BBB ~ Non, Naan, Tashkent Obi Non

Recipe From: Samarkand: recipes & stories from Central Asia & the Caucasus by Caroline Eden & Eleanor Ford

Yes.  This is our Baker’s Dozen Anniversary!

Amazing that this little group of Bread Baking Babes has been around on the internet for the incredible Baker’s Dozen years!  I’ve missed very few of the breads the group has baked. There’s not been one bread in all those years that I haven’t learned from and enjoyed.  Most of the breads I’d enjoy baking again.  There have been simple breads.  There have been scary breads. When I started baking bread sometime in the 70’s, there was nothing easy about it and failure seemed to always be a possibility.   Baking all these breads over all these years has brought me to the startling conclusion that really dough just wants to be bread. Some dough will be more successful bread than others but generally, it will be better than anything that would come in a plastic bag and plenty of loaves will be as good as or better than the gourmet bakeries.  More than ever during this pandemic baking bread brings me sanity.

How did I come to this bread? A long time ago I came across this thing called a bread stamp on Amazon. I’d never seen one, never seen a bread that used one, had no ideas why I should have one but I ordered two of them. They were beautiful but I had no idea what I should do with them. I took them to a baking class and ask if anyone had seen them used. Nope. …  Maybe a year ago, I saw a picture of bread stamps in a book I had and then I found the recipe for the bread.  SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, Elizabeth ask about doing this recipe and improvising or using the bread stamp. The idea seemed to take hold and I was way past due to try my bread stamps.  

I think I baked my first loaf on 19 September 2020 and the second loaf on 20 September 2020; at this point I truly would only be able to count if I had taken photos of each loaf and I am pretty sure I didn’t take every bake.  
This truly is an everyday loaf. Easy to put together in the evening to rest overnight in the fridge and bake first thing in the AM. Easy to mix first thing in the AM and have coming out of the oven for lunch.  Easy to mix after lunch and serve with appetizers and/or dinner. I have not baked this three times in one day. No, I have not.

When I put this up for the Babes I was really thinking it would be a great try to make it into a sourdough.  We were able to do that and it was nice bread.  In the end, for me at any rate, I felt the allure of this bread was the ease and everydayness of it and I went with the straight yeast version.  I know it will come to my rescue many times in the future. 

I also recognize that this bread has been made for centuries (many centuries), after all it is mentioned in the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’.  
For the best article I found on this bread try http://www.aramcoworld.com/articles/July-2015/The-Fabled-Flatbreads-of-Uzbekistan .  There are multiple uTube videos. Two of the best we’ve found are:
this one shows you how to use scissors and a fondue fork in place of a bread stamp
and
this one shows using a glass
Just search for bread stamp or Easy Uzbek Bread or How to make Tashkent Obi Non 
You’ll be overwhelmed. but in a fun way.

You can do this without a bread stamp. You already have multiple implements in your kitchen that you can use. 

I know the world is crazy right now and goodness knows I am way past ready to be done with the virus.  At the same time mixing and kneading bread is something of a saving grace for me.  This makes beautiful and tasty bread.  You can do it.  

BBB ~ Non, Naan, Tashkent Obi Non:

ORIGINAL

1 1/2 cups   AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
3/4 teaspoons salt
oil
150 grams water
METRIC
200 grams flours
15-20 grams ground flax seed
7 grams yeast
6 grams salt
150 – 180 grams water, to make a sticky dough
oil, to knead dough on counter
VARIATIONS
60 grams whole grain spelt, total flours will =200 grams
60 grams bread
80 grams white whole wheat flour
15-20 grams ground flax seed
7 grams yeast
6 grams salt
150-180 grams water, to make a sticky dough
oil, to knead dough on counter
SOURDOUGH
STARTER Late the night before baking
100 grams rye starter
50 grams whole grain spelt flour
50 grams bread flour
70 grams white whole wheat flour
130 grams water
NEXT MORNING
3/4 teaspoon salt
oil of your choice

 STRAIGHT DOUGH Whisk together the flour(s), yeast, ground flax if using and salt.
Add water to make a sticky dough. This should not be a stiff dough.
Pour a little oil on the counter surface and knead the dough until the dough loses it’s tackiness and is silky smooth and soft. 
Cover and let rise till doubled in size.  Anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours.

2. Knock some of the air out of the dough and form it into a dome ball.  Set the dome on parchment paper and cover. The mixing bowl usually works well to cover it with. Let proof again until doubled in size.  This may only take 45 minutes to an hour.

3. Preheat the oven with baking stone.  I first baked this at 475°F. I have since baked it at 500°F.  I baked it under a stainless steel bowl but found misting the oven twice in the first 4 minutes worked best for me.  

4. Make an indentation in the middle of the bread by pressing with the heel of your hand.  I found starting the indentation with my largest ladle worked well and then I was able to enlarge it with my fingers. The indentation should be larger than the bread stamp pattern you plan to use.
Dip the bread stamp tines in flour. Pierce the middle of the dough with the floured bread stamp.  Press firmly to get a good imprint. 
Brush to top of the bread with oil, butter, egg with a pinch of salt.  Sprinkle with onion seeds or sesame seeds OR get carried away and make it your own.

5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.  The top should be golden and the loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The center will be somewhat cracker like and the outside rim light and puffy.

SOURDOUGH: The night before I mixed starter, flours and water together.  It was a very wet dough. I did not knead it.

The next morning I dusted the counter with bread flour, flattened the dough on the dusted counter, pour the salt on the dough and kneaded it adding flour until it was smooth and no longer sticky.  The salt did not break the dough as I kneaded. I can not guess how much flour I added. 

Finally I flattened the dough on a parchment round and covered it with a large bowl.  At five hours later it had risen nicely.  I oiled the top and used my hand to flattened it in the middle then used the bread stamp to stamp it.  I didn’t get a clear stamp imprint; I needed a larger flattened center.  Sprinkled sesame seeds on the oiled top.

I baked the loaf on the parchment on a baking stone covered with a stainless bowl at 500°F for 15 minutes. Removed the bowl, turned the oven down to 450° and continued baking for 4 more minutes. Internal loaf temperature was 208°. 

We would love for you to try this bread. We would love to hear about your experience.

I really think you want to give this a go! To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site, post about your Naan adventure in the next couple of weeks (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before … usually its the end of the month but this time I’m extending that a week so the date will be 7 March 2021. 

Don’t miss this awesome video referred to us by Aparna!

Here’s how to let us know:

• comments my kitchen at mac dot com
  » Remember to include your name and a link to your post
  » Please type “BBB February 2021 bread” in the subject heading

And check out what the other Babes had to say about this one.

Happy Baking!