Butter Naan

By Panchami Tamhankar

Feeds about 4

Ingredients

Bread dough

• 4 cups of refined flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsps sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 tbsp of yogurt

Cooking ingredients

• 4 tbsp of oil
• 5-6 tbsp of softened butter

Garlic Naan

• 25 cloves of garlic
• Fresh chopped coriander

Stuffed Naan

• Filling of choice (should be dry and cooked). This can include meats, potatoes, or even sweets.

Preparing the dough

1. Sieve the flour and place in a large mixing bowl
2. Whisk egg, milk, yogurt
3. Add the mixture to the flour
4. Add all the rest of the ingredients; baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and oil
5. Knead the flour, adding water if required. The dough should be slightly sticky
6. Cover the dough in a dampen cloth and let it rest for 2 hours

Making the naan

Preheat oven to about 450º F Have on hand a small bowl of flour, rolling pin, marble board on which to roll, butter and any filling.
Whenever the bread or your hands feels sticky, apply a small amount of flour.

Take a small ball of dough in your hand. Dip into your dish of flour.

Note the bread dough is still wrapped in the wet cloth(left side of both images).

Place ball on marble board and roll out using very very little pressure. Ball should be about 4 inches in diameter

If you would like to stuff the bread, make your stuffing and allow to cool to room tempurature. Shown here is a mutton filling.
Cup your hand and place the dough on your palm. Place about 1.5 tbsp of filling into the center
Fold the edges in, sealing the filling in the dough

Place the dough back on the board with the seam on the bottom. Very gently roll out the dough, starting from the center. The only weight placed on the dough should come from the rolling pin itself. Do not lean on it, just gently roll it out. Turn the dough around, adding flour as needed. Flip the dough over, every so often.

If you have filled the dough, you should begin to see it as the dough stretches out and becomes more translucent. When you dough is about 6-7 inches wide in diameter, or the thickness that you would like (it will puff up a little while cooking), you may stretch out one end slightly, to achieve the oblong shape common for naan.

Spread softened butter on both sides of the bread.

For garlic naan, sprinkle chopped garlic and coriander on top.

Bake until the bread is as golden brown as you'd like.

Serve warm.

This recipe is made to produce a bread that will remain soft even as it cools. The dough is quite versatile and can be used in much the same was as pizza dough, so the skies are the limits. Panchami used something like a toaster oven, which kept the dough very close to the heat source. You may need to experiment with your oven to achieve optimal results. Her oven only allowed her to make a single serving at a time. If you plan to make a whole batch, keep the prepared naan moist until ready to cook by placing under a wet towel.

This meal was served with a yogurt dipping sauce and vegetable broth to help with digestion.

Just a quick note to let you all know that I made it home safe and sound. It was a shockingly uneventful trip capped off with big hugs and kisses when I got home.

Dear Brad,

I know that I've been on TV and I'm an engaging knitting personality, but we've never met, you simply cannot be stalking me around the world; kids and "wife" in tow. It's unseemly and I am in a happy relationship. I thought I'd put enough distance between us when I moved from LA to Portland, but that clearly wasn't enough, and now you are here, in Pune, the same town in which I am staying. I'm sorry to let you down, but don't worry, you seem like a nice person, I'm sure that in time, you will recover and be stronger for the experience.

Your's truly,
~m

No, I haven't run into them, they are a bit more stealth than that.

It's my last day in Pune and I'm marveling at how fast the two weeks seem to have gone. Everyone here, without exception, has been gracious and kind and made me feel welcome, despite the fact that there was much to do and plenty of work related pressure. But you know, I'm not sure I have much to complain about, work wise. It could be worse, I could have this job.

I'm not sure this position would pass OSHA's standards, but they do appear to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For my last little shopping excursion, yesterday, we went to the local market. The place was a mob scene, pure chaos and I loved it. The shops are tiny, with little room to move and one must dodge bikes, cars, scraggly looking cats and other obstacles, to enter the shop of choice, but if you want it, you can find it here. I even found yarn. Oh man, you have no idea how affordable yarn is out here. More on that later, for now, here are some pictures of our excursion.

Women carving stones into mortar and pestle and, I don't know, head stones?

Perhaps useful considering the risk to life and limb one takes, crossing the street.

The holiday, Diwali is just around the corner here in India and everyone is getting prepared. People buy vivid new outfits and colorful decorations in preparation for the Festival Of Lights. The markets are filled with items of every sort, in anticipation.

There's almost so much to look at, one can't decide where to start.

Flowers play heavily in the decorations, especially yellow and orange carnations.

