A curry wouldn’t be the same without a fruity peshwari naan bread to scoop it up with! This chunky Peshwari naan with it’s sweet filling does the job!
For me, a curry is a bit bare without a naan bread of some kind on the side of my plate. You need something to completely clean the plate with, right? I am a sucker for mango chutney and lime pickle, so this fruity naan bread gives me just the right tool for dipping too!
Would it be so wrong to just have this naan bread with dips as a snack? Nope, I am up for that and I’m pretty sure the boys agree with me too! Dip away, I say.
I really do love a takeout peshwari naan. It’s that sweet, almond filling that does it and since I have never found anything that really resembles a good naan bread in the local supermarket, they tend to be flat and rubbery and without much in the way of a filling, so it makes sense to just create some at home.
The filling is easy to make too, just whizz everything together and wrap it in the dough. Roll it out and voila! There you have your peshwari naan bread ready to go.
What is Peshwari Naan?
If you haven’t heard of this delicious bread before, you will usually find this served in Indian style restaurants as an accompaniment to a curry. However, it actually originates in Pakistan.
This naan bread is made from a leavened dough (dough that uses a raising agent. In this case, yeast) and is filled with a sweet, fruity, almond based filling. This bread is then baked in the oven. However, it would traditionally be cooked inside a Tandoor, which is a clay oven shaped like a chimney pot. The dough would be stuck to the wall of the Tandoor to bake.
Sadly, most of us don’t have access to a traditional tandoor oven so a good home substitute would be a pizza stone inside your normal oven. I highly recommend purchasing a pizza stone if you like to bake a lot of dough based recipes as it can really make all the difference.
The dough for this recipe for peshwari naan uses natural yoghurt. This gives you a very soft naan bread as a result owing to the acidity of the yoghurt, which helps to relax the gluten. Both plain and Greek yoghurt are good for this recipe, however, I would recommend a full fat option if you aren’t worried about the calories.
How to Fill Peshwari Naan
When it comes to the filling in a peshwari naan, it boils down to 5 simple ingredients; ground almonds, desiccated coconut, sugar, and sultanas. These are brought together with a little coconut milk, which I then use the rest as a base for a curry sauce like this easy chicken korma or this Thai green curry. You make the paste from the ingredients by placing everything in a blender and blending until it all amalgamates.
Once you have created your peshwari filling you can even add some whole sultanas in for a bit of extra fruitiness.
The filling process of peshwari naan breads is quite simple. Divide your paste into 6 and roll it into a ball. With a section of your dough, place the paste ball in the middle and envelope the dough around the ball, enclosing it completely. You can then roll out your naan bread with the filling side to create the oval or round naan shapes.
If any little holes appear, pinch them shut with your fingers and try to keep the rolling even without any particularly thin areas. You naan breads are then ready to bake.
Recipe Tips and Guidance
You can bake these naan breads in two ways. Firstly, you can bake them in a preheated oven, ideally on a pizza stone. Then, pop them under the grill to brown, before brushing with butter.
Alternatively, you can create a very hot surface and attempt to replicate the tandoor oven a little more, by using a cast iron skillet and cook these on the hob. Heat your skillet and place your naan breads one at a time on the hot surface, the bread will puff up and begin to brown, you then flip it over and brown the other side. You can skip the grilling completely and brush with butter.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, these peshwari naan breads can be frozen! Yep, that’s right! Make a big batch and freeze them after cooking in the oven. All you need to do is pop one under the grill to heat up and brown and then brush with melted butter! They still taste just as great and will save you quite a bit of time too, perfect when your dips and curries are calling out for a naan bread in a hurry.
Recipe FAQ
I recommend serving the bread warm. You can bake ahead if you choose to and reheat under the grill, before brushing with butter and serving immediately. Naan bread is usually served as an accompaniment to curry based dishes.
Peshwari naan can be stored for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Alternatively, you can freeze the naan for 2-3 months. If you wish to store it, I recommend leaving off the butter brushing until you are ready to serve your bread.
Of course, just divide your dough and paste balls accordingly if you want to make mini naan breads.
Homemade Peshwari Naan Bread
Ingredients
For the Naan Bread
- 150 ml Milk
- 2 tsp Caster Sugar
- 2 tsp Dried Yeast
- 450 g Plain Flour
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 150 ml Natural Plain Yoghurt
- 30 g Butter, to coat
For the Peshwari Filling
- 2 tbsp Desiccated Coconut
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 100 g Ground Almonds
- 2 tbsp Coconut Milk
- 70 g Sultanas
Instructions
- Warm the milk until hand hot, add the sugar and yeast and allow to sit for 20 minutes until frothy.
- Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.
- Once the milk mixture is ready add to the flour along with the oil and yoghurt, mix to form a dough and knead for 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour until it's doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan assisted).
- Knead the dough again to remove the air and divide into 6.
- Place the peshwari filling in a food processor and mix to form a dry paste.
- Take each piece of dough and form a circle with a dent in the middle, add a small amount of the peshwari mixture into the dent and close the dough around it into a ball.
- Roll the dough into a teardrop shape.
- Bake in the oven for 3- 4 minutes.
- Take the naans out and place under a grill to brown, brush the surface with butter and serve.
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