Breaking Bread: Reinventing The 'Naan' And 'New Making'

By Ruchi Mehta 
Group Feature Editor

Subject to the capricious whims of the nation's palate, the naan was in danger of fading into the background. The last few years, though, have seen considerable reinvention and a grand revival.

It is a rare north Indian meal that can fly solo without the comforting presence of a hot naan, fresh off the tandoor. But while we may have embraced the teardrop-shaped flatbread, it is not Indian in origin. No matter, because, much like some versions of biryani and even kebabs, the naan that we eat can arguably be considered India’s gift to the culinary world.

Archaeologists believe that the leavened bread could have been a part of the subcontinent’s diet during the Indus Valley Civilisation (3,300-1,300 BCE) because of the discovery of earthen pots and pans. But one of the earliest written references to the naan appears only centuries later, in 1300 AD, in the notes of Indo-Persian Sufi poet Amir Khusrow.