From the Tandoor: A Guide to Indian Breads

Bread is not a side dish in Indian cooking, it is a tool. It scoops, it dips, it carries sauce from plate to mouth. Most of our breads come straight from the tandoor, blistered and warm, and choosing the right one makes a real difference to the meal. Here is how to order bread like you mean it.

The Naans

Plain Naan is the workhorse: soft, leavened, blistered from the clay oven, perfect for tearing and dipping. Butter Naan is the same brushed with butter, a little richer. Garlic Naan adds fragrant garlic and is hard to resist with any curry.

For something different, Peshwari Naan is stuffed with coconut, almond and sultanas, gently sweet and lovely against a hot curry. Keema Naan is filled with spiced minced meat, and Cheese Naan with melting cheese, both substantial enough to be a small meal in themselves.

The Wholemeal Breads

Tandoori Roti is wholemeal bread baked in the tandoor, lighter and less rich than naan, with a nutty, wholesome flavour. Chapati is the soft, everyday griddle flatbread of Indian homes, plain and unfussy.

These are the breads for people who want something simpler alongside a rich curry, or who just prefer the cleaner taste of wholemeal. They let the food do the talking.

The Layered Breads

Paratha is layered and pan-fried, flaky and indulgent, a real treat with a dry, spiced dish. Aloo Paratha takes it further, stuffed with spiced potato so the bread becomes a dish in its own right.

A paratha is the bread to order when you want to make a fuss of the meal. It is richer and more involved than a naan, and worth every bite.

Matching Bread to Curry

The rule of thumb is simple. Rich, creamy curries love a plain or garlic naan to soak up the sauce. Dry, spiced dishes pair beautifully with a paratha or roti. Sweet peshwari naan is a clever foil for anything hot.

Order a couple of different breads for the table and pass them around. Half the pleasure of an Indian meal is in the tearing, dipping and sharing.

Come and Eat With Us

We serve the full menu straight through from midday, late into the night: until midnight, every night.

You will find us at 63 Old Compton Street, W1D 6HT, two minutes from the West End and close to Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road.

Book a table online or call us on 020 3941 9935.