaping that's odd and fun. The breads are stretched, wet to just this side of soaked, pummeled with your fingertips, and tossed onto hot quarry tiles (or a baking sheet) to bake for a mere five minutes, finishing with a firm, toasty bottom crust and a crumb that's soft but stretchy, warm, and wheaty. Don't even think about slicing these breads; they're meant to be stacked on the table, and edible centerpiece, and torn into pieces big and small. This same dough makes Oasis Naan, a round bread speckled with scallions. 2½ cups tepid water (80°F to 90°F) 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 5 to 6 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon salt 4 teaspoons sesame seeds Put the water and yeast in a large bowl and stir to blend. Add 3 cups of the flour, about a cup at a time, stirring in one direction with a a wooden spoon. Beat for 1 minute, or about 100 strokes, to develop the gluten. Sprinkle the salt over the mixture and start adding the remaining flour, again about a cup at a time, stirring after each addition and then stirring until the dough is too stiff for you to work. You may not need to use it at all. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it vigorously, adding more flour as necessary, until it is smooth and easy to handle, about 10 minutes. Rise: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning to cover the entire surface with oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest at room temperature until it has more than doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Don't worry if it goes longer — it will be just fine. If it's more convenient, you can put the bowl in the refrigerator and let the dough rise overnight; bring the dough to room temperature before continuing. When you're ready to bake, line the center rack of your oven with quarry tiles or a baking stone, leaving a 1-inch air space all around, and preheat the oven to 500°F. (If you do not have tiles, place an inverted baking sheet on the oven rack and preheat it with the oven.) Shaping the Dough: Deflate the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide it into 4 pieces. Flatten the pieces and shape them into ovals, each about 6 inches wide and 8 inches long. Cover the ovals with plastic wrap and let them rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten. Start shaping the first bread a few minutes after the oven reaches 500°F. Fill a small bowl with cold water, dip your fingers into the water, and, starting at one end of the oval, press your fingertips into the dough to make deep, closely spaced rows of indentations all across the dough. (Don't be timid — the impressions have to be deep enough to remain after you've stretched the dough.) Keep moistening your fingers as you work so that the dough's surface remains wet — really wet. In fact, it may look a little sloppy to you, but that's the way it's supposed to be. Lift the dough, drape it over your hands, and stretch it by slowly pulling your hands apart. You will need to drape and stretch a couple of times in order to get the right shape — you're aiming for an oval that is about 5 inches wide and between 16 and 18 inches long. Don't worry if there are a few holes in the dough — carry on. Baking the Bread: Put the dough down on the work surface and sprinkle with a teaspoon of the sesame seeds. Then carefully lift the dough with both hands and place it on the baking stone (or baking sheet). (If you are adept at using a peel, transfer the bread to the oven on a cornmeal-dusted peel.) Bake until the bread has golden patches on top and is brown and crusty on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, let it cool on a rack for 5 minutes, and then wrap it in a cotton towel to keep it soft and warm. While one bread is baking, shape the next bread. When you've had some practice shaping, you'll become fast enough to slip a second bread into the oven by the time the other is halfway through its bake time. Serve warm or at room temperature. Storing: The breads are best eaten shortly after they're baked, but they'll keep, wrapped in a towel, for a day. For longer storage, wrap the breads airtight and freeze for up to a month. Keep the breads in their wrappers while they thaw at room temperature and then warm them for a few minutes in a 400°F oven before serving. Makes 4 long narrow breads. -------------- |
