Qubani Naan

EVENT: MEGA BLOGGING MARATHON#92

THEME: A-Z  FLATBREADS AND MORE – INDIAN FLATBREADS

RECIPE: QUBANI NAAN

Qubani Naan is a sweetish exotic flatbread  with dried apricot,poppy seeds, cardamom and saffron. This Mughlai style naan is usually served with a more chilli or spicy curry. I decided to serve it with moong dal shorba.

What is Mega Blogging Marathon?

Well, its a group of bloggers who get together to post a dish for 26 days according to the chosen theme. For more details check out the initiator Srivalli’s page here. For this theme we had a choice of 3:

1. A-Z Indian Flatbreads that are not made using batter e.g. like rotis

2. A-Z Indian Flatbreads using batters e.g. dosa

3. A-Z International Flatbreads.

India And Flatbreads

I decided to opt for option number 1. India has such a huge variety of flatbreads to offer that are made on the stove top, in the tandoor, in the oven, under the grill or fried. It is going to be a challenge to look for flatbreads beginning with all the letters of the alphabet as for my selected theme, cannot use batter based flatbreads. However, am up for this challenge.

Flatbreads is an integral part of the Indian Cuisine. When one thinks of Indian food, Naan and Curries is what one thinks of. Nowadays Naans are sold in most supermarkets all over the world. However, there is a huge variety of other flatbreads in the Indian Cuisine that are a part of the daily meal in different parts of India. Bhakri, roti, phulka, puri, dosa, parathas to name a few.

You may want to check out what flatbreads I’ve made so far for this event:

A for Akki Roti

B for Bhakri

C for Chousela

D for Dalpuri

E for Ekadashi Thalipeeth

F for Fungawela Mag na Paratha/Sprouted Bean Parathas

G for Gulachi Poli

H for Hyderabadi Halwe ki puri

I for Indori Masala Roti

J for Juar Jo Dhodho

K for Kulcha

L for Luchi

M for Makki Roti

N for Nagori Puri

O for Onion and Carrot Ragi Roti

P for Padvari Rotli

Memories

A very early morning flight to Nairobi and then from there to Mumbai… I’m exhausted. However, its good to be in Mumbai…with that blast of hot air as you come out of the plane and that typical “India” smell. I wish the Mumbai airport could have the queue system to catch taxis especially when the wifi is not strong enough for one to book and Ola or Uber. Taxi guys want to haggle with the fare which can be very annoying.

I prefer the system they have in Bangalore where one queues up for the airport taxis and they too have to queue up. So systematic and basically one cannot refuse to take you to your destination. However, really excited to be in India. It feels weird that we’ve arrived and are not able to greet my mother in law. We’re giving her a surprise for her 85th birthday…all meeting up in Goa. According to her it is only her daughter and son in law going to Goa for some R&R.

Qubani Naan

It’s day 17 and Q has been quite a difficult letter to find an Indian Flatbread. I could have opted to make quinoa roti which is a healthy option to normal wheat rotis. However, I wanted to make a bit more traditional and not a modern recipe. It was when I was searching for the Hyderabadi Halwe ki puri that I remembered Qubani ka meetha. And that’s when the idea struck that I can use up the few dried apricots I had in the fridge to make a sweetish naan recipe. Q for Qubani Naan turned out pretty exotic.

The naan was served with some moong dal shorba (moong dal soup). The slight chilli and sour taste of the shorba coupled with the sweetish naan was a delightful meal. This naan is similar to the Peshawari Naan which is filled with a mixture of dry fruits, nuts and coconut. Here I chose to use only chopped apricots or Qubani as they are called in Urdu. Sweet naans are very much a part of the Mughlai cuisine.

Ingredients Required For Qubani Naan

•  Plain Flour – all purpose flour
•  Yeast – I have used the instant active dry yeast. If you use active dry yeast then you need to allow it to ferment in the measured quantity of warm water with sugar. Mix sugar and warm water. Sprinkle the yeast and cover. Allow it to ferment for 10-15 minutes.
• Baking Powder
• Salt – I have used normal salt. You can opt to use Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt
• Sugar – normal white sugar
• Cardamom powder
• Oil – any oil of your choice or ghee
  
• Plain Yogurt – thick,at room temperature
• Hot Water – to soak the apricot
  
• Warm Milk – to form the dough
  
• Poppy Seeds – optional. Can replace it with sesame seeds.
• Saffron – you need a few strand

QUBANI NAAN

mayurisjikoni

Qubani Naan is a sweetish exotic Mughlai flatbread with dried apricot,poppy seeds, cardamom & saffron. Usually served with a spicy curry.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

FERMENTING TIME: 1 hr 30 mins

Total Time 2 hrs

Course Bread, Main Course, Main Meal

Cuisine Indian, Mughlai

Servings 4 LARGE NAANS

Ingredients

  

FOR THE NAAN DOUGH:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp instant dried active yeast
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ cup plain yogurt room temperature
• ½ - ⅔ cup warm milk

FOR THE QUBANI/APRICOT FILLING:

• 10 - 12 dried qubani/apricots
• ¼ cup hot water

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• a few strands of saffron

Instructions

 

PREPARATION OF THE NAAN DOUGH:

• Mix flour, baking powder,salt, cardamom powder and sugar in a bowl.
• Add the yeast and mix well.
• Add the yogurt and mix the flour.
• Add milk as required to form a soft dough.
• Dust the work top with little flour and knead the dough till it becomes smooth and silky. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
• Add the oil and knead it gently.
• Shape the dough into a ball.
• Grease the bowl and dough with some oil.
• Put the dough in the bowl and cover it.
• Let it ferment till the dough is double the size. This will take about 1 hour in a warm climate.
• Gently punch down the dough and let it rise again for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime prepare the filling.

PREPARATION OF QUBANI FILLING:

• Soak the qubani or apricots in the hot water for 10-20 minutes.
• Remove from the water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
• Chop the qubani into small pieces and keep it on the side till required.

BAKING THE NAAN:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each part into a ball.
• Divide the filling into 4 parts.
• Dust the rolling board or worktop with little flour.
• Take one ball of the dough and roll it out to a 3 inch circle.
• Add one part of the filling in the middle of the circle.
• Gather up the edges of the rolled dough to the centre, pinch it well to seal and press gently to flatten.
• Dust the rolling board or worktop again with little flour and roll the stuffed naan into an oval shape  of  3-4 inches in diameter and about  4-5 inches in long.
• Place the rolled naan on a greased baking tray.
• Repeat the above steps with the remaining dough and filling.
• Brush the naans with little milk.
• Sprinkle poppy seeds and saffron strands over the naan.
• Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes until they puff up and become light golden in colour.

Notes

• You can roll the naans into a round shape if you like.
• You can cook the naan on the tawa too. I prefer to bake them for even cooking.
• Add other dry fruits like raisins, cranberries, etc, nuts and dried coconut as a filling to make Peshawari Naans.
• Enjoy these sweet naans with a curry of your choice or with some hot masala tea or coffee as a snack.
• I used instant active dry yeast. If you use normal active dry yeast then you will have to add the yeast to warm milk with a bit of sugar it to allow it to ferment. Cover the mixture and let it ferment for 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.
• You can smear some butter or ghee on top of the baked naan before serving.

Keyword Apricot Naan, Mughlai Naan Recipe, Qubani Naan

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A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

Check out what other Blogging Marathoners have made:

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