Fresh Milled Naan
Prep
20 min
Bake
12 min
Total time
32 min
Hydration
65%
Soft, charred, garlic-buttered naan made from 100% freshly milled hard white wheat. Yogurt enriches the dough; a screaming-hot cast iron skillet mimics a tandoor oven. Eight rounds in under two hours.
Key Takeaways
- Yogurt + fresh milled flour = uniquely tender, slightly tangy naan.
- A screaming-hot cast iron skillet is the home cook's tandoor.
- Brush with garlic butter the second they come off the heat.
- Stack under a towel so they steam soft instead of crisping up.
- Use within hours or reheat in a dry skillet to revive.
About this recipe
Naan made at home is dramatically better than restaurant takeout, and fresh milled flour takes it another step further. Yogurt in the dough creates a soft, slightly tangy crumb. A blisteringly hot cast iron skillet provides the heat and char that traditionally comes from a tandoor. The dough is enriched with yogurt and butter, which makes it both tender and flexible — exactly the texture you want for scooping up curry or wrapping kebab. Brush each naan with garlic butter and fresh parsley straight off the heat for the full effect. Makes 8 large naan.
Ingredients
- Freshly milled hard white wheat flour500 g
- Whole milk yogurt (full fat)200 g
- Water (warm)125 g
- Instant yeast5 g
- Honey15 g
- Melted butter30 g (plus extra for brushing)
- Fine sea salt10 g
- Garlic (minced) and parsley (chopped) for brushingto taste
Instructions
- 1
Whisk water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl. Bloom 5 minutes.
- 2
Add yogurt and melted butter. Whisk.
- 3
Add flour and salt. Mix until shaggy.
- 4
Knead 6–8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- 5
Cover and bulk ferment 75–90 minutes until doubled.
- 6
Divide into 8 equal pieces (about 110 g each). Cover and rest 10 minutes.
- 7
Roll one piece at a time into a teardrop or oval shape, 1/4-inch thick.
- 8
Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until smoking.
- 9
Lay one naan in the dry skillet. Cook 60–90 seconds — bubbles will rise and the bottom will char.
- 10
Flip and cook 30–60 more seconds.
- 11
Brush hot naan with melted garlic butter and parsley. Stack under a towel.
- 12
Repeat with remaining dough.
beginner home milling guide — hydration, gluten development, and grain choice tips that make this recipe work.
Learn about this grain: Hard White Wheat guide — flavor, milling notes, baking tips, and four in-depth guides on hydration, storage, and common mistakes. Or browse more Hard White Wheat recipes.
Learn a technique
All guides →- How to Autolyse Fresh Milled FlourCombine flour and water and let it rest before adding yeast and salt. Bran softens, gluten develops passively, and the final dough is dramatically easier to handle.
- How To Build Gluten With Fresh Milled FlourGluten development in fresh-milled flour is a different craft than in commercial white flour. White-flour doughs love aggressive kneading, slap-and-folds, and stand mixers on high — the smooth endosperm forms long uninterrupted gluten strands quickly. Fresh-milled flour cannot work that way because the bran physically interrupts every gluten strand it touches. The bakers who get gorgeous open crumb out of fresh flour all do the same thing: hydrate fully, rest patiently, fold gently, and choose the right grain. This guide walks through the science and the technique.
- How To Convert White Flour Recipes to Fresh Milled FlourMost fresh-milled disasters happen on the conversion. A baker takes a beloved white-flour recipe, swaps in fresh flour cup-for-cup, follows the original times, and pulls out a dense, dry, or gummy loaf. The recipe was not the problem — fresh-milled flour simply needs five adjustments. This guide walks through the conversion in order: choose the right grain for the recipe type, swap by weight not volume, increase hydration, add an autolyse, expect faster fermentation, and watch out for the four most common conversion errors.
- Fresh Milled Flour Hydration GuideHydration is the single variable that fixes more fresh-milled bread problems than any other adjustment. Bagged bread flour is engineered to behave predictably — milled to a uniform fine particle, aged for weeks, and stripped of the thirsty bran and germ. Fresh-milled flour is the opposite: it contains every part of the kernel, and the intact bran soaks up water slowly. The same recipe that produces a slack, sticky white-flour dough produces a dry, tight fresh-milled dough unless you increase the liquid. This guide explains why hydration matters more for fresh flour, how each grain behaves, how to read dough texture by feel, how to convert standard recipes, and how to troubleshoot the most common hydration symptoms.
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Related Techniques
How to Autolyse Fresh Milled Flour
Combine flour and water and let it rest before adding yeast and salt. Bran softens, gluten develops passively, and the final dough is dramatically easier to handle.
How To Build Gluten With Fresh Milled Flour
Gluten development in fresh-milled flour is a different craft than in commercial white flour. White-flour doughs love aggressive kneading, slap-and-folds, and stand mixers on high — the smooth endosperm forms long uninterrupted gluten strands quickly. Fresh-milled flour cannot work that way because the bran physically interrupts every gluten strand it touches. The bakers who get gorgeous open crumb out of fresh flour all do the same thing: hydrate fully, rest patiently, fold gently, and choose the right grain. This guide walks through the science and the technique.
How To Convert White Flour Recipes to Fresh Milled Flour
Most fresh-milled disasters happen on the conversion. A baker takes a beloved white-flour recipe, swaps in fresh flour cup-for-cup, follows the original times, and pulls out a dense, dry, or gummy loaf. The recipe was not the problem — fresh-milled flour simply needs five adjustments. This guide walks through the conversion in order: choose the right grain for the recipe type, swap by weight not volume, increase hydration, add an autolyse, expect faster fermentation, and watch out for the four most common conversion errors.
Fresh Milled Flour Hydration Guide
Hydration is the single variable that fixes more fresh-milled bread problems than any other adjustment. Bagged bread flour is engineered to behave predictably — milled to a uniform fine particle, aged for weeks, and stripped of the thirsty bran and germ. Fresh-milled flour is the opposite: it contains every part of the kernel, and the intact bran soaks up water slowly. The same recipe that produces a slack, sticky white-flour dough produces a dry, tight fresh-milled dough unless you increase the liquid. This guide explains why hydration matters more for fresh flour, how each grain behaves, how to read dough texture by feel, how to convert standard recipes, and how to troubleshoot the most common hydration symptoms.