Butter naan recipe with step by step photos – easy, healthy and soft whole wheat butter naan made on stovetop or tawa. Naan and rich North Indian curries always make a good pair. So on days when I don’t make the usual phulkas or rotis, I end up making naans.
Easy to make are these light and soft Indian breads. Naan are always made with all purpose flour/maida. yet the same soft texture can be achieved with whole wheat flour. I have used the regular chapati atta for making these naans.
Generally, butter naan which we get in restaurants is slathered with butter. I always add some butter in the dough and then spread some butter on the top of the naan, while serving.
Usually naans are cooked in tandoor (clay ovens). At home you can cook grill them in an oven or cook them on a tava/griddle. Since we prefer burnt spots on the naan, I always cook the naan partly on fire. Though this is optional and you cook the naan on the tava completely, like we cook chapatis.
Few more similar recipes you may like are:
- Garlic naan
- Kulcha recipe
- Bhatura recipe
- Naan recipe (without yeast)
- Cheese naan
Serve these homemade soft butter naan with dal or curry.
How to make butter naan
1. Take ½ tsp yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl.
2. pour  1 cup water or as required.
3, add 1 cup whole wheat flour.
4. Begin to whisk the mixture.
5. whisk the entire mixture till smooth.
6. cover and allow this mixture to sit for 30 to 45 minutes.
7. Then add the remaining 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 tbsp softened butter, 3 to 4 tbsp curd and ¾ tsp salt or as required.
8. Mix everything and begin to knead. Knead to a smooth, soft dough.
9. Cover and allow the dough to leaven for about 25 to 30 minutes.
10. divide the dough in medium sized balls.
11. cover and keep aside the dough balls for 15 to 20 minutes.
Making butter naan
12. Take a dough ball and lightly sprinkle some flour over it. You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds or nigella seeds on the dough ball and then roll it.
13. With a rolling pin, roll into rounds with a medium thickness.
14. On a hot tava or griddle, place the naan. You will see bubbles appearing.
15. When the base is partly cooked, turn over the naan and let the other side get cooked.
16. When this side is cooked, remove with the pair of tongs and place the first cooked side touching the fire. The butter naan will puff up. Flip and brown the other side too.
17. Here is a pic of naan sprinkled with nigella seeds, getting puffed.
18. Place them in a roti basket or casserole and spread butter on top. Prepare all butter naan this way. You can stack them in the roti basket and then serve later or serve them immediately.
19. Serve these soft butter naan with dal or curry of your choice.
Butter Naan
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 cup water or as required
- 3 to 4 tablespoon curd (yogurt)
- 2 tablespoon softened butter, unsalted or salted
- ¾ teaspoon salt or as required
- butter as required for spreading on the naan
INSTRUCTIONS
making dough
- In a bowl, take the instant yeast, sugar. Add water and stir the mixture.
- Then add 1 cup whole wheat flour and stir or whisk it with the rest of the yeast mixture.
- Cover and keep aside to leaven for 40 to 45 minutes.
- Then add the remaining whole wheat flour, salt, butter and curd/yogurt. Knead to a soft and smooth dough.
- If the dough become sticky, add a few tbsp of flour and knead again. If its dry, then add some more water.
- Cover the naan dough and keep aside for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into medium balls.
- Give a resting time for the dough balls for about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and keep aside.
rolling butter naan
- Lightly dust the dough balls with some flour.
- You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds or nigella seeds on the dough ball and then roll it.
- Roll into a small to medium sized rounds/rotis of medium thickness.
making butter naan on tawa or stove top
- Place the naan on a hot tava or griddle.
- When the bottom is partly cooked, flip. You will see bubbles on the naan.
- When the second side is cooked, remove the naan with a pair of tongs and place the side which was cooked first facing the fire.
- The naan will puff up. Flip and brown the naan.
- Place the hot naan in a roti basket or casserole. Spread some butter on top.
- Make all naan this way. If not serving straight away, then stack them in the roti basket.
- Or else you can serve these butter naan immediately.
Restaurant quality! Absolutely tasty. Thank you for a great recipe!
Welcome Clara
Hello!
Thanks for your beautiful recipes!
I’ve just tried this one and the taste was awesome!
But my naans were very dry despite the fact I put vegetable butter on top and that I covered them to keep the ‘moist’.
I don’t have a tawa so I cooked them on a cast iron pan.
Do you have any advice?
Thanks a lot,
Have a nice evening and take care.
Camille aka Rosenoisettes
thanks. when kneading the dough add some more water. the dough should not look dry. it should be soft and pliable. cooking naans on a cast iron pan is fine. i guess this is due to the dryness in the dough.
Thanks so much for your reply! I’ll definetely try again 🙂
welcome ????
