Naan

Naan is a soft, leavened flatbread made from wheat flour, yoghurt and yeast, traditionally baked in a clay tandoor oven. The name comes from the Persian word for bread, and the bread is widely eaten across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

What it really is

Naan is made from a dough of wheat flour, yoghurt, a raising agent (classically yeast or a fermented starter) and a little salt, sometimes with milk and sugar. The dough is kneaded, rested until it rises, then pulled or pressed into a teardrop or oval shape about the thickness of a finger. It is slapped onto the hot inner wall of a tandoor, where it blisters and browns within a few minutes, and is often finished with butter or ghee brushed over the top.

Naan is baked in a tandoor, not in a pan, which separates it from flatbreads such as chapati and paratha. Chapati is unleavened and cooked on a griddle, and paratha is layered and fried in fat. Naan is leavened, thicker, and has a soft, chewy interior with charred spots on the surface. Versions cooked on a griddle or in a domestic oven are common outside restaurants, but the tandoor-baked form is the classic one.

How it's served

• Served hot, torn into pieces with the hands and used to scoop up curry, dal or gravy.
• Usually brought to the table on a bread basket, often brushed with butter or ghee.
• Eaten alongside tandoori meats and kebabs, which are the typical partners for plain or garlic naan.
• Stuffed or flavoured versions such as garlic, keema or cheese naan are ordered as a single portion for sharing.

How to write it on the menu

• Write as Naan, and state the flour (wheat) and that it contains dairy (yoghurt, and butter if brushed).
• Name the variant when offered, for example Garlic naan, Peshwari naan (with nuts and dried fruit) or Cheese naan (with milk-based cheese).
• Flag wheat, milk and, for Peshwari naan, the nuts used in the filling.
• Mention the tandoor where it is cooked in the traditional way, and say if it is made on a griddle or in an oven instead.