Today we want to show you how to use your sourdough waste to make Indian naan bread. We designed this recipe to be as quick as possible so you’ll have a fluffy and flavorful flatbread in no time – perfect to accompany your favorite chutneys and curries.
Since we use our sourdough starter almost every day, we feed it constantly to have it ready for our next recipes, and we have a lot of waste that we don’t want to throw out between feedings.
That’s why we like to come up with new recipe ideas that help us to quickly get rid of the excess sourdough starter. And also prepare delicious food!
So, following the success of our sourdough waffles, sourdough fritters, and sourdough crackers, here’s another quick leftover sourdough recipe that we’re sure you’ll enjoy.
Naan is a leavened Indian flatbread made with flour, salt, melted butter, dry yeast and yogurt. This rich dough is kneaded, risen and formed into flatbread before being baked in a hot tandoor oven.
Using your sourdough starter to make naan bread means you don’t need dry yeast or yogurt. Since sourdough is already sour, it perfectly replaces the characteristic sour taste of yogurt.
We tested the recipe both with and without yogurt and found very little difference between the two in terms of flavor and texture. So we left out the yogurt altogether.
We’ve also replaced the traditional melted butter with vegetable oil to make this naan bread recipe dairy-free and vegan.
But feel free to use butter if you prefer or don’t have any special dietary needs.
The great thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to let the naan dough rise for hours. Instead, just let the dough rest long enough for it to “relax,” then roll out the naans.
Because sourdough starter is usually a day or two old, it won’t be as strong as a well-fed sourdough starter. Even if you let the sourdough naan dough rise for hours, it won’t grow and puff up as much.
So how do you make sourdough naan super bubbly? With some baking soda.
Baking soda reacts with the acidic component of the sourdough, releasing lots of air bubbles and making the naan puffy. Excellent!