Naan Bread: What It Is, How It’s Made, and Why It’s Different From Roti

When you think of Indian bread, naan bread, a leavened, oven-baked flatbread traditionally cooked in a tandoor. Also known as tandoori bread, it’s the soft, slightly charred companion to curries and kebabs that you find in restaurants from Delhi to Detroit. Unlike roti, which is simple flour, water, and salt, naan includes yogurt, milk, or sometimes eggs and butter—giving it that rich, tender texture you can’t get with a plain chapati.

What makes naan different isn’t just the ingredients—it’s the method. While roti is rolled thin and cooked on a flat griddle, naan is stretched by hand and slapped onto the hot walls of a clay oven. The high heat gives it those signature blistered spots and a faint smokiness you can’t replicate on a stovetop. That’s why even homemade naan, baked in a regular oven or on a cast iron, still tries to mimic that tandoor magic. It’s not just bread—it’s a texture experience. And that’s why people keep asking: naan bread or roti? The answer depends on what you’re eating. For a light dal and rice meal, roti wins. For butter chicken or paneer tikka, naan is the obvious choice.

It’s also tied to culture. In many homes, naan is reserved for special meals or weekend dinners—not daily fare like roti. You’ll find regional twists too: Kashmiri naan with dried fruits, Peshawari with nuts and cardamom, garlic naan that’s buttery and bold. Even the yeast matters. Some bakers use leftover dosa batter as a starter; others rely on commercial yeast. The common thread? It’s always meant to be eaten fresh, warm, and slightly sticky from the butter brushed on right after baking.

That’s why the posts below cover everything you need to know: how to make naan at home without a tandoor, why some versions turn out dense or dry, how it stacks up nutritionally against roti, and even why restaurant naan tastes so much better than what you make on your stovetop. You’ll find real tips from people who’ve cracked the code—no fluff, no guesswork. Whether you’re trying to recreate that buttery garlic naan from your favorite curry house or just want to understand why it’s so different from the roti you eat every day, this collection gives you the straight facts.