Easy Naan Bread + Spring Veg Curry
Craving that takeout curry, but about to hit your overdraft? Say no more.
Hello! I’m back to still-mild, but sunnier London, and I’m off work for another week, so you can expect more posts and recipes from me! Famous last words?
But truly, what a wonderful thing it is to have more time to cook, think, write, and bop around in the sun. Yesterday, I went to hot yoga for the first time, then did some window shopping in Shoreditch. Amazing things happen when you’re off work, it’s sunny, and you try to approach the city you’ve lived in for years with a sense of newness and excitement. It’s a lot easier to like London when the weather gets better. It’s actually pretty nice. Wait till I start cycling and going to lidos again—by June, I’ll be back in the trenches, looking for another flat or negotiating with my current landlord to please, perhaps, not raise my rent for the third time in a row just because a bloody GAIL’s opened on the high street. Yes, friends, my area has reached peak gentrification. It might be time to flee.
Though, this reminds me of when Amazon opened one of their checkout-free stores nearby and it got shut down within months because there weren’t enough customers. Dalston leftists just weren’t super into it—many of us prefer local shops and markets, and crucially, don’t love the idea of being surveilled by big tech while picking up our avocados. My hope is that the same will happen with GAIL’s, but it might be too late with their iced matcha ads staring directly at me—their exact target audience—so that every time I pass by, I need to cross to the other side of the street. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about gentrification or big tech (though those are the kinds of things, next to food, that I’d bring up on a date—if that’s of interest to anyone xx).
I’m here to share a recipe for super easy naan bread I make when I’m craving a curry takeout-style dinner but am this close to being in my overdraft. Likely because I ended up getting that matcha from GAIL’s in the end. What can I say—willpower is not my strong suit. That, and waiting in queues. I might have to rethink the direction of this newsletter if I keep writing like this. Maybe I’ll just Jamie Oliver it and make it all about cooking on a budget. After all, most of us in London are constantly thinking about our budget, however big or small.
There’s also another reason I prefer my homemade naan over the store-bought kind. Doesn’t matter if I pan-fry it or heat it in the oven—I’ve never tried a shop-bought naan bread and thought, "Yum, this is good." It’s only ever okay—either gooey or with a hint of something I can’t quite pinpoint—but it ain’t good.
Years ago, during the pandemic, I made my first naan to go with a curry. As a very unskilled baker, I’m generally not interested in finding the best recipe for dough or something that takes ages to make. When I’m searching for a pastry or dough recipe, I’m all about two things: efficiency and cost. I’m only ever interested in things I can make with stuff I already have—you guessed it—in my pantry. Recipe calls for yeast? Refresh. I need caster sugar? What even is that? Bicarbonate of soda? Thank you, next. Usually, this consists of me typing the few baking ingredients I have into Google and hitting search. And so, this was exactly the case with this particular naan, when I typed, easy flour and yoghurt naan recipe, as I figured I’d need at least one wet ingredient to combine with flour to turn it into dough. You see, growing up watching your mum bake and make pizza now and then will do that to you. To my surprise, a very easy recipe came to my rescue. I made it that day and was really quite content with myself: A) it felt like baking, B) it was surprisingly easy, and C) it was delicious.
This time, I made it to eat alongside my spring veg curry. I called it that because I added asparagus, which to me screams spring. Seeing asparagus and adding it to almost every meal is one of my favourite moments of the year. That, and the summer tomatoes (can’t wait). Scrambled eggs with asparagus; my chickpea kale salad, but with asparagus; avocado, salmon and asparagus on sourdough; risotto with asparagus and peas. The list goes on! But for the first time ever, I added it to a curry and guess what? It works really well too.
Lots of recipes will tell you you need to add a curry paste—you certainly can and it would be easy and lovely. I, however, tend to cook more haphazardly and prefer to create pastes from spices I already have. I’ve cooked and tasted enough curries to know that by mixing spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, garam masala with aromatics like garlic, ginger, onions, tomato purée, and finishing it off with coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, and sometimes fish sauce if I’m lucky, it will turn into a curry I want to eat. I’d say the mix I’m sharing with you most resembles an Indian curry, as it doesn’t contain lemongrass or fish sauce like a Thai curry would.
