Naan dough calculator
Naan on yogurt, off a screaming-hot skillet, brushed with butter.
Total hydration counts the water inside the eggs, milk and butter.
Naan on King Arthur’s yogurt-enriched formula: a soft, blistered flatbread from a screaming-hot dry skillet, brushed with butter or ghee as it lands. Yogurt is the signature — tang, tenderness and browning in one ingredient.
How it works
The dough
Water 53% plus 26% yogurt, with 10% melted ghee or butter in the dough, 1.5% sugar, 2.2% salt and 1.7% instant yeast. It comes together soft and slightly tacky; knead until smooth and give it a 50–60 minute rise until doubled, plus a 20-minute rest after dividing.
Shaping
Divide at ~65 g and roll each piece to an oval or round a few millimeters thick — thin enough to cook through fast, thick enough to stay pillowy. A little surface moisture (damp hands) helps big blisters form.
A dry skillet instead of a tandoor
A dry cast-iron pan at medium-high, fully preheated: 30–40 seconds on the first side until bubbles balloon, 40–50 on the second until the blisters char in spots. Brush immediately with ghee or butter and keep them stacked under a towel.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- King Arthur — Naan — The chosen formula: 53% water, 26% yogurt, 10% ghee or butter, a fast 50–60 minute rise.
- Meera Sodha, “Made in India” — naan (read via Together Women Rise) — The milk-based variant with baking powder — the other edge of the range, recorded.
FAQ
Are there milk-based naans?
Yes — Meera Sodha’s respected home formula uses milk at 50% with less yogurt, active dry yeast and a little baking powder as insurance. The KA build here is the yogurt-forward one; both produce the soft, charred article.
Can I bake naan in the oven?
On a ferociously preheated steel or stone at maximum, yes — but the dry skillet gets closer to tandoor conditions in a home kitchen: direct metal contact, fast char, no drying out.
Garlic naan?
Add it after cooking: mince garlic into the melted butter you brush on (cilantro too, if you like). Garlic inside the dough burns at these pan temperatures.
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