Many experienced chapati makers have observed that I’m fiddling with tradition here. It’s true. Indeed I am varying the flours and the liquids in order to get to a softer, more toothsome homemade product. Don’t infer from that statement that I don’t think traditional recipes give good results, but ingredients and…ehem…the manipulators of those ingredients, vary highly from place to place. I should be using atta, traditional Indian chapati flour, but I can get any. As a result the all-whole wheat flour and all-water recipes weren’t delivering bread anywhere near as good as I remember from the real Indian meals I’ve had.

God love this internet thingamajig. I set out to make potica, and Slovenian grandmothers offer me recipes. I announce I’m making naan, and bakers from India weigh in with tips and advice. Has a baker ever lived that’s as blessed and lucky as I am? I think not! Thanks to all the readers and contributors […]

It’s not easy with flatbreads, reader Clay! They are humanity’s oldest form of bread. Indeed flatbreads pre-date wheat! Thirty thousand years ago, flatbreads were made from mixtures of foraged plant and grass seeds, pounded or ground, mixed with water and cooked on flat, hot stones. That basic technique endured for tens of thousands of years, up through the dawn of the age of agriculture, when hunter-gatherers started to settle down on farms and grow large quantities of single crops.

This flatbread stuff is fun. Let’s do some more! Roti, I’m thinking. Or maybe I’ll switch cultures altogether and do some lavash. Hmm…

It’s a bit of a loaded question. “Nan” is the generic term for “bread” in parts of the Middle East, notably Iran, where the word is thought to have originated. However in India “naan” denotes a particular kind of bread, which is to say flat bread that’s baked in a tandoor.

Which raises the question: what’s a tandoor? It’s a pot, basically. A tall, thick clay pot with a charcoal fire at the bottom. Like many types of masonry ovens, tandoors get extremely hot and are great for cooking all sorts of food. You can insert skewers full of meat and vegetables into them, for instance.

Those of you who follow my bread posts know I tend to favor simple, same-day breads. Naan is one of those, and once you try it you’ll find it habit-forming. Mrs. Pastry is making Indian food tonight, so let’s do this thing!