Bread

Bread is a staple food of many cultures in the world prepared by baking, steaming, or frying dough that consists of flour, water, salt ( in most cases) and usually a leavening agent such as yeast. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, dating back to the Neolithic era. The first breads produced were probably cooked versions of a grain-paste, made from ground cereal grains and water. Descendants of these early breads (called flat breads) are still commonly made from various grains worldwide, including the Mexican tortilla, Indian chapatis, rotis and naans, Scottish oatcake, North American johnnycake and Middle Eastern Pita bread. They’re delicious, especially the Indians ones, like naans. And this recipe from The CIA is great!

Naan Bread - Makes 8 flatbreads
14 oz/397 g all-purpose flour
N oz/9 g instant dry yeast
6 fl oz/180 mL water
2 fl oz/60 mL clarified butter, plus more as needed
2 oz/57 g plain yogurt
1 egg
1 oz/28 g sugar
1-1/2 tsp/7.50 g salt
2 tbsp/12 g poppy seeds or black onion seeds

Combine the flour and yeast. Add the water, butter, yogurt, egg, sugar, and salt and mix on low speed for 4 minutes. The dough should be very elastic but still wet. Bulk ferment the dough until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. Fold gently. Divide the dough into 3-oz/85-g pieces. Preshape the dough into rounds. Let the dough rest, covered, until relaxed, 15 to 20 minutes. (Note: Work sequentially, starting with the first piece of dough you divided and rounded.) Gently stretch each piece of dough into a round, 7 in/18 cm in diameter, so that the center is 1/4 in/6 mm thick and there is a border H in/1 cm wide all around. Pull 1 edge out to elongate each round slightly, creating a teardrop shape. Place the breads on parchment-lined sheet pans, brush them with butter, and sprinkle the seeds on top. Bake the naan in a 425°F/218°C deck oven until golden brown and puffed, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on racks. (Recipe from The Culinary Institute of America)