Tandoor bread

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Tandoor bread
Az Tandoor e-citizen.jpg
Tandoor flatbreads
Place of origin Mesopotamia, Indus Valley
Main ingredients Flour
Tandoori roti from Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Tandoori-roti.jpg
Tandoori roti from Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Tandoor bread refers to a bread baked in a clay oven called a tandoor . [1]

Contents

History

Cooking food in a tandoor oven has been done for about five millennia. Remains of a clay oven with indication of cooked food have been excavated in the Indus River valley site of Kalibangan, [2] and other places in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, northwest India, Iran, Iraq and Central Asia. [3]

The English word tandoor comes from Hindi/Urdu tandūr (तन्दूर / تندور), which derives from Persian tanūr (تنور) or tandūr (تندور). According to the Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary, the Persian word ultimately came from the Akkadian word tinūru (𒋾𒂟), which consists of the parts tin 'mud' and nuro/nura 'fire' and is mentioned as early as in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh. Tandoor has been referred to as kandu in Sanskrit literature, in which tandoori parched, roasted cuisine is described as kandu pakva (roasted in a tandoor such as grains, meat, etc.) along with roasting on coal which has been called angara pakva. [4]

Tandoor ovens are not prevalent in the average Indian home because they are expensive to fabricate, install and maintain. [5] Authentic tandoori cuisine in urban areas can often be found in specialty restaurants. [3] However, in rural areas in India such as Punjab, the tandoor oven is considered a social institution, for a tandoor oven is shared among the community. Women would go to the oven place with atta along with their marinated meats to meet their neighbors and friends, so they could converse and share stories while waiting for their food to cook. [6] The people in cities once engaged in this social activity, but as businesses and commercialism grew in these areas, communal tandoor ovens became rare. Not uncommonly, people bring food to their local bakeries to cook it there at a fair price. [3]

Because of the growing inaccessibility of a tandoor oven in urban areas, especially in cities outside of Southern Asia, people have developed ingenious techniques to replicate the cooking process and the food without the use of the oven. Common alternatives include an oven or a grill fueled by charcoal or wood so the food will be infused with the smoky flavor. [3]

Varieties

West Asia

Preparation of khubz al-tannur in Bahrain KhubzBakery.jpg
Preparation of khubz al-tannur in Bahrain

The Arabic name for tandoor bread is ḵubz al-tannūr ('bread of the tannur' Arabic : خبز التنور). In some places where it is especially common, such as Iraq, it may be called simply khubz (bread). [7] It is similar to, or in some cases the same as, taboon bread.

In Iran, tandoor breads are known as nân-e-tanūri (Persian : نان تنوری). Varieties include nân-e barbari (Persian : نان بربری), tâftun (تافتون), and shirmal (شیرمال).

In Georgia and Armenia, a traditional tandoor is called a tone (Georgian :თონე) and tʿonir (Armenian : թոնիր), and the bread baked in the tone are called tonis ṗuri (Georgian :თონის პური or tʿonir hacʿ Armenian : թոնիր հաց). Canoe-shaped shoti (Georgian :შოთი) is a kind of tonis ṗuri. Lavash (Armenian : լավաշlavaš, Georgian :ლავაშიlavaši) is an unleavened variety of tandoor bread eaten in this region.

Central Asia

In Central Asia, tandyr nan (Kazakh/Kyrgyz: тандыр-нанtandır-nan, Uzbek: tandir non, Uyghur : تونۇر نانtonur nan, Tajik : нони танурйnoni tanuri) is made and eaten.

In Turkey and Azerbaijan, breads baked in tandoor are called təndir çörəyi (Azerbaijani) and tandır ekmeği (Turkish).

South Asia

India

Tandoor breads are popular in northwestern Indian regions, especially in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab regions, where naan breads and atta flatbreads such as the Tandoori roti are baked in tandoor clay ovens fired by wood or charcoal. These naans are known as tandoori naan (Gujarati : તંદૂરી નાન, Hindi : तंदूरी नान). [8] Tandoor ovens are not prevalent in the average Indian home because they are expensive to fabricate, install and maintain. [5] Authentic tandoori cuisine in urban areas can often be found in specialty restaurants and dhabas, which are street-side reasonably fared restaurants that usually line Indian highways. [3] However, in rural areas in India such as Punjab, the tandoor oven is considered a social institution, for a tandoor oven is shared among the community. Women would go to the oven place with atta along with their marinated meats to meet their neighbors and friends so they could converse and share stories while waiting for their food to cook. [6] The people in cities once engaged in this social activity, but as businesses and commercialism grew in these areas, communal tandoor ovens became rare. Not uncommonly, people bring food to their local bakeries to cook it there at a fair price. [3]

Pakistan

In Pakistan, tandoor breads are a staple across the country. In rural areas, each home often has its own tandoor, while in urban areas commercial tandoors are available where people buy bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These commercial tandoors are especially popular during summer times when high temperatures in parts of the country make cooking bread at home an unpleasant chore.

