Naan-e-Barbari

Naan e barbari is a dramatic looking bread with a defining characteristic oblong shape. Traditionally served with feta, cucumbers and olives. The dough is great to make pizza as well.

Author: Pavani

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Total Rising Time:: 1 30

Total Time: 2 5

Course: bread, breads

Cuisine: middle eastern

Servings: servings

Ingredients

For the Dough:

4 cups Bread flour*
2¼ teaspoons Instant Yeast
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1½~1¾ cups Lukewarm Water

For the Topping:

2 teaspoons All purpose flour
½ teaspoon Sugar
⅓ cup Cool Water
½ teaspoon Canola Oil
1 teaspoon Nigella seeds
1 teaspoon Sesame seeds

Instructions

Make Dough:

Combine flour, instant yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk well combine. Add olive oil, 1½ cups of water and mix. Stir in more water as needed to form a smooth dough and knead for about 6~8 minutes on the machine and 10~12 minutes by hand.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for about 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
To proof the dough in the Instant pot, lightly grease the inner pot. Place the dough and cover it with a glass lid or a kitchen towel. Select 'Yogurt' and set the timer for 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half. Gently form each piece into a rectangle and form into a log. Loosely cover the logs with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make Roomal:

In the mean time, make the roomal. In a small saucepan, combine all purpose flour, sugar, oil and water. Whisk to make a smooth paste. Place the saucepan on medium heat and cook. whisking, until bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture becomes thick and opaque, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Put a pizza stone on the lowest rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes.

Shape the Bread:

You have few of options here. With the 2 dough balls, you can make 2 large (14") barbari breads or 1 large (14") barbari bread and 1 pizza (14"). I like making smaller breads. So, I make 2 10" barbari breads and 2 8" pizzas. Whichever option you choose, the shaping and baking times will be more or less the same.

To make Barbari Bread:

Take one of the dough log and place it on a large parchment paper. Stretch or roll it out into 14"x5" rectangle (or into 10"x4" rectangle for smaller breads). Using the fingers, press 5 (or 3 for smaller bread) deep lengthwise ridges into the dough, making sure not to break the dough.
Rub flour paste evenly over the surface of the dough and sprinkle with half of nigella and sesame seeds.
Slide the dough with the parchment onto the pizza stone and bake until the bread has puffed up and is golden brown, about 12~15 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 2 days.

To make Pizza:

Roll or stretch the dough into a 14" diameter thin round. Place it on a parchment paper and evenly spread 1 cup of tomato sauce over the dough and sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese on top. Top that with your favorite pizza toppings.
Slide the parchment and dough onto preheated pizza stone and bake until the crust is golden and crisp, cheese has melted, about 10~15 minutes.

Video

Notes

Feel free to substitute some of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I add up to 2 cups of white whole wheat flour.
Dough can be made up to 1 day in advance and left in the fridge.
Store any leftover barbari bread in an airtight ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Nutrition

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