Roghni Naan

Traditionally, Roghni Naan are Naans which are made using white flour, yogurt, milk and butter in a super hot clay oven, called a tandoor. They’re often sprinkled with a hearty helping of sesame seeds and nigella seeds (kalonji) which leave a delicious, savoury aftertaste.

There are some curries with which only a good Naan will do. A good, heart nihari, haleem, some chicken korma, your favourite karahi… only a Naan will suffice. This recipe is for those days and those curries. 

I’m pretty sure most of you reading this post probably don’t have access to a tandoor oven at home. If you do, that’s great and I’m pretty jealous! However, if you don’t, this recipe has instructions for how to cook your Roghni Naan in both your regular oven and on the stove. 

How to make Roghni Naan

Making Roghni Naan at home requires a bit more effort than your standard roti. 

We’ll start by getting a large bowl and adding some warm milk into it, followed by a packet of fast-action yeast. Allow that to sit for a few moments – with fast-action yeast you don’t really need to let it activate. If you have any other kind of yeast, check the packet to see how long you need to rest it for to allow it to activate.

To the milk, now add some butter. Whisk that in – the butter will probably melt if the milk is still warm.

Now add sugar and salt. All the quantities are in the recipe card below.

And then add in an egg and whisk.

Now, some full-fat yogurt. Whisk.

It’ll be thick, gloopy and possibly lumpy too. 

Finally, we’re going to add some white flour. You can use plain flour OR self-raising flour. Self raising flour makes some pretty epic extra fluffy Naan. But I’m pretty certain the tandoors in Pakistan stick with good ol’ all purpose flour for their Roghni Naans. Add in a bit at a time – around the 500-650g mark you’ll begin to be able to knead it without it being overly sticky. Once you get to that stage, give the dough a good kneading. You can turn it out onto your countertop if it helps you – that’s how I tend to knead my naan dough.

Once it’s been kneaded well, place it back into a bowl, brush it with oil and then cover with some cling film. Leave it in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 2-3hrs, depending on how warm it’s kept)

Once the dough has risen and you’re ready to roll the Roghni Naans out, divide the dough into 7-8 portions.

Roll the Naan out as you would roti. I’ve taken a video of the entire rolling process which should help you if you’re new to this. Honestly, don’t get hung up over the shape if you’re new to this. It doesn’t impact the flavour at all.

Once it’s been rolled out, take the end of your rolling pin or a wooden spoon and poke holes into the surface of the Naan. Be forceful, the dough will likely be a bit resistance and it’s absolutely A-OK if you pierce through the dough completely. This step is really important because if you don’t punch in those holes, your Naan will begin to puff up in the oven like a pita bread and won’t have that proper Roghni Naan texture. 

Next, brush over the surface of the Naan with some warm milk, then follow up with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and nigella seeds.

How to cook the Roghni Naan

In the oven

Place the Naans onto a greaseproof paper, then transfer into an oven that’s been preheated at 200 degrees celcius. Keep close and allow the Naan to bake undisturbed for approximately 8-10 minutes, until it’s golden on top. You don’t need to flip it in the oven. Take it out once it’s golden on top, then immediately brush over the top with some butter

On the stove

You can cook your Roghni Naan much like you’d cook a roti. Place the Naan onto a preheated skillet/tava and cook one side until it begins to take on some colour. Use a spatula to flip the Naan, then cook the other side too. Once both sides have turned golden brown, take off the skillet and brush over with butter immediately. 

How long can I store Roghni Naan for?

Roghni Naan will store pretty well if they’re wrapped in foil and in an airtight container – 2-3 days would be fine. To reheat them, you can heat them in the microwave, oven or over a skillet. If they look or feel a bit dry, sprinkle over some water before heating them up.

Roghni Naan can also be frozen too – pack them in an airtight container or bag and they’ll be ok for 1-2 months. You can reheat them in the microwave or oven. 

Some additional tips to help your Roghni Naans steal the show

As if Roghni Naans needed any additional help stealing the show 😉

• I personally find the colouring and crisp-factor of Roghni Naans are better when they are baked in the oven, as opposed to cooked on the stove. If you’re able to, I’d highly recommend baking
• You can also sprinkle the tops of the Naans with other goodies to make things fancy – some ideas include chopped green chillies, chopped coriander, fine diced onion, poppy seeds and cumin seeds. 
• This recipe can be used to make stuffed Naans too – in fact, this is the very same Naan recipe I use for my Keema Naan and Peshwari Naan. Potatoes, vegetables and cheese would all make good fillings, just to name a few ideas. 

Recipes that will go well with Roghni Naan

Chicken Karahi | Chicken Korma | Malai Chicken Tikka | Lahori Chargha | Chicken Jalfrezi