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Is it possible to make eggless naan without an oven?

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  • Here is a recipe that you might want to try out: foodformyfamily.com/recipes/how-to-make-naan-in-the-oven. I think the main thing is to just turn your oven up as high as it will go. And maybe turn on the grill as well if you have one. A pizza stone might also help.
    – Henrik Söderlund
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 10:37
  • but i want to prepare the one without oven.
    – Sunishtha Singh
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 10:40
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    Then you should edit your question to say so. Most readers will interpret the question as written as "I don't have access to a tandoor, how can I make naan in a normal oven". Actually I'll edit it for you; I will also omit eggless; it's not relevant.
    – slim
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 11:35
  • @slim How do you figure the egg-less part of the request is irrevlant? OP is asking for an egg free recipe to make without an oven. Both seem to be relevant points to me.
    – colejkeene
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 13:25
  • @nicoleeats the way I read it, they have an eggless recipe (which is most naans) and want to cook it other than in an oven. The egg has no bearing on how you can cook it.
    – slim
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 13:32

6 Answers 6

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I've had good luck baking naan on an indoor grill. I have an electric one, but you could use a stovetop one as well. Just apply a little butter, ghee, or spray oil, wipe it off, and bake.

(Click for larger images)

Naan 1

Naan 2

I used an alternative method to make lavash: an inverted wok over a stove burner. You'll need a gas stove to do this one. I applied them dry, cooked about 1-2 minutes on one side only. You can brush with butter or ghee after they're done.

Wok 1

Wok 2

Wok 3

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  • @ joefish thank you very much for image attachments...
    – Sunishtha Singh
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 19:31
  • I've tried an electric griddle and didn't like the results. Mine doesn't get nearly hot enough and the result was more like tortillas instead of open, chewy, and slightly charred the way naan should be.
    – Sobachatina
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 19:39
  • @joefish the recipe you provided is not containing eggs but still does it have any additional effects to the softness of naan?what else i can use instead of eggs which results the same or hardly noticeable differences in taste,texture and softness.
    – Sunishtha Singh
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 21:00
  • @Sobachatina, I cranked the griddle up as high as it would go, and I was very pleased with the result. It's obviously not the same as proper naan cooked in a tandoor, but they were soft, chewy and delicious.
    – JoeFish
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 22:33
  • @SunishthaSingh, most of the recipes I've seen use yogurt. I don't know if it will be exactly the same as your recipe with egg, but you should try it and find out.
    – JoeFish
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 22:34
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A naan by definition is a leavened flatbread baked in a tandoor.

You can improvise by using a very hot oven, perhaps with a pizza stone to retain heat when the oven door is opened, and to transmit heat into the naan through direct contact.

However, you have asked how to prepare naan without any kind of oven.

You can cook bread that's similar to a naan on a dry frying pan. Prepare the dough in the same way as you would prepare naan dough. Heat a frying pan until it is very hot. Roll out pieces that will fit in the pan and are about 5mm thick. Place in the frying pan and heat until cooked on one side. You will see it swell up. Turn it over to cook the other side.

This is not naan - it is closer to kulcha - but it is a delicious flatbread accompaniment to curry, just like naan.

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    I frequently cook flatbread in a frying pan. My preferred method, in addition to what you mentioned, is to add a teaspoon of water to the pan and cover it with a lid. This generates a lot of steam quickly and can spatter if it touches oil, so be careful. The steam helps simulate an important aspect of the tandoor. It keeps the bread more pliable and allows it to "poof" before being fully cooked.
    – AdamO
    Commented Feb 22, 2013 at 21:05
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I have had the best results baking naan on an outdoor grill- preferably charcoal.

Get the grill as hot as you can. If your grill is big enough then indirect heat would be good. If the bread is over the flames then there will be a little charring but that tastes good as long as it isn't excessive.

The naan will cook for around a minute on each side. Use plenty of butter.

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The key to naan is temperature of baking. I have found that somewhere around 315 °C – 425 °C [600 °F – 800 °F] is the optimum temperature for making naan. Most home ovens are not able to attain that high a temperature, which is why it is difficult to replicate the results of a restaurant at home.

Without an oven it is even more difficult to attain that high a temperature, although there are recipes that use the inside wall of a pressure cooker as a tandoor for making naan on the stove top. You can try using that technique but increase the percent hydration of the dough. I make naan dough with about 80 percent yogurt by weight. You can try increasing the proportion of yogurt and see if the stove top technique works.

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I think the closest you can get to Naan without an oven is to bake it in a pan/skillet on high heat (as mentioned as well earlier). I personally don't have experience with naan-baking, however I once made tortillas (which is of course not the same as Naan) in a non-stick skillet which worked nicely.

Even though tortillas and Naan are two different things, I recommend you try it using a skillet.

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Two stage cooking is hard to best. Turn it way up with a small metal (not ceramic, it can break) on the floor of the oven. Every time the bread goes in, put a full size ice cube in the pan before you close the door. I like the idea of an inverted wok over a seasoned cast iron skillet, high heat, but for appearance and char. More yogurt (compensate it's sourness by getting in touch with the yoghurt before you cook with it, taste it first!) and ghee, no eggs

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    Thank you for contributing, but I think you might’ve missed the ‘without an oven’ part of the question. There might be other naan questions on here where that advice would be useful, though
    – Joe
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 4:20
  • Welcome! While this is interesting information, it doesn’t answer the question.
    – Stephie ♦
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 18:42

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