Few smells give away an Indian restaurant as quickly as garlic naan: chopped garlic melting into butter on hot bread, and those blistered, slightly charred bubbles that only a fiercely hot clay oven can produce. For many guests this soft flatbread is the real reason to go back for more sauce. Yet behind such a simple-looking bread lies a story that runs from Persian ovens and the courts of the Delhi sultans to the kitchens of today.
At a glance
- Name: Garlic naan, in Hindi also lahsuni naan (lahsun = garlic)
- Origin: naan reached northern India via Persia and Central Asia; the garlic version is a staple of North Indian restaurant cooking
- Flavour: soft and airy, blistered on the outside, fragrant with garlic and warm butter
- Key ingredients: wheat flour, yeast, water, salt, often yoghurt; topped with garlic, butter or ghee and fresh coriander
- Served with: saucy curries, dal, raita, chutney
A bread with a Persian name
The word naan comes from Persian and simply means “bread”. That alone tells you where the idea came from: leavened flatbreads baked against the hot wall of a clay oven have been made for centuries across a wide belt stretching from Persia through Central Asia to northern India. Naan arrived in South Asia during the era of the Delhi Sultanate.
The earliest mention in the region is usually credited to the Indo-Persian poet and Sufi Amir Khusrau, writing around 1300. He described two kinds: naan-e-tunuk, a light, thin bread, and naan-e-tanuri, baked in the tandoor. At the court in Delhi, naan was something special rather than everyday food.
From royal table to everyday bread
Under the Mughals, from the sixteenth century onwards, naan long remained a bread of the elite. Making it took effort: the dough had to rise and the oven had to be fired for hours. It is said to have been eaten at court for breakfast with minced meat or kebabs. Only in the eighteenth century did it become affordable for a wider public in the Mughal cities. The many versions found on every North Indian menu today grew out of that heritage – and garlic naan is the best known of them all.
You can read a good naan by its blisters: every dark spot is a moment of direct heat from the oven wall.
How garlic naan is made
Garlic naan is not a complicated recipe. It depends on patience with the dough and on serious heat in the oven.
1. The dough: soft and leavened
The base is white wheat flour, kneaded with water, salt and a raising agent – usually yeast – into a soft dough. Many recipes add a little yoghurt and fat, which makes the dough supple and gives the bread a gentle tang. The dough then rests until it has clearly risen. That is exactly what sets naan apart from chapati, which uses no raising agent at all.
2. Shaping: the classic teardrop
The dough is divided into portions and stretched by hand. This often creates the elongated teardrop shape many people associate with naan: as the bread hangs on the oven wall, its own weight pulls it slightly downwards. For garlic naan, finely chopped garlic is scattered over the top and pressed lightly into the dough, sometimes together with fresh coriander.
3. Baking: on the wall of the tandoor
Now comes the decisive step. The underside is dampened, then the baker slaps the dough onto the inside wall of the tandoor using a padded cushion. The clay oven can reach around 480°C. Within a few minutes the bread puffs up, picks up dark, lightly charred spots and stays soft inside. It is lifted out with long metal hooks.
4. The finish: butter and garlic
Straight from the oven, the naan is brushed with melted butter or ghee. The heat of the bread softens the garlic and draws its aroma into the fat, so the flavour sinks right into the crumb.
What does garlic naan taste like?
A fresh garlic naan is crisp in places and soft and stretchy in others. The toasted blisters taste slightly smoky, almost nutty. The garlic is clearly there but not harsh: the oven’s heat mellows it and brings out a faint sweetness. The butter ties everything together. Naan is at its best in the first few minutes after baking – when you tear it, it should still steam.
Naan, chapati, kulcha, bhatura: what’s the difference?
An Indian menu often lists several breads side by side. The main differences:
- Naan is leavened, usually made with white wheat flour and traditionally baked in the tandoor. It is soft, airy and fairly thick.
- Chapati (or roti) is unleavened, usually wholemeal, thin, and cooked on a hot griddle called a tava. It is the everyday bread of countless North Indian households.
- Kulcha is also leavened and close to naan, but is often cooked on the tava and frequently stuffed, for instance with onion or potato.
- Bhatura is a leavened bread that is deep-fried rather than baked, puffing up into a large golden balloon.
What to eat with garlic naan
In India, naan is not really eaten on its own – it is a tool. You tear off a piece with your right hand and use it to scoop up sauce, vegetables or meat. That is why it suits anything with plenty of gravy.
- Creamy curries: butter chicken, paneer dishes or korma – the garlic makes a bold counterpoint to a mild sauce.
- Dal: lentil dishes such as dal makhani with garlic naan are a classic pairing in North Indian restaurants.
- Raita: cool yoghurt with cucumber refreshes the palate between bites.
- Chutney and pickles: sweet mango chutney or sharp, tangy pickles contrast nicely with the garlic.
Naan around the world
The naan family is large. In northern India and Pakistan you will find naan stuffed with spiced mince (keema naan), the sweet Peshawari naan with nuts and raisins, potato-filled Amritsari naan and cheese versions. In Myanmar, naan bya is served in teahouses with butter or chickpeas. Among the Uyghurs of western China, a round, denser naan is a daily staple.
In Britain, naan has been a fixture of every curry house for decades, and from there it spread across Europe. Cheese naan took off in Paris in the 1970s, and in Japan naan has been widely available since the late 1960s. Almost everywhere, garlic naan is the most popular choice after plain naan.
Garlic naan at Masalas
In our kitchen in Berlin-Köpenick, garlic naan is baked in the tandoor: a flatbread with garlic, fresh alongside your curry. We cook without alcohol, and you can have your order delivered or pick it up yourself.
Our tip: order garlic naan with a dish that has plenty of sauce – and get one more than you think you need. When you are mopping up gravy, the first naan tends to disappear faster than expected.
Goes well with it
More variations at Masalas
Garlic naan FAQ
What is the difference between naan and garlic naan?
The dough is the same. For garlic naan, finely chopped garlic goes on top before baking, and the finished bread is brushed with butter or ghee. That makes it more aromatic than plain naan.
Is garlic naan spicy?
No. The fierce heat of the oven mellows the garlic and makes it slightly sweet. If you want a bread with a kick, choose a naan with green chilli.
Which allergens does garlic naan contain?
Our garlic naan is a wheat bread and contains gluten. If you have an allergy, please call us before ordering: 030 66068017.
