Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
Ingredients
Most flatbreads from northern India are unleavened and made primarily from milled flour, usually atta or maida, and water. Some flatbreads, especially paratha, may be stuffed with vegetables and layered with either ghee or butter.
In southern India and the West Coast, most pancakes are made from peeled and split black lentils (urad dal) and rice. Popular varieties include dosa, appam, and uttapam. Popular flatbreads include rice rotis and ragi rotis.
Most Indian breads make use of the yeast spores in the atmosphere for fermentation.
Preparation
In northern India, a dough of the main ingredient is prepared and flattened by rolling. Most Indian breads, such as roti, kulcha and chapati, are baked on tava, a griddle made from cast iron, steel or aluminum. Others such as puri and bhatura are deep-fried. The dough for these breads is usually made with less water in order to reduce the oil soaked up when frying.
In Southern India, a batter of rice and black lentils is prepared and ladled in small amounts onto a hot greased skillet, where it is spread out into a thin circle and fried with oil or ghee until golden brown.
In Western India (including the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan) bread may be made from coarse grains such as bajra, sorghum or ragi, though wheat is the staple in these regions. The grains or cereals are usually milled into a fine powder, and mixed with a little water to make a smooth dough. This dough is patted into a circle by hand, either by holding it between the two hands or by placing it on an upturned plate or other flat surface.[1]
In Maharashtra, a multi-grain flatbread called "thalipeeth" is also prepared. It contains many grains and cereals like wheat, rice, bajra, jowar, ragi, horse gram, green gram, black gram, chickpeas and so on. Each grain or cereal is roasted separately and then milled together into a fine powder. Spices and chopped onions are added along with water to make the dough, and it is patted into circles, after which it is roasted on a griddle with some ghee or oil. It is often served with homemade butter.[2]
Indian breads of Central Asian origin, such as naan and tandoori roti, are baked in a tandoor. Naan is usually leavened with yeast.
Varieties
Different varieties of Indian bread and pancake include chapati, phulka, puri, roti, bajra rotla, thepla, paratha, naan, kulcha, bhatoora, appam, dosa, luchi, puran poli, pathiri, and parotta. Some of these, like paratha and roti, have many varieties. Some varieties depend on the kind of grain used to prepare them, and others depend on the fillings they contain.
Dosa – a typical dish in South India. In Tamil Nadu the popular adai dishes are made from millet dough or rice dough. It is closer to a dosa when made with fermented batter of a mixture of lentils.
Bobbatlu/Bakshalu/Obbattu – made of maida, chanadal/ toor dal, sugar/jaggery, from the Telugu / Kannada cuisine, specially prepared for the Ugadi (Lunar New Year) festival in Telugu states and Karnataka
Bhturu - prepared from soft kneaded fermented dough. It is almost like soft bread from inside and crisp outside. It is served with local delicacies of Himachli Dham like Madra, Dal and Khatta etc.
Chapati – unleavened flatbread (also known as roti) from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan which is baked on a hot surface.[4] It is a common staple food in India
Cheela – crepes made from batter of varying ingredients in North India - ingredients usually include pulse (dal) flour,Chickpea flour, wheat flour and sometimes finely chopped vegetables.
Charolia - a thin, pancake-like bread made by spreading a batter on a hot pan in a pattern to make net like shape once cooked.
Chili parotha – essentially a plain paratta shredded into small, bite-sized pieces mixed with sauteed onions, tomatoes, and chili powder
Dhebra – Two different types: one made with pearl millet (bajra) flour, often flavoured with fenugreek leaf (methi). The other is an unleavened jaggery puri, made with jaggery and whole wheat flour.
Kulcha – leavened bread eaten in India and Pakistan, made from maida flour (wheat flour)
Luchi – deep-fried flatbread from Bengal similar to Puri but made with maida flour instead of atta.
Manda roti (Rumali roti): Traditional Indian flatbread which thin like handkerchief and cooked on upturned pot. It was known as Mandaka in ancient India.[5]
Thalipeeth – savoury multi-grain pancake popular in Maharashtra.
Utthapam – dosa-like dish made by cooking ingredients in a batter
Kori Rotti – crisp dry wafers (about 1mm thick) made from boiled rice and served along with spicy Chicken curry. Usually available in A4 size packs and very popular bread in Coastal Karnataka.
Litti - Litti, along with chokha, is a complete meal originated from the Indian subcontinent; and popular in Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh as well as Nepalese state of Madhesh. It is a dough ball made up of whole wheat flour and stuffed with Sattu (roasted barley flour) mixed with herbs and spices and then roasted over coal or cow dung cakes or wood then it is tossed with much ghee. Although very often confused with the closely related Baati, it is a completely different dish in terms of taste, texture and preparation. It may be eaten with yogurt, Baigan chokha, Aloo chokha, and papad.
Thepla - Gujarati chapatti made with whole wheat flour and flavoured with fenugreek leaves and spices.
