Indian bread

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Indian breads are a primary food in the daily menu of most Indians. The wide variety of grains and cereals grown in the country are used to make different kinds of breads,

- broiled, steamed, fried and cooked over direct heat.

Basically they are made of finely milled flour and water. Some breads make use of the yeast spores in the atmosphere for fermentation, others use added yeast or curds, a few use baking soda, and still others are made without fermentation.

Again there are dry, moist, soft, and hard breads. So depending upon the ingredients and method of preparation, a variety of breads are made in India - Chapati, Puran Poli, Phulka, Roti, Paratha, Naan, Appam, Dosa, Pathiri, and many more.

Most of these are cooked on a flat pan except Naan. A special oven called a Tandoor is used for cooking Naan directly over a flame. Naan does not use yeast and is a flatbread.

The Appam is a fermented bread usually prepared with finely powdered rice flour. In Kerala in South India, there are Kallappam, Vattayappam and Palappam (Vellayappam). The kallappam is made on flat iron griddles. The vattayappam is a steamed bread, and palappam is made in small shallow bottomed pans, which are kept covered while the bread cooks. Palappam has a thin crisp lace like strip around it.

In the Upper Midwestern United States, "Indian bread" may refer to fried bread dough frequently served with maple or sugar syrups or powdered sugar topping.

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