Anyone who has eaten Indian food understands the importance of bread to the cuisine. It is nutritious, filling, and delicious, but it is also an effective utensil for carrying dishes and flavor to the eater. There are a wide variety of breads that serve these purposes in Indian cuisine. Today we’ll talk about the popular wheat based breads of the subcontinent.
Bread is made from dough of water and flour, usually wheat flour. There’s evidence that humans ate bread as long ago as 30,000 BCE in Europe and Australia. The oldest found archaeological bread making site is from 6,500 BCE in Jordan. Historians know that the ancient Mesopotamians baked bread in 6,000 BCE.
Indus Valley Civilization 3000 BCE
The origin of the ubiquitous South Asian breads roti and chapati is unknown, but historians know that the Indus Valley Civilization ate rotis more than 5,000 years ago in what is now modern day Pakistan and Punjab.
Rotis are made from a South Asian wheat flour called atta in Hindi and water with oil and salt optionally added depending on the community.
Atta
Atta is the flour used to make rotis and chapatis and is often confused as an equivalent of western whole wheat flour. This isn’t accurate. The misconception stems from the fact that both types of flour mill the wheat with its outer skin-like layer called bran still intact. But they are different types of flour. Atta comes from soft to medium hardness wheat which is different from the hard wheat typically grown and processed in North America. As a result, atta is usually a little lighter in color and milder in flavor.
In addition to the type of wheat used, the milling processes are also different for atta and whole wheat flour. Modern day western wheat mills use steel rollers to grind wheat into wheat flour. In comparison, South Asian mills use stone grinders to make atta. Stone rollers result in a very fine flour and adds a bit of heat in the process for a slightly toasted flavor. Also the stone causes more damage to the starch and proteins in the wheat which adds some sweetness.
The finer atta can absorb more water than traditional western wheat flour. The additional water helps make South Asian rotis and chapatis soft. Atta has more protein and as a result more gluten than western wheat flour so atta is not very good for making crumbly, crunchy western bread loaves. Likewise using atta to make a western bread results in a chewy loaf.
Rotis
The roti dough made from atta is then turned into many little balls. Each ball of dough is flattened into a circle using a rolling pin. That circle of dough is then cooked on a flat pan called a tava. If we stop cooking here, it is chapati.
Some families continue to cook the roti by putting it on a wire rack, called a jali, and then cooking it over an open flame. The roti puffs up. The actual name for this type of bread is phulka.
There is a lot of confusion about the similarities and differences between roti and chapati. It’s actually quite simple. Roti is a more general type of round flat bread made from atta in South Asia. Chapati is a type of roti that is cooked only on a tava. The other typical roti is phulka as mentioned before which is first cooked on a tava, but then transfered to cook over an open flame and puff.
So a chapati is always a roti but a roti is only sometimes a chapati. Often families simply call phulkas by the general term roti, which adds to the confusion.
I have a video on the Cook Like An Aunty YouTube channel showing how to make soft, round rotis. I put the link in the show notes. The video includes a diagram showing how to make round rotis that will impress any aunty.
Today rotis are still popular in the region that was part of the Indus Valley Civilization: Pakistan, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Of course, rotis are staples in other parts of India too.
Rotis and chapatis can be eaten with a variety of dishes or subjis. Anything from aloo gobi and saag paneer to dal and chicken makhani. Roti and chapati are considered the side dish and the meat or vegetable dishes are considered the main parts of the meal. In addition to providing additional nutrition for the meal, the bread is also a helpful way to scoop the food with one hand and transport it to the eater’s mouth. Of course, all of us American born desis are well aware of the struggle to learn to tear a roti with one hand.
You may hear some people say “double roti”. This is not a reference to multiple layers of a single South Asian flat roti, but instead just a term for western style bread loaves. Another term used for western style bread is “pav” like in the Mumbai street food dishes pav bhaji or vada pav.
There are many varieties of rotis that we will not cover today such as romali roti, rava roti, and luchi roti. But know that rotis can be prepared by mixing atta with other grains or preparing them in some modified ways.
Maida
Alongside atta, maida is another common wheat flour in South Asia. It is also made from wheat, but unlike atta, it is made from wheat after the outer layer bran is removed. This leaves only the endosperm and germ.
There is another common misconception that maida is the same as western all-purpose flour, but this is incorrect. Maida’s closest western cousin is actually cake flour which is a pretty decent substitute if you don’t have a South Asian grocery store near you.
