Home ›› 22 Nov 2022 ›› Opinion
The Naan is one of the most popular flatbreads served with South Asian food.
In particular, accompanying food from the Northern Area of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and surrounding areas.
Have you ever been spoilt for choice for its vast selection today and wondered about its origin? We explore and discover more about this delightful and enjoyable flatbread which is popular in many parts of the world including the UK, USA and Canada.
The Naan originates from India but is today eaten in most types of South Asian restaurants and homes around the globe.
This unique style of flatbread has transformed from a basic form of bread for many to experimental creations by chefs and food enthusiasts today with different fillings and flavours.
It is possible that a variety of the Naan bread could have been baked and made during the Harappan period, also known as the Indus civilisation. This was the period when chapattis and thick rotis were developed.
In ancient Persia, bread was baked on hot pebbles and its possible that the Naan flatbread is related to this bread.
It’s said that the Delhi Sultans introduced the use of the tandoor, naan, keema, and kebab cooking and food before the Mughals in India.
However, its first recorded history of the Naan can be found in the notes of the Indo-Persian poet Amir Kushrau in 1300 AD.
According to Kusharu’s records, it was originally cooked at the Imperial Court in Delhi as naan-e-tunuk (light bread) and naan-e-tanuri (cooked in a tandoor oven). Tanuri was bread which was thicker and baked in a tanur (tandoor).
During the Mughal era in India from around 1526, Naan accompanied by keema or kebab was a popular breakfast food of the royals.
The flatbread remained a delicacy for the Northern Indian royals due to the specialised way it was made for decades. But by 1700, there re some mentions of this flatbread reaching other classes of Indian society.
The word Naan is derived from the Persian word ‘n?n’ which refers to bread and initially appeared in English Literature dating back to 1780 in a travelogue of William Tooke.
In Turkic languages, such as Uzbek, Kazakh and Uyghur, the flatbreads are known as nan. Therefore, similarities in the word are evident.
Another invention that is closely related to the Naan is the tandoor – the clay oven.
The tandoor became a major aspect of Punjabi cooking in undivided India. There are records of tandoor cooking going back to Mughal emperor Akbar’s and Jahangir’s reign during the 16th century.
The tandoor became the staple way of cooking Naan during these times and this way of making the flatbread has continued right up to today, however, some do use conventional ovens to cook it too. Whereas, chappati or roti is cooked on a flat or slightly concave iron griddle called a tawa.
For the ingredients, Naan is made from dry yeast, all-purpose flour, warm water, sugar, salt, ghee and yoghurt. The ingredients are used to make a smooth and stretchy elastic dough which is used to make them.
Modern recipes sometimes substitute baking powder for the yeast. Milk may be used to give greater volume and thickness to the flatbread.
There are even gluten-free recipes available for this popular flatbread.
Typically, Naan is served hot and brushed with ghee (clarified butter) or butter.
The Naan has become a very popular flatbread to accompany Indian and Pakistani cuisine worldwide.
There are special restaurants serving all kinds of naans based on customer tastes and needs in India and Pakistan.
They are being used as the base flatbread for many different toppings such a mixed vegetables (sabzi), grilled meats and even the advent of ‘Naan Pizza’ is seen in stores and at dinner tables.
Desi Blitz
