naan - sort of homemade!

to accompany the indian food from yesterday's food, i tried naan from this box:

yes, this was technically a mix. but there was a lot more than just 'add water and bake' going on. here, for example, are the directions on the back:

the first step involves the yeast. first, you add a little sugar and warm water and let it rise for ten minutes until foamy. before ten minutes:

and after ten minutes. i know see what my problem was with the raisin bread of a few posts back. this did not happen to the yeast. there was no foam. unfoamy yeast was the enemy. anyway:

add yeast and some warmed milk to make the dough, and knead dough for a few minutes. then place in an oiled, covered bowl to rise for half an hour. here is what it looked like before it rested:

and after.

next, i divided the dough in 8 little balls:

and rolled each out into very flat pancakes, like so:

pay no attention to that non-traditional rolling pin. as mine is currently in a storage shed, you have to work with what you've got. instead, look at the finished product; you'd never know it came from a plastic cup:

after that, i heated some oil in a frying pan, then put two at a time in. keep in mind that, at the same time all this was happening, i was making the food in yesterday's entry. this will surely impress you all the more, then, that i was able to make this happen:

look at that bubble! oooh! everyone knows bubbles are the best part!

who wants naan?

you may be asking yourself why there is no final picture with 8 lovely pieces of naan. this is because something dreadful happened after the first batch. i got carried away. i was finishing the aloo palaak from the other post and taking finishing pics and forgot about the naan and - oops - it cooked faster than the first batch and burned. and then i did it again with the third batch, even though i did nothing but monitor it, because it cooked super fast just to spite me. and then the fourth batch was perfect. but really, two people don't need more than four pieces of naan anyway, do they?