Both flours have the bran removed from the wheat kernel before processing and are lower in protein and fiber compared to their whole wheat counterparts. Compared to atta, maida is made using wheats with higher gluten contents and used to make softer breads.
Kulcha
One popular bread made with maida is kulcha. It is a leavened bread which means a bread that rises. Although kulcha rises, it does not rise to look like a western loaf of bread. It is prepared to be round and puffy.
Kulcha is often associated with the North India cuisines of Punjab, Jammu, Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. It is traditionally made with maida and can be plain or stuffed. The common stuffings are potatoes, onions, cheese, and vegetables.
South Asian kulcha recipes use baking soda or old kulcha dough as the leavening agent.
In my research, I didn’t find where kulcha the food originated, but the word kulcha comes from Persian. Kulchas were often not stuffed for ordinary households. The Mughals are credited with popularizing stuffed kulcha around the 16th Century CE.
Kulcha is often confused with naan, but kulcha is often circular while naan is usually triangular. Even some people in India use the terms incorrectly. We will discuss the differences between kulcha and naan in a moment.
Homecooks can prepare kulcha over the stove on a tava, but it is traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven.
Tandoor Oven
Traditional tandoors are urn shaped ovens made of clay. Modern day tandoors are often metal. The oven’s heat source is a charcoal or wood fire sitting inside the bottom of the oven. Today, many tandoors have internal gas or electric heating elements similar to our western kitchen ovens. They can reach temperatures of 900 degrees Fahrenheit or 480 degrees Celsius. Tandoors can be entirely above ground or partially buried.
The Indus Valley Civilization used tandoors over 5,000 years ago. Tandoors are used today in India, Pakistan, Iran, and all the way up to Armenia and Turkmenistan.
Tandoors were especially popular in Punjab. Before the 1947 partition of India, many villages in Punjab had communal tandoors for families to share. After partition when many Punjabis had to resettle in other parts of South Asia, the tandoor and tandoori style of cooking, along with the food made in them, spread to other parts of South Asia and the world.
Along with kulcha, other foods can be cooked in a tandoor like tandoori roti, tandoori chicken, kebabs, and samosas.
Naan
Naan is another leavened bread usually made from maida. But it can be made from atta so the type of flour used is not its defining characteristic.
The primary difference from kulcha is that naan’s leavening agent is yeast while kulcha uses baking soda.
Kulcha is usually denser and chewier compared to naan which is lighter and fluffier.
As said before, kulcha is usually circular while naan is shaped into a triangle.
Also, naan is traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven, but homecooks can use a western style oven.
Naan is a term from Persian which means any general bread. Naan arrived in the Indian subcontinent during the Delhi Sultanate of 13th Century CE. During the time of the Mughals around the 1500s, naan was a delicacy because only a few skilled artisans knew how to make it. Mughal documents from the reign of Akbar include records of eating naan with kebabs and kheema. By the 1700s, ordinary citizens of the Mughal empire ate naan.
Outside of India, naans are often circular in shape. Pakistani, Iranian, and Afghan naans are usually circular, oblong, or square-shaped; although, they have a similar texture to Indian naan. Due to British colonization and the Indian diaspora immigrating around the world, India’s triangular naan is usually the common variety in western restaurants and grocery stores. One of the most popular variations is garlic naan which is naan infused with garlic, butter, and salt. And of course, there are now fusion recipes such as naan pizza.
Paratha
Let’s change back to a bread made from atta. Paratha is a layered flatbread made from atta. It is usually circular in shape, but unlike single layer rotis and chapatis, parathas are thicker from the multiple layers or stuffing.
The word paratha comes from the combination of the Hindi words parat, meaning layer, and atta, the type of flour used to make parathas.
The origin of the paratha is not known, but it is usually associated with Punjabi and North Indian cuisine. Bakhshish Singh Nijjer wrote parathas were common for the Punjabi aristocracy from 1000 to 1500 CE. The Manasollasa which is a 12th Century CE text from present day South India also mentions parathas. While the origin is not known, it is pretty clear that parathas had spread throughout South Asia by this time.
Parathas are made by mixing atta with water to create a dough. A small ball of the dough is then rolled out flat. At this point a filling can be added on top of the dough or just a layer of ghee. Then the dough is folded back on itself to create lamination, exactly like what Paul Hollywood judges on The Great British Bake Off. Finally, the paratha is cooked on a tava. Of course, India is famous for never serving a “stodgy” paratha.