These breads range from a simple Tandoori roti which is unleavened bread, to yeast-based khamiri roti, as well as richer and more complex (yeast, milk, egg, etc.-based) naans and kulcha breads. [8] In Pakistani cuisine, specific types of tandoori breads are often eaten with specific foods. Some of the most popular tandoori breads include Sheermal, Taftan, and Roghni naan.

Commonly, central tandoor was often a social institution where people would bring their atta or dough to be cooked; and bartered with the baker using gandum (Urdu : گندم) or wheat. In addition to savory breads, tandoors in Pakistan are also used to bake various sweet and semi-sweet breads such as sheermal (شیر مال) and qand kulcha (Urdu : قند کلچہ).

Because of the growing inaccessibility of a tandoor oven in urban areas, especially in cities outside of Southern Asia, people have developed ingenious techniques to replicate the cooking process and the food without the use of the oven. Common alternatives include an oven or a grill fueled by charcoal or wood so the food will be infused with the smoky flavor. [3]

Tandoori roti is commonly consumed in South Asian countries such as Pakistan and India. [9] This bread is served in restaurants, hotels, industrial canteens and at home. It is also gaining popularity in Asia, North America (outside of the Caribbean) and Europe due to migrants during British colonialism. [10]

Caribbean

Tandoor bread is found in Caribbean countries such as Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago (as roti). [11]

Physical and chemical composition

Aroma, smell, appearance, color, size and overall texture are the general characteristics that are optimized by producers of tandoor bread. [10] The texture and quality of tandoor bread are determined by the percentage of wheat protein, the number of essential amino acids and the type of flour present in the bread. [12] [13] Various studies have demonstrated that the chemical and biochemical composition of flour affects the flour's ability to interact with the other ingredients in tandoor bread. [10] [12]

Response surface methodology is a process which allows for the development of palatable tandoor breads that have a long shelf life and contain minimal amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which may pose health hazards. [14] For optimal sensory and chemical stability of tandoor bread, the water level is 720 milliliters per kilogram, protein concentrations range from 10.3% to 11.5%, between 1.2 and 1.6% salt is added, and the bread is baked in temperatures ranging from 330 to 450 °C. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Chapati, also known as roti, rooti, rotee rotli, rotta, safati, shabaati, phulka, chapo, sada roti, poli, and roshi, is an unleavened flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent and is a staple in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and the Caribbean. Chapatis are made of whole-wheat flour known as atta, mixed into dough with water, oil (optional), and salt (optional) in a mixing utensil called a parat, and are cooked on a tava.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naan</span> Asian flatbread

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roti</span> South Asian flatbread

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Pakistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punjabi cuisine</span> Regional cuisine from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavash</span> Flatbread

Lavash is a thin flatbread usually leavened, traditionally baked in a tandoor or on a sajj, and common to the cuisines of South Caucasus, West Asia, and the areas surrounding the Caspian Sea. Lavash is one of the most widespread types of bread in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. The traditional recipe can be adapted to the modern kitchen by using a griddle or wok instead of the tonir.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajasthani cuisine</span> Cuisine of the Rajasthan region in North West India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian bread</span> Wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atta (flour)</span> Type of wheat flour

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulcha</span> South Asian flatbread

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Cuisine of Uttar Pradesh is from the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) located in Northern India. The cuisine of UP has a large variety of dishes. The cuisine consists of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes of different varieties. Being a large state, the cuisine of UP share lot of dishes and recipes with the neighboring states of Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. Apart from native cuisine, Mughlai, Awadhi and Bhojpuri are famous subtypes of cuisine of the state.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tandoor</span> Cylindrical clay oven used in South Asian cooking

A tandoor is a large urn-shaped oven, usually made of clay. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti and naan, as well as to roast meat. The tandoor is predominantly used in Western Asian, Central Asian, South Asian, and Horn of African cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tandyr nan</span> Type of Central Asian flatbread

Tandyr nan is a type of Central Asian bread cooked in a vertical clay oven, the tandyr or tandoor. It is circular and leavened with yeast, and typically has a crisp golden surface. They are often decorated by stamping patterns on the dough, and can be topped with ingredients like sesame seeds, nigella seeds, or thinly sliced onion.

Hazara cuisine or Hazaragi cuisine refers to the food and cuisine of the Hazara people in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The food of the Hazara people is strongly influenced by Central Asian, South Asian cuisines and shares similarities with neighboring regional cuisines in Afghanistan and Central Asia. However, there are certain dishes, culinary methods and styles of cooking that are unique to the Hazara people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhajir cuisine</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punjabi tandoori cooking</span>

Punjabi tandoori cooking was born out of the clay oven known as the tandoor. According to Macveigh [2008] the Punjab tandoor originated in the local region. It is a clay oven and is traditionally used to cook Punjabi cuisine, from the Punjab region in Pakistan and northwestern India. It is traditional to have tandoors in courtyards of homes in the Punjab to make roti, naan and tandoori chicken. In rural Punjab, it is also traditional to have communal tandoors.

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