Keema Naan Recipe
Originally, keema naan is baked in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. The stuffed naan dough is pasted to the hot wall of tandoor. The wall cooks the bottom of naan while the heat of the oven makes the naan golden from the top. To mimic that same process at home, we first cook the naan on tawa which makes the bottom of naan crispy like tandoori naan, and then we bake it in an oven which mimics the heat of tandoor giving a crispy top to naan. You might also like my Kashmiri Chicken
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Keema Naan
This oven-baked crispy Keema naan bread is stuffed with spicy and tangy kabab like ground meat. They melt in the mouth soft from inside and crispy from the top. This recipe has many variations. I shared the oven method in the steps. For tawa cooking method and cooked keema steps see notes.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 4 cups plain flour about 500 grams, more for dusting
- 4 tbsp yogurt
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tbsp oil more for coating
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup lukewarm water or as needed
For the stuffing
- 500 gram groundmeat finely grounded again in a chopper (lamb, beefor chicken)
- 1 cup finely chopped onions about 1 and half onion
- 2 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp dried pomegranate arils 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses or 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds preferably roasted and crushed
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds preferably roasted and crushed
- ½ tbsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp red chili powder skip for less spicy
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 green chili finely chopped
- ½ cup corriander/ cilantro leaves
- ½ cup chopped mint leaves
For Naan
- ½ cup yogurt
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp butter or oil for brushing
Instructions
PREPARE THE DOUGH
- Mix flour, yogurt, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. The mixture will be crumbly.
- Gradually add milk and bring the flour together with hands. Then add water as needed and need a soft dough.
- Drizzle some oil on the dough and coat evenly. Cover the bowl and keep it in a warm dry place. Let the dough to rise for 1 hours or until it doubles in size
Marinate the stuffing
- While the dpugh rises preapare the stuffing. Mix all the ingredient of stuffing in a bowl and set aside.
For Naan
- When the dough has doubled in size, punch the air out. Transfer dough to the working surface. Grease your hand with oil and knead again for 1 minutes.
- Divide the dough into four equal balls. Dust each ball with flour and start rolling the dough ball into a 4-inch circle.
- Add the stuffing in the centre and bring the ends in the middle by pinching all corners in to make a stuffed dough ball.
- Pre-heat the oven top grill at 400 F or 200 C.
- Dust with flour and gently roll into the naan. Using fingers make depression all around so the edges are a bit higher than the centre.
- Using the bottom of a wooden spoon poke holes all over the dough so the naan doesnt bubble while cooking.
Cook Naan
- Heat a griddle (Tawa) or non stick pan. Tranfer naan on the pan with help of a plate. (Slide a flat plate under the naan to lift it.) Brush the top and sides of naan with yogurt, sprinkle sesame seeds. Cook for 5-7 minutes on low flame until the bottom is golden brown.
- Then transfer the Naan to the middle rack of the preheated oven. Also lit the broiler simulatanouesly with oven. Bake for 5-7 until naan it is golden brown from the top. Remove naan to a plate and brush with melted butter or oil. Serve freshlu baked.
Notes
Instructions to make cooked keema stuffing: In a pan add minced meat and ½ cup water. Cook until water dries. Now add oil and fry the mince. Add all the spices except green chillies, ½ chopped onion and coriander. Let the mince cook until it’s brown and well done. Now mix the onion, green chillies and coriander and mint leaves in hot keema and turn off the heat. Set aside to cool. The keema stuffing should be absolutely dry. (Use cooked keema stuffing if making naan on the stove top without an oven.)
Instruction for cooking without the oven: After following steps "For Naan" for these steps. Apply little water to bottom surface of the naan to make it wet. Then transfer wet naan on a tawa or pan which has handles to hold. Then cook the naan for 6-8 minutes on medium heat. (The naan should stick to the tawa or pan because the bottom was wet. Don't use a non stick pan.) Now increase the flame and flip the tawa or pan to expose the upper surface of naan to direct heat. This will cook the top surface and make marks and crispiness similar to an oven. Adjust the distance of naan from flame as needed and cook evenly until it has golden marks.
Store cooked naan: Store naan covered in a cloth. If storing longer, let the naan cool completely then store in an airtight box at room temperature for few hours or in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can freeze naan similarly. Defrost completely before reheating.
To reheat: Sprinkle little water on the naan surface. Brush a very little oil all over and then reheat in the oven for 5 minutes on the wire rack. To reheat on a tawa, cover the tawa with any lid for 2 minutes then flip naan and reheat throughly.
Keema Naan
I love keema and I love naan, and this keema Naan or keema walay naan seems a love child of both. When I started testing this recipe, I wanted it to be perfect and just like the one you get at dhabbas in Lahore.
