Chicken Curry and Na'an Bread

This is a great curry that isn't too spicy. I started becoming very interested in cooking curry when I was dating my husband. We went to a great Indian restaurant called Bombay House and thought, "why can't we make this at home?" Unfortunately very few of the recipes that we found on the internet were actually good, but even in all of those failed curry recipes, we started to recognize what ingredients we thought made curry taste good. Finally one day I remembered that my aunt is Indian! Why didn't I think of that before? Of course she would have an amazing and completely authentic recipe. So I gave her a call and she sent me the recipe for Na'an bread and some great curry. This recipe is inspired by one that she gave me but with a few differences.

Curry:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1-2 bay leaf
3 medium onions, finely chopped
7-8 cloves of garlic (or tsp. minced garlic)
2 32 oz cans diced tomatoes
1/4-1/2 tsp. Indian chili powder (less for a more mild curry)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ginger (powder or fresh)
1 lb chicken cut into small pieces
2 C plain yogurt
3/4 C cilantro, finely chopped
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste

In a large pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add cinnamon stick and bay leaf; fry until slightly brown. Add onions and saute until golden brown, 5-8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute then add drained tomatoes. Add the spices one by one and mix well. Cook for 1 minute before adding chicken. Mix well and cook for several minutes. Stir in yogurt, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, coconut milk, and salt. Simmer about 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened.



Na'an Bread:
1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 C warm water
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2-4 C bread flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 C of warm water in a mixing bowl. Place on mixer with dough hook and let stand 5-10 minutes. In a separate small bowl stir together remaining water with yogurt and salt. Turn mixer on low speed and add 1/2 C flour to the yeast mixture. While mixer is on, add the yogurt mixture. Slowly add remaining flour until well incorporated; mix on high speed for 5 minutes. Dough should start to become a ball. Remove from mixer and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm place and allow to rise for 30 min. Dough should be very soft.

On a lightly floured surface, divide and roll dough into 8 balls. May make more. Place on floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 30 minutes.

Take the Na'an dough and flatten or roll into 6" circles. Na'an bread usually comes in irregular shapes. Place dough on very hot grill rack and cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Dough should puff up and get brown spots. Remove from grill, lightly butter and keep warm, covered in foil. You may also sprinkle bread with minced garlic or garlic powder.