Breads

Roti is the generic name for bread or bread-like accompaniments. There is a great variety and they are baked, grilled (broiled), roasted or fried. There is no rule regarding which type of roti goes with which dish but it’s a rare curry that does not happily lend itself to being scooped up with some bread.

Roti are popular all over Asia and especially in the northern and central areas of India where wheat and grains are staples, rather than rice. Although it is a common assumption that rice is part of every meal, there are actually vast areas of Asia that don’t have the right climate or terrain for rice growing. Therefore, these areas produce different grains and have a large repertoire of roti which commonly accompany meals.

In northern and central India, roti are eaten with every meal instead of rice. Throughout the rest of India, roti as well as rice are eaten with main meals every day. Roti function both as part of the meal and as a handy eating tool because they are used to scoop up the more liquid dishes including dal, or to pick up pieces of meat. Roti are also utilized as wrappers for grilled (broiled) meats, or as edible plates, with the accompaniments piled on top, at roadside stalls.

Roti made from wheat are generally cooked in one of four ways: on a tava (a flat, convex or concave griddle) without the use of fat, or on a tava using a little ghee or oil, or deep-fried in a karhai, or baked in a tandoor or oven. Each of the first three methods gives a different result using essentially the same unleavened dough. Sometimes, as for parathas, the dough is layered with ghee to give a flaky texture. At other times, it may be covered as it cooks to create a softer texture. Baked roti are made from leavened dough.

Unleavened roti cooked on a tava include chapatis, rumali, and phulkas (a type of chapati which is made to puff up by briefly cooking it on hot coals) as well as roti flavoured with spinach. Those cooked with fat are parathas. The most common deep-fried bread is the puri, which ranges from the tiny mouthfuls (gol goppas) used to make chaat, such as pani puri, to those bigger ones eaten with meals. Poppadoms are also a deep-fried accompaniment, though unlike the softer roti they are made from a dough of ground pulses and form a very thin, crisp disc with a bubbled surface.

Leavened breads rely on the intense, all-round heat of an oven or tandoor to make them rise and cook in minutes. The breads are stuck to the oven wall for a few minutes. They include naan, kulcha and sheermal. Baked breads are common to areas such as the Punjab, Hyderabad and Kashmir where ovens or tandoors (often communal) are commonly used. In other areas, baked breads are produced by restaurants as domestic kitchens do not have suitable ovens.

Other bread-like accompaniments include pancakes and cakes made of rice and gram, either steamed or cooked on griddles, such as idlis, appams and dosas.