I was able to find a last few items before packing my things and then we made our way back to our hotels for dinner. On the way, we encountered one of your everyday traffic obstructions.

If I were a bit more brave (read: stupid) I could have reached out my window and touched him.

In less than 24 hours, I'll be on a plane home and back to my sweeties. Speaking of which, you'll have to read Leo's response to some of your comments about his tattoo.

Here in India, we are working the standard 6 day week, which means that when we leave work on Saturday, we are off the clock until Monday. I've been feeling a touch sick since yesterday morning, but I'll be damned if it'll keep me from enjoying my day off.

I moved out of my old hotel into one that offers a few more amenities. The last place had room service but only during normal meal hours which meant that those days in which I went to bed mid-afternoon and woke up well before sunrise...

This little guy greeted us early one morning, above the office entrance.

I often went 16 hours without a meal (though, luckily, our host always made up for the deficit, with plenty to spare). I will miss seeing "Chicken Alabama" on the room service menu, though.

I'm not from Alabama, but I don't think I've ever heard of a dish quite like that.

If you are wondering about those prices, they are in rupees. Divide by 45 and you get the approximate value in dollars. To make it easier for me (I'm not so strong with math) I just move the decimal place over two spots to the left and double it.

Some rupees.
635 rupees is equal to about $14, which could (theoretically) get me 4 servings of Chicken Alabama with something left over for tip.

Today, leaving all work responsibilities (well, maybe I did a little work in the morning) in the hotel room, Clasonda and I headed over to Panchami's house.

Yah, just a camel in traffic, nothing to look at here.

Panchami is a woman you hate to love (I mean that in the best way possible). She's successful, beautiful, a gracious host, excellent cook, phenomenal mother, loving wife, doting daughter, and generous friend. She doesn't work directly with my company but works in the same office as the people who do, and she simply jumped at the chance to host us at her house. So while she leaves us all feeling inferior, Clasonda and I knew we couldn't miss the chance to spend the day with her.

Could Panchami's mother be any cuter? I love her sari.

When drinks were done, we moved to the kitchen for a lesson in making stuffed naan.

She makes it look so easy.

We had our fill of her delicious food and then she draped a sari on me.

Yes, sure, I remember all those steps.

I think the socks and bra strap really make the outfit.

She topped off the look with a lovely necklace and a bindi. I'm not sure I'm going to trade in my trousers and blazers for saris, but I can see why so many women in India choose to wear these regularly.

You'd think with all this kindness, Panchami would feel content seeing off two full and grinning guests, but she wasn't done with us yet.

They were lovely little dishes used during the holidays. I plan to find a special place for mine at home.

After giving us gifts, she took us to the local shop where she bought her outfit and we did a little shopping.

Clasonda is getting some custom made clothing. This place rocks.

I would love to have had the time to get some outfits made before I left, but I was happy to settle for shopping vicariously through Clasonda.

Believe it or not, this is the abridged post. I have many more pictures, including some spinning to share with you. For now, though, I need some sleep.

• Wake up at some god awful hour which is a lazy arse late hour in the US, say 1AM here (12:30PM in PDT).
• Stagger into bathroom, remind self repeatedly NOT to put toothbrush under tap when brushing teeth.
• Come back out to bedroom/office/dining room/living room/blog central
• Turn on tv and brace self. Rapidly press volume down button in anticipation of it turning on at full volume.
• Wait for ringing in ears to subside.
• Get caught up in commercials and shows* spoken in language I am not familiar with *Quicktime required
• Flip through 37 overdubbed and local stations and sigh each time I hit the cartoon channels (also overdubbed)
• Settle for BBC World News or English language anime station
• Check if Leo is on IM
• Log into personal email
• Log into work email
• Work work work work work
• Realize still in jammies and will need to go to office
• Lament not being home in Portland where jammies are now normal work attire
• Ride to work in backseat of car with no seatbelts
• Thank lucky stars it's too dark to notice just how scary the drive is
• Work work work work work

• 8-12 hours later, pack into the car to go back to the hotel.
• See the cow with the groovy horns

• Fear for safety and wellbeing of all pedestrians, animals, and other motorists, on the way
• Make it back to hotel in what would be, by all accounts, record time
• Knit, spin and do a bit more work, and now thanks to a generous soul at the office (Thanks Ash!) I now have an iSight to use so that Leo, Panda and I can all see each other.

• Take shower
• Chat with Leo and Panda some more

• Blog and surf other peoples’ blogs
• Tuck self into bed in the afternoon
• Read
• Fall asleep to sound of rush hour horns expressing their disdain for the inevitable traffic.
• Rinse and repeat