Soft and pillowy naan, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and topped with a delicious garlic, cilantro, and ghee mixture <𝟑

Today, we’re making Cheese-Stuffed Garlic Naan! The perfect pairing with my Butter Chicken recipe, and I can’t wait for you guys to try them both together! Now, our goal isn’t to have a gooey, cheesy pull-apart bread situation. The cheese in this recipe is really just to elevate the flavor profile—while we still get to enjoy a traditional, thinly made naan! That’s the way my local and favorite Indian restaurant does it, and I absolutely adore it—so I hope to share that joy with you through this recipe ✍ᝰ.ᐟ

Few tips

• If you want to add more flavor to the dough itself, try adding some minced garlic or chopped cilantro to the dough before kneading. It’s such a simple upgrade, but it adds so much flavor – or you can simply follow the recipe below if you don’t find it necessary to do so
• Lightly flour your work surface and knead your dough. Don’t be heavy handed with your flour! Only add a little at a time until the dough is easy to work with. We want the texture of our dough to stay soft and pillowy. If too much flour is added, it will result in your bread coming out too dense and unappetizing
• Before filling your dough, lightly flour your hands. This prevents sticking and makes it easier to handle and pinch the dough.
  Make sure you have enough dough to wrap around the filling fully. If the dough’s too thin, it might not hold the cheese as well.
  When sealing, press the dough edges together with just enough pressure to keep them closed. Use your fingers to pinch the layers firmly so the cheese stays tucked inside.
• When it’s time to cook, make sure your skillet is nice and hot— preheat it on medium heat for a good 5 minutes before adding any dough. Too high of a heat, and you’re going to end up with either a stiff or burnt exterior, and we don’t want that either.
• To keep your naan warm while you cook the rest, just wrap them in a clean towel or some foil. It traps the heat and keeps them soft until you’re ready to eat. And if you’re making a big batch, pop them in the oven on the warm setting to keep them warm without drying them out.
• And when it’s time to flip, just be careful—it’s easy to tear the bread if you’re not gentle, since we have moisture in the center from the mozzarella. But if it does tear a small bit, it will still, of course, taste great!
  Serve fresh! They of-course will taste just as phenomenal the next day, but nothing compares to freshly baked bread. 
  

Here’s a video to guide you along the process:

Process:

Cheese stuffed Garlic Naan

Soft and pillowy naan, stuffed with gooey mozzarella cheese and topped with a delicious garlic, cilantro, and ghee mixture <𝟑

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Rise Time 1 hr 45 mins

Total Time 2 hrs 35 mins

Course breads, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 6 to 8

Ingredients

  

Yeast mixture✮⋆˙

• 4 oz water, lukewarm
• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar

Rest of dough ingredients✮⋆˙

• 340 grams all-purpose flour 2 3/4 cup
• 1 tsp fine kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 120 grams greek yogurt, whole fat 1/2 cup
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Garlic topping✮⋆˙

• 115 grams ghee or 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 5 grams cilantro, freshly chopped 3 tbsp

Filling✮⋆˙

• 16 oz freshly grated mozzarella

Instructions

 

Mix together your yeast mixture✮⋆˙

• In a measuring, add in your yeast mixture. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Add the rest of your ingredients & Knead✮⋆˙

• After 10 minutes, combine the rest of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl. You can either use a stand mixer or knead the dough with your hands. Knead until the dough comes together and forms a smooth ball. About 10 minutes.
• If you're kneading the dough by hand, on a floured surface, knead the dough for 10–15 minutes until it's smooth and elastic. The dough should not stick to your hands or the surface. If you’re kneading with a stand mixer and find your dough may need a bit more flour, add only one tbsp at a time until you are satisfied with the texture.

Rise✮⋆˙

• Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until it doubles in size.
• One helpful tip to make sure your naan dough rises properly is to preheat your oven to 175°F, then turn it off. Once the oven is simply just warm and not hot, cover your dough and place it inside to rise. The warm, draft-free environment will help your dough to rise to well.

Divide, stuff with cheese, rest, and roll✮⋆˙

• After your dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and divide it into equal portions. Each one of my dough balls weighed around 85 grams
• Stuff each dough ball with freshly grated mozzarella; Pinch your dough closed.
• Roll each portion into a ball, cover your dough balls and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.
• Flatten it into a disk on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into an oval shape, about 1/4 inch thick. The cheese-stuffed naan that I’m used to (at my local Indian restaurant) is always thin, so we’re more so using the cheese for flavor instead of aiming for a gooey cheese pull.
• After you've rolled out your dough nice and thin, let them rest for 10 minutes before adding to your hot cast iron or stainless steel pan.

Don't forget your garlic butter✮⋆˙

• While they are resting, this is where I like to quickly mix together my garlic ghee/butter mixture

Time to cook✮⋆˙

• Preheat a cast iron/ stainless steel pan for 5 minutes on medium heat before adding your dough to it. Do not add any oil to your pan, and be careful of using too high of a heat
• Cook your naan for about 2 minutes on each side until it's golden brown and slightly charred. Flip the naan using a spatula and cook the other side.

And you're done✮⋆˙

• Remove the naan from the skillet and brush it with your Ghee mixture.
• And you're done :,)

Keyword cheese stuffed, homemade bread, naan