Hi Dasanna…
I wanna try dis recipe but i have fresh yeast instead of any oder yeast…can i use dat…if yes wat difference needs to be made in d recipe..?
vini, you can use 1.5 teaspoons fresh yeast. but if using fresh yeast, then dissolve it first with lukewarm water and sugar. the water should be warm. if the water is on the cooler side or hot, the yeast won’t get activated. keep the solution to proof for 10 to 15 minutes. it should become frothy and bubbly. this means that the yeast has got activated well. then mix it with the flour and other ingredients and knead to a soft dough. then follow the recipe steps.
Your recipes are great, but, I have a different comment.
I saw that you are using a non stick tawa whose upper coating has come off. This is extremely dangerous, as the industrial chemical glue that is used to fix the teflon to the tawa is extremely toxic, can even be fatal. This causes several diseases including cancers.
It’s better not to use non stick utensils to cook. But, if you must, you must not let any scratches appear on the surface. You must use only wooden karchis and never metal ones, to scratch things off it. Take extreme care when washing them, not to cause any scratches. Use soft scratches. If you see any scratch, just throw away the non stick utensils.
thanks aalok. i know about this. i am very careful with non stick pans. i use only wooden spoons or spatulas for non stick pans. also i use sponge to clean them. the one in this post is an iron tawa. its a very old tawa and one that i have been using for many years. thanks for the concern 🙂
Wow! I am going to try this delisious dish.
surely try and let us know how the naan was? thankyou priya.
Hello mam,
Which brand of yeast ur using and from where u buy that?
suvidha, i use mauripan/gloripan brand of instant yeast. i had purchased from here – gourmetco.in website
but seems they do not have a supply now. still you can always ask them.
I hv everything u mentioned except yeast..can i still so the naan without yeast?wil it taste good?
you can have a look at this recipe of naan without yeast – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/naan-recipe-without-yeast/
just add butter to the dough while kneading instead of oil.
Can I prepare this dough in the night and make rotis in the morning
yes shwetha. you can make the naan dough in the night. refrigerate and then prepare naans in the morning.
if the naan dough remains within how many days we need to finish it
refrigerated for only 1 to 2 days. don’t keep for long.
I like new new recipy ,I like to cook very much .please you send many many recipe .
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This looks to be an original and authentic Indian recipe for the real taste of Naan. Thanks,
welcome bijaya. thanks for your positive feedback.
I am going to spend all my time in kitchen 🙂 … I never thought that I can make these things at home…
Thanks for sharing…
welcome bhavana. happy cooking.
Hi, I was reading ur recipes n hv decided to try them out. Detailed steps with pics very interesting.
thanks deepa
Hi. i want to make this naan next week. but i have one question can I use active dry yeast . what is difference between instant yeast and active dry yeast.
you can use active dry yeast. you will need to add about 3/4th tsp of active dry yeast, which is just a little less than 1 tsp. active dry yeast needs to be activated in warm sugar+water solution. whereas instant yeast need not be activated and can be directly mixed with the ingredients. rubina, you can check this post on how the dry active yeast is activated. the mixture should be bubbly and frothy. also you will have to give more time for the dough to rise initially. about 1:30 mins to 2 hours. here’s the link – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/naan-recipe-naan-with-yeast/
It’s good for all
You are best in cooking as well as a good teacher.. As you explain very well. Thankyou
welcome rosy. thanks for your sweet comment.
Perfect naan.it works really good.
thanks sabanti
Simply out of the world wheat naans….Your recipe is superb….look forward to making something new everyday because of you.Can’t Thank you enough…..God Bless
thanks deepa. like you i also look foward to keep trying new recipes. reason being the motivating comments i get from readers like you and my passion for cooking.
Your passion for cooking reflects on what I cook after reading your recipe….The dishes turn out so well.
Let me know the best way to make soft phulkas….I know it is a skill that takes a while to master….Have tried many times..Either they are too thick or they tear…Pl help.
thanks deepa for this sweet and positive feedback. i have shared method and tips for making soft phulkas in this post –
https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/rotis-made-from-whole-wheat-flour/
i hope this post will be useful. feel free to ask any query.
i want to knw new and Delicious recipes.
divya, please follow us on facebook or twitter to get latest posted recipes updates.
Hi,
Was looking for a tomato soup recipe and came across your site today!!..Found your presentation and pics very impressive..Yur recipe above gives us a healty option as we prefer to eat whole wheat rotis rather than maida rotis…and yes will definitely try the soup recipe today for my family!!
thanks kirab. do try the recipe.
Hi Dassana, thanks again for this wonderful recipe. All your recipes are so detailed.
Can u pls tell whether we can bake this in oven instead of tawa?
Thanks again firur amazing recipes.
hi anamika, you can bake in the oven. preheat your oven at a high temperature from 210 to 250 degrees celsius. the over has to be hot or very hot. place the naans in a greased tray and bake till you see brown spots on them. timing will vary depending on the temperature you use.
What I have found about cooking naan in an oven is: use a pizza stone and put under broiler. Keep watching it for black bubbles and then flip it. And keep watching it.
manish, i know about this. but not all indian ovens have a broiler and pizza stone is very expensive here. thanks for sharing this info as it will help some readers who have pizza stone and broiler.