Wondering what to do with your sweet potato casserole leftover from Thanksgiving dinner? Put it in some Sweet Potato Naan. Actually, it's January so I hope you don't still have leftover sweet potato casserole, but that's what I used in this batch of naan and have been making sweet potato flavored naan since then. It's just kind of a fun change from the usual.
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This picture is from the first batch. Basically, I just plopped some sweet potato casserole into naan dough to see what would happen. The sweet potato casserole had other spices including pecans, so that added more flavor and texture to the bread, yet it was still neutral enough to eat with an Indian meal. Here's a picture of the dough. The little splotches are the pecans.
Rundown on How to Make Sweet Potato Naan
To make the dough, you start with leftover sweet potatoes or you can peel, chop and boil enough to mash into about ½ cup. The weight of the cooked sweet potato going in should be about 4 to 5 oz depending on how wet they are. Leftover sweet potatoes are dryer than ones you boil fresh, which is what I recommend.
While the sweet potatoes are boiling, you mix your dry ingredients and have everything ready to go. I use a stand mixer and dough hook for this, but you could certainly mix this dough with a spoon and knead it by hand. It's slightly sticky at first, though, so the dough hook is handy.
To cook the Sweet Potato Naan, You heat up a dry skillet, preferably cast iron, and cook each naan dough piece (show above) individually. Each flatbread only takes about 2 or 3 minutes to cook, and you can keep it warm in the oven if you need to. As soon as the homemade naan comes off the skillet, throw on a little butter or ghee.
These freeze well. I froze the first batch and kept pulling out naan to eat with different things. I got attached to the sweet potato flavor and made this flavored again a few times, sometimes with Nigella seeds. If you just want plain naan, leave out the sweet potato and add a little extra milk.
Recipe
Sweet Potato Naan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ⅛ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon yogurt or sour cream
- 3 ounces very warm milk (about 130 degrees F.)
- 3 ounces warm sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Put 260 grams of the flour (about 2 cups) in the bowl of a stand mixer bowl with the salt, sugar, baking powder and instant yeast. Stir well, then add sour cream, warm milk, warm sweet potatoes and oil and mix the best you can by hand or use the paddle.
- Attach dough hook and begin kneading the dough with the hook. The dough will seem dry at first, but it should come together and form a slightly smooth ball as you knead. The potatoes will keep it from being perfectly smooth, but it shouldn't stick to your fingers. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If it is too dry, you can add a little more milk.
- Once the dough is smooth and elastic you can simply cover the bowl with plastic or if you prefer, transfer the bowl to a second lightly greased bowl.
- Allow dough to rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
- Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 sections. Shape each section into a ball, then flatten the balls into large rounds or slightly triangular shapes. Use your fingers to make little dimples in the dough.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet. Add a one of the dough pieces and cook for about 40 seconds to 1 minute. Flip and cook the other side for another 40 seconds. Continue cooking and turning (and controlling the heat) until the dough is well done on the outside and cooked through on the inside. If you have a thermometer, you can poke it in the center to make sure the naan is about 205 degrees F, but after making a couple you'll get the feel for how long it takes.
- Remove from skillet and set cooked naan on a plate or on a toaster oven tray lined with foil if you wish to keep it warm. Brush naan with melted butter or ghee.
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