Varieties of Indian breads

In India, there are two cuisines which are famous. These are North Indian cuisine and South Indian cuisine. In South Indian cuisine, Rice (चावल –  Chawal) is popular while in the North Indian cuisine, breads (रोटी – Roti) are popular.

In North Indian cuisine, there are varieties of breads. Breads enjoyed with vegetable dishes. Bread is a good source of carbohydrate and protein whereas vegetables are good source of vitamins and minerals. The combination provides the necessary nourishment.

Some of the breads like Roti and Puri are prepared daily in household and other like Naan and Bhature etc are prepared in restaurants and traditional shops as they require lot of time for their preparation as well as special equipment and skills.

Let me share some of the most popular varieties of Indian breads with you.

Naan (नान)

If someone has to the king of Indian bread, this could be the one. Favorite of many, this flat and soft bread is made in a special oven called Tandoor. Tandoor is the clay oven which is heated to high temperature of around 480 Celsius.

The dough for this bread is prepared using wheat flour, yogurt, salt, sugar, eggs and yeast. Yogurt can be used in place of yeast but the preparation time will be extended as dough need to be left for longer time so it will become puffy and soft.

Roti (रोटी)

This is the bread is an important bread in North Indian cuisine. This is freshly prepared in every home most parts of India for lunch and dinner.  Chapaati (चपाती) is another name used for Roti in South India.  Roti is prepared by baking flat breads of dough which is prepared from whole grain wheat flour.

It doesn’t take much time to prepare as compared than the other variety of bread like Naan, Bhature etc. It is prepared on a pan which is called Tawa. This bread can also be prepared in Tandoor though it’ll be prepared with the same dough with which Naan is prepared though in a different way.

Bhatura (भटूरा)

Bhature is a variety of bread which is deep fried in oil. This is famous in the North India where it is served with a dish called Chole (chick peas) with curry. To make this bread, dough is prepared with wheat flour, yogurt, yeast, eggs, few pinches of salt, few pinches of sugar and Semolina.

Poori (पूरी)

Poori is prepared with from the deep frying the flat breads made of flour. Dough for Poori is prepared by whole grain wheat flour and salt. They are very puffy because of formed steam of dough’s moisture. They are usually made on almost every religious fest and served with dishes. In some area of North India, they are breakfast of many who prefer to have a heavy breakfast. This breakfast consists of Poori and potato based dish.

Rumali Roti (रूमाली रोटी)

Rumali Roti comes from two word Rumal (Handkerchief) and Roti (Bread). Indeed, this very thin bread resembles a handkerchief. Usually, the size of this bread is big.