Both of these are recipes that I found at separate times on different cooking blogs. I just thought that hot, carb-y naan bread would be delicious dipped in cool, salty hummus.
Were those adjectives enticing enough? How about I tell you that you just need to make both of these things. Trust me. You won't be sorry.
The hummus was hands-down the best that I've ever made. I don't doubt that the feta had everything to do with it, but I convinced myself that it was healthy because of the spinach. I could eat this stuff with a spoon.
The naan bread was one of those recipes that I will definitely make again, but will be exploring how to make it better. I really liked the minced garlic in the bread, but in the future might incorporate some in to the dough rather than just putting it on top before I cook it. Also, the recipe tells you to cook the other side of the bread over an open flame (like a gas stove), which I didn't have, so I cooked both sides in the pan. Abby and I talked about how this might be yummy cooked on the grill. This easy dough would also be good for making individual pizzas.
Year of Yum Rating: 5 STARS (for the hummus) and 3 1/2 STARS (for the naan bread)
HUMMUS INGREDIENTS
•30 ounces, weight garbanzo beans drained
•1-½ cup fresh spinach
•8 ounces, weight feta cheese
•⅓ cups olive oil
•5 tablespoons lemon juice
•4 tablespoons tahini
•2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (We thought that SURELY this must be a mistake because it seemed like so much. We ended up only adding about ONE tablespoon. In retrospect, two tablespoons might not have been too much because our finished product wasn't spicy at all.)
•2 cloves garlic, peeled
•2 teaspoons salt
HUMMUS DIRECTIONS
Combine the garbanzo beans, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice and tahini in a large food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the feta, red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. Pulse until combined. Taste and add salt or more red pepper flakes if desired.
NAAN INGREDIENTS
•2 cups all-purpose flour or wheat flour
•¾ teaspoons baking powder
•½ teaspoons baking soda
•½ teaspoons sugar
•¼ teaspoons salt
•½ cups warm milk
•½ cups Yogurt
•½ tablespoons oil, as needed
•Additional optional herbs and seasonings to flavor the naan (see note below)
NAAN DIRECTIONS
Note: The ingredient list includes the ingredients for the dough. You can flavor your naan with all kinds of herbs. I made cumin naan, garlic naan, butter naan, and some topped with cilantro.
Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well of flour.
Mix milk and yogurt together and pour half of it into the well and slowly combine it together.
I don’t think there’s an exact amount of liquid that should be added to the exact amount of flour to make a perfect dough. So what I do is continue adding liquid slowly and combining it all together slowly until a soft dough is made. The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to your hand too much, then use little bit of oil on your hands and then punch into the dough.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 8 balls to make naans).
Dust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread that is a little thick and elongated.
Now sprinkle one side of the bread with your desired flavor. I made cumin, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and some simple butter naans.
Brush the other side with water.
Heat a thick-bottomed skillet or a wok or any heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Once it is nicely hot, place the naan wet side down (it will stick) and cover it with a lid.
Let it cook for about 30 seconds or until you see bubbles on it. Now cook the other side of the naan over a direct flame on the burner with the help of tongs. When you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done.
