Vegan Naan — The Bread That Belongs at Every Auspicious Beginning

New Year's Eve. The apartment still smells like Christmas biryani and the tree is shedding needles at a rate that suggests it has given up on life, which is how we all feel on December 31st. Raj and I stayed home. No party. No gathering. Just us and the baby (eighteen weeks — sweet potato-sized, kicking now, definitely kicking, not gas). We made a deal: each of us picks one dish, we cook together, we eat before midnight, we're in bed by 12:30. This is what passes for wild New Year's Eve when you're pregnant and married and thirty. Raj picked: pav bhaji. The Mumbai street food — mixed vegetables mashed into a spicy, buttery gravy, served with soft bread rolls. It's not Gujarati specifically but it's the dish Raj associates with celebration because his family always ate it on New Year's Eve in Jersey City, where he grew up. "Dad would take us to this place on Newark Avenue," he said, mashing potatoes with a focus that suggested this was emotionally significant mashing. I picked: Amma's kesari bath — the semolina halwa she makes for auspicious beginnings. Semolina, ghee, sugar, saffron, cashews. It's golden and rich and the saffron makes it taste like a prayer. Amma made this on New Year's Day every year of my childhood. The year begins with sweetness. That's the rule. We cooked side by side — Raj at the stove with the pav bhaji, me at the counter with the kesari. Our kitchen is small and two people cooking simultaneously requires a choreography of elbows and apologies. He bumped me reaching for the cumin. I bumped him reaching for the ghee. The baby kicked when I leaned against the counter, as if objecting to being pressed. "She's protesting," Raj said. "Or he. We don't know yet." "She," he said, with the certainty of a man who has no information but strong feelings. We ate pav bhaji at 10 PM. Kesari bath at 11 PM. At midnight, we watched the ball drop on TV (Raj insists on this American tradition; I indulge him) and kissed and he put his hand on my stomach and said, "Next year, there will be three of us." Three. The word sat in the room like a new piece of furniture — taking up space, changing the shape of everything around it. I washed the dishes at 12:15 AM. Raj dried. The baby kicked. The year turned. 2018. The year everything changes.

We didn’t bake our own pav that night — Raj had picked up the soft rolls from the store, which felt right for a celebration that was already asking a lot of a small kitchen and two people trying not to bump elbows. But since then, whenever I reconstruct that meal on quieter evenings, I make this vegan naan instead: soft enough to cradle a spoonful of bhaji, golden at the edges, warm in the hand. It asks almost nothing of you and gives back the exact thing you need — something yielding and simple to hold everything else together. For a year that was about to ask everything of us, that felt appropriate.

Vegan Naan

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 6 naan

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened plain coconut yogurt (or any thick plant-based yogurt)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the pan
• 2–3 tbsp warm water, as needed
• 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted (for brushing)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional, for garlic naan)
• Fresh cilantro or nigella seeds, for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the coconut yogurt and olive oil and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Add warm water one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together into a soft, slightly tacky ball.
2. Knead. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4–5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place back in the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and rest for 10 minutes (or up to 1 hour for a slightly airier result).
3. Divide and roll. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into an oval or teardrop shape, about 1/4-inch thick.
4. Cook. Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy pan over medium-high heat and brush lightly with oil. Cook each naan for 2–3 minutes per side, until large bubbles form and char spots appear. The naan should puff and develop golden-brown spots on both sides.
5. Finish and serve. Brush warm naan immediately with melted vegan butter. If making garlic naan, stir minced garlic into the butter before brushing. Top with cilantro or nigella seeds if desired. Serve warm alongside pav bhaji, dal, or any curry.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 220mg