Naan Bread

Cooking Time: 1 hour Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

450g plain flour 140ml lukewarm milk 1 tsp sugar 2 tsp dried active yeast ½ tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp oil (2 tsp extra)

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100ml natural yoghurt • 1 large egg, beaten lightly • poppy or sesame seeds for garnish

Method

• In the lukewarm milk, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and the yeast.

Leave aside for 15 minutes. • In a bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder; add the yeast mix, yoghurt, oil, and egg. Mix them well to make a soft dough. Pour the remaining (2 teaspoons extra) oil over the dough and cover it with a damp cloth. Place it in a warm place for a few hours for it to prove. • Take a little bit of the dough and make a small round ball. Roll it out into a long oval shape. • Preheat the grill to a high temperature and heat the griddle or nonstick pan simultaneously. • Cook one side on the griddle and lift it with a spatula. Give the bread a good soak with water on the top side and put the garnish on. Place it in the hot grill until light brown specks start to appear.

• Butter and serve with any curry.

>> Cooking playlist

Here are the songs of my choice from North India as the recipes are all influenced by the clay oven cooking (tandoor).

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‘Hui Malang’ by Asees Kaur, Fed Sharma (From Malang - Unleash the Madness) • ‘Suit Suit’ by Guru Randhawa featuring Arjun • ‘Moorni’ by Panjabi MC • ‘Lamberghini’ by The Doorbeen featuring Ragini •

‘Qaafirana’ by Amit Trivedi

About Nisha

“I am currently Executive Director of ArtsEkta—one of the only organisations on the island of Ireland promoting ethnic arts, culture, and heritage. I founded this organisation in 2006 following two decades of experience in the arts and after discovering a critical gap for quality ethnic arts engagement in the sector. Originally from New Delhi, India, I have a degree from the National School of Drama in New Delhi and I am a trained Bharatanatyam Indian classical dancer.”

I moved to Northern Ireland in 1977, in my early twenties, as a result of an arranged marriage to a local Belfast Indian. As a direct result of feelings of isolation and cultural barriers, I quickly developed the strength to integrate into society by forging ahead and participating in community life.

I found that use of the arts and raising awareness about my culture was an important way to achieve this. In particular, I began to teach cookery and dance to many women’s groups in the deprived areas of Belfast during the height of The Troubles while volunteering in my own Indian community. Through these experiences I recognised the importance of interacting with people to break down barriers, create positive relationships and friendships, and realised the impact of artistic expression on my own personal development and confidence.

I faced many hurdles yet possessed the tenacity to cross barriers into unknown communities and situations and used the power of the arts as a basis to start a conversation and develop relationships. Today, this has transcended into an intrinsic understanding of the minority ethnic and locally deprived communities in Northern Ireland, which is reflected in my current work as Executive Director of ArtsEkta.

Prior to working in the arts and community sector, I developed my passion for cookery into a business venture—‘Faraway Foods’—of which I was Managing Director and shareholder. This company, which specialised in the sale of ethnic food products, was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and was supported by Invest Northern Ireland. I learned hard entrepreneurial lessons working to develop and grow an SME within the private sector which are constantly applied to my current work. My small business development has enabled me to think ‘outside of the box’ and to use my sales skills to communicate ideas to those who create change, in a similar way you sell your products to acquire new clients.

With a degree from the National School of Drama in India, I am a natural artist and have the unique ability to use my creative flair to address some of our most prevalent societal issues. I advocate for the importance of the arts to break down barriers, create positive relationships and friendships, and increase personal development and confidence. I sought to position ArtsEkta as an innovative ‘mixed economy’ enterprise that was selfsustainable. Resultantly, I worked closely with other UK and Scottish Melas to develop Belfast’s Mela. The event has become a flagship cultural festival for Northern Ireland which has introduced new methods for the positive exploration of diversity.