Troubleshooting Dish by Rish's Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Naan After Two Tries
When are these done?!
In my experience, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of trustworthy recipes to rely on in social media.
I find most Instagram ones don’t live up to the hype. When I try to follow along, something almost always gets lost in the mix — quite literally.
My most recent semi-failure was Dish by Rish’s “Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Naan,” which I first saw on IG. It looked doable and delicious, and my neighbor friend Christina’s daughter Danica really wanted me to make some for her and her family.
I fucked up on my first try, last Saturday, so I made more the following Sunday. Plus, I had extra filling…
My fuck-ups are their gain.
The dough is really dry, so dry that the dough hook (I used a stand mixer) basically went clanking around and around the bowl with nothing to hold onto, like it was tossing bagels. The second time I made it, I added more water. It’s okay, judge by how it comes together with a little stickiness. This is when it helps to be a baker.
Take his tip, leave it to rise overnight in the fridge for better, deeper flavor.
My triangles aren’t your triangles. They weren’t evenly portioned out, like his were. So I had to do a little messy adjusting.
The filling spilled out during the sealing, then rolling out process. But it didn’t matter during the cooking. Do your best. You can always add more filling, not less.
Add double the butter and garlic you’ll brush on at the end. You’ll need it. Be generous.
The butter doesn’t have to be unsalted. This usually applies for all bakes.
Also, wait until halfway through the second rise before melting your butter or it will harden up halfway through the cooking, and then you’re fucked.
Add more salt to taste than just a pinch to both the filling and the garlic butter.
It doesn’t matter, btw, if you room-temp the cream cheese, since you just want to be able to mix it with the two cheeses. This filling is actually better cold from the fridge; easier to dollop on the dough triangle-rounds.
Feel free to add more seasonings to the filling, to taste. His recipe is a riff off the classic chili naan.
I’m not sure why the triangles and not rounds, but go with it.
You don’t have to spread out the triangles as much as I did. Watch his video for guidance.
Try not to over-fill, or you’ll have trouble sealing.
Also watch Rishi’s video on how to seal before doing it yourself. Or just make sure you seal it however you can. The dragging part is just to ensure the underside is sealed up.
Try flattening out the filled naan rounds by hand instead of using a rolling pin to avoid causing the filling the spill out. It may anyway. That’s okay. It doesn’t have to be rolled out super-flat, either.
The hardest part for me was knowing when the naan was done. The second day I made these, I covered the cast-iron pan with a lid after flipping over the first time. Make sure the undersides are golden-brown and slightly charred. Generally, 1.5 minutes on the first side, then 1 min. to finish with the lid on. No longer, or they’ll dry out.
But the end result, the taste, is what matters. Everyone enjoyed the oozing gooey cream cheese, cheddar, and mozzarella surrounded by a pillow of soft, yet crunchy naan.
Will I make it again? Probably not, unless someone asks me to.
I found the naan okay in flavor, but too cheesy. I prefer garlic-butter naan without any filling. My husband, who is spice-averse, said these weren’t too bad. Jalapeno tends to be milder than serrano.
Remind me to tell you one day why pizza wasn’t my favorite food growing up, because of the cheese…