Parathas are usually stuffed, but they don’t have to be. Common stuffings are potatoes, paneer, cauliflower, or really anything else. Parathas are a common breakfast food in India served alongside yogurt, eggs, kheema, or dal.
Parotta
Paratha should not be confused with another bread from South India called Parotta, spelled p-a-r-o-t-t-a. Parotta is made from maida, eggs, oil, and water. The dough is beaten to a flat shape, then rolled into a spiral. Finally, this spiral-shaped dough is rolled flat and pan fried. The resulting texture of parotta is flaky, similar to baklava, although parotta is savory, not sweet. It can be served with a savory side dish such as vegetables or meat.
Parotta originated in Sri Lanka and then traveled to South India with Tamil speaking migrant workers. Parotta became very popular as street food and restaurant food in Kerala during the 1960s
While both parathas and parottas are layered, the latter is flakier, made from maida, and fried. Parathas are made from atta and cooked on a tava.
Poori or Puri
Puri is a deep-fried circular, puffy bread. It is made from atta and water and is unleavened. In most cases, the puri expands to a spherical shape when deep-fried. This is because the water in the dough turns into steam and expands on the inside. But sometimes holes are poked into the dough before frying which keeps the puri flat. This technique is useful when the puri will be cut into smaller pieces for serving in chaat.
Puris are a breakfast food or snack and used as an accompaniment for vegetable and sometimes non-veg dishes. Puris are usually the same diameter as your typical chapati, about 6 to 8 inches. But mini puris with a 1 inch diameter are made for use in pani puri, also called golgappa. The smaller puris are usually made crispier by adding a little bit of rava or semolina flour to the dough.
In pani puri, the puris are filled with potatoes, onions, chickpeas, and other vegetables. Then a spiced water, green chutney, and tamarind chutney are poured over it. The bite-sized puri is eaten in one bite with all of the flavors bursting in the eater’s mouth at the same time.
There are other versions such as dahi-sev puri which also adds yogurt and small chickpea flour fritters on top. This is a popular variety associated with Mumbai street food.
Bhatura
Bhatura looks similar to puri, but it is leavened and usually made from maida. Baking soda or baking powder are the common leavening agents.
It is possible to use semolina instead of maida. The bhatura can also be filled with something like potatoes for aloo bhatura or paneer for paneer bhatura.
One very popular dish is chole bhatura which is chickpeas served with a bhatura.
The non-fried version of bhatura is kulcha which we discussed before. They use the same dough, but the cooking method is different. As we said before, kulcha is cooked in a tandoor oven and bhatura is fried.
Thepla
Thepla is an unleavened flatbread made from atta and besan which is chickpea flour. It is usually a breakfast, snack, or a side dish with a meal. It is often eaten with yogurt, pickles, and vegetables.
Thepla is associated with Gujarat and is especially popular with the Jain community.
The most popular variety is methi thepla which are fenugreek flavored theplas. But theplas can also include potatoes, spinach, or other vegetables and spices.
| Flour | Layered | Leavened | Fried | Cooking Method | Puffed | |
| Roti | Atta | No | No | No | Tava or Jali | Phulka – yes, Chapati – no |
| Chapati | Atta | No | No | No | Tava | No |
| Phulka | Atta | No | No | No | Jali | Yes |
| Puri | Atta | No | No | Yes | Fried | Yes |
| Bhatura | Maida | No | Yes – overnight fermentation, baking powder, or baking soda | Yes | Fried | Yes |
| Kulcha | Maida | No | Yes – kulcha dough, baking powder or baking soda | No | Tandoor | Yes |
| Naan | Maida | No | Yes – yeast | No | Tandoor | No |
| Paratha | Atta | Yes | No | No | Tava | No |
| Parotta | Maida | Yes | No | Yes | Fried | No |
| Thepla | Atta and besan | No | No | No | Tava | No |
While India has a number of breads we did not cover and many other bread-like foods such as dosa and ragi mudde, we are going to stop here today with the major wheat based breads.
I made a handy table describing the characteristics of Indian breads on CookLikeAnAunty.com/atta-and-maida. You can use it for quick reference on the similarities and differences between each type of bread.
Remember to subscribe to the Cook Like An Aunty podcast on your favorite podcast player and share this episode with an American Born Desi in your life.
Thanks for listening! And see you next time.
Sources
The Real Difference between Atta and Western Wheat Flour – Mashed
Wheat Flour Guide – Serious Eats
Amritsari Kulcha Recipe (Hebbars Kitchen)
Green Revolution in India – Wikipedia