Potato-Stuffed Naan
In Lahore, we learned to make a fluffy, chewy, crispy potato-stuffed naan in a massive tandoor oven. This is our quick, oven-free shortcut.
- MakesMakes six 6-inch naan
- Cook Time3 hours
- Active time plus cooling1½ hours active
- 7
At Pappa Gee Happy Bhai Food Corner in Lahore, Pakistan, Jawaid Ahmed taught us to make aloo naan, a fluffy flatbread filled with chili- and herb-spiked potatoes and cabbage. The resulting bread is tender yet chewy, spottily browned and studded with pockets of spicy, fragrant filling. To recreate it back at Milk Street, there were a few obstacles. First was developing an easy-to-handle dough, sturdy enough to withstand filling and rolling, but bakes up light and fluffy. The second was imitating the hot, fast bake of a tandoor oven. For the dough, we looked to yogurt, an ingredient often used in naan. Its calcium content makes for tender bread, so even with the rigors of rolling and stuffing, the naan stays pleasantly soft. As for cooking, we tried countless oven and broiler settings, but found a hot cast-iron skillet worked best. The naan are hearty enough to be a light meal on their own or with chutney, but also pair wonderfully with a simple curry. Leftovers reheat nicely in a cast-iron skillet over medium; warm each for two to three minutes per side.
Don’t be tempted to adjust the water or flour quantities while kneading, as the dough will go through stages. At first, it may seem too dry. After a few minutes of kneading, it may feel too wet. With continued kneading, it will become supple, slightly tacky and workable. Don’t melt the ghee before brushing it onto the naan; we found that melted ghee made the breads heavy and greasy. Room-temperature ghee brushed onto the hot bread melts into a light, non-oily coating.
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