But, without further ado, I give you my recipe for easy naan bread and a veggie curry you can whip up in about 40 minutes (or even quicker if you're not using potatoes).
Spring Veg Curry
Feeds 3–4 easily, or gives you enough leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day – sometimes even two days. You can also freeze it and save it for your future self. I do it all the time. Comes in handy, especially when you're back from holidays and your fridge and bank account are equally empty.
Ingredients
2 asparagus, chopped. Remember to snap off the woody bottom ends of asparagus as these tend to be tough and difficult to chew, even after cooking.
1 large potato, cut in cubes
1 red or green pepper, cut in slices
A handful of kale or spinach for a green leaf moment
1 can of chickpeas (I didn’t use them but I would if I had them!)
½ can plum tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
½ white onion, diced
1 big garlic clove, chopped
1 small thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon freshly chopped chilli, plus more to sprinkle on top (I used green)
Juice of half a lime
½ teaspoon soy sauce optional
½ teaspoon fish sauce optional
1½ teaspoons cumin
1½ teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon hot paprika
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
1–2 tablespoons olive oil
Basmati rice to serve (cook according to instructions and however much you need – 75g or about ½ cup of uncooked rice per person)
Method
Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic, fresh chilli, and ginger.
Pour some olive oil into a pan and add the alliums (that’s the onions and garlics of the world) and fry, stirring gently, until the onions are translucent – but make sure the garlic doesn’t burn!
Add all the spices (coriander seeds, cumin, paprika, garam masala, turmeric). Stir well. After about 1 minute, add the tomato purée. Stir.
Add the chopped vegetables and chickpeas (if using). Season with salt and pepper and gently fry them, stirring occasionally.
Add half a can of plum tomatoes with the juice.
Stir stir stir.
Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce (if using), and lime juice. Stir well.
Let it come to a boil, then reduce to low heat and let it simmer while you’re making the naan. Best to cover with a lid as this will make the potatoes tender faster.
Serve with naan, fresh herbs, chillies on top, and a bit of yoghurt. A mango chutney would be a lovely thing to serve this with too.
Naan bread (with melted garlic and herb butter)
Makes 6 pieces of naan.
Ingredients
150g plain flour (+ more for dusting the surface)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
½ teaspoon za’atar (+ bit more to sprinkle on top)
180g Greek yoghurt (or other thick yoghurt)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander or parsley – or any herb you fancy. Coriander would work best but I used parsley as that’s what’s always in my fridge. It has more use than coriander and much longer shelf life.
Sea salt, to sprinkle on top
1-2 tablespoon of cooking oil (e.g. sunflower oil) or cooking spray even better, as you don’t need much.
Method
Combine the flour, baking powder, za’atar and pinch of sea salt in a large bowl.
Add the Greek Yoghurt and 1 of the minced garlic cloves and mix with a spatula until all ingredients combined and the sides of the bowl are clear.
Once you have one big ball of dough, you can start kneading with hands before proceeding to the next steps. If it sticks to your fingers too much, add more flour. At least that’s what I would do.
Divide the dough into 6 equal sized balls.
Dust one ball of the dough with a little reserved flour - place in between wax paper or parchment paper. Then place a board or heavy saucepan on top and flatten down as much as you can into a flat circle.
Then dust again and use a rolling pin to roll to naan bread shapes and transfer to a plate.
Repeat with remaining balls of dough.
Step-by-step in pictures:
Once all the naan breads are shaped. Heat a large frying pan over a medium high heat and add like a tablespoon of cooking oil, or better yet spray with cooking oil spray. It shouldn’t be too oily.
When the pan is hot, add the naan bread (you can cook 3 at a time depending on the size of your pan), cook each side for approx 2-3 minutes, until browned/golden areas like a traditional naan bread. Watch they don't burn by just lifting to check, you may need to lower your heat slightly.
Once cooked melt the butter add the remaining minced garlic clove and finely chopped herbs and brush this over the naan breads. I also like to add a pinch of sea salt to each one when the naan is still warm or just before serving.
Perfect to enjoy while watching the Severance finale this week!