Naan

What makes a naan a naan

Naan is distinguished from other Indian flatbreads (roti, paratha, chapati) by being leavened and tandoor-baked. The dough is enriched with milk and yogurt, allowed to ferment briefly, then slapped onto the curved interior wall of a clay-lined tandoor oven heated to over 480 °C. The bread cooks in under a minute, picking up the smoky char marks and air-pocketed chewy texture that define it.

Variations

• Plain naan — brushed with ghee or butter as it comes out of the oven.
• Garlic naan — minced garlic and cilantro pressed into the surface before baking.
• Keema naan — stuffed with spiced ground meat.
• Peshwari naan — sweet, with a stuffing of nuts, raisins, and coconut.
• Roghni naan — Pakistani style enriched with ghee and topped with sesame and nigella seeds.

A Persian root

The word nan means “bread” in Persian and entered the languages of South Asia through the Mughal court. In Iran today, several flatbreads still go by names beginning with nan-.