[arjn]

Some comments including what some have already pointed out :

- Naans are not usually made in Indian homes. They are much more common in restaurants. They are also not considered to be as healthy as rotis or phulkas.

- Indians (mostly North Indians) eat rotis, chapatis , phulkas (basically an inflated chapati) or parathas.

- A well made phulka or paratha can be absolutely delicious.

- There are many kinds of parathas and the food has long ago spread south where they have their own kinds.

- I don't think dosas or appams can be considered breads. I think they're closer to crepes.

- There seems to be much missing from this list including some Goan breads (can't recall the names) and some other South Indian types.

[vram22]

> some Goan breads

Sanna or sanas is one - someone else mentioned it in this thread, the comment that has akki roti, IIRC. Sanna is a bit like Kerala appams, I think. Had it only a few times. I think they put some palm juice in it too. Tastes and feels like a light extra-fluffy idli, except a bit sweet.

Also that reminds me of bajra roti. Tasty but also heavy - just one can make an average person feel full. Mainly had it in Maharashtra but may be there in some other states too. And there is makke ki roti - a standard Punjabi favorite. Only had it a few times (it was good); a lot of people swear by it - with sarson ka saag (mustard greens).

[bluesmoon]

Sannas are made with Palm Toddy, which MUST be used before 7am (it's collected overnight and ferments quickly).

[24gttghh]

Naan being less healthy is a bit confusing to me as it is a fermented wheat bread, unlike the rotis/chapatis. The fermentation breaks down the gluten and other carbohydrates, making the wheat more digestible...

[vram22]

I think those saying so must mean it because it has less fiber (naan is from maida, refined wheat flour, while rotis/chapatis are from atta, which is whole-wheat flour).

[24gttghh]

Ahhh I was unaware of this distinction. I make something very "naan-like" with unbleached bread flour and sourdough yeasts that is apparently less "traditional" than I had thought?

[vram22]

Yes, that would make it more like an Indian roti, except for the yeast, which is not used in roti.

But atta - the whole-wheat flour used to make roti and chapati and also puri - is not just unbleached - in fact I don't know if it bleached or not - hope not - it is also unrefined wheat flour - meaning they do not remove the bran, or they remove the bran (or outer layers of the wheat grain) but remove less of it than for maida, which I've read is similar to US all-purpose flour. So atta has more dietary fiber and a more noticeable taste.

In fact for Indian grain / flour products made from wheat, there is a sort of gradation - we have:

- daliya - a very coarsely broken wheat grain product - cannot call it a flour, it is too coarse for that - pretty tasty when used to make upma / uppit, even without much spices added. I think couscous may be somewhere between daliya and rava or the same as daliya in granularity - never had it, so not sure. Daliya is so coarsely broken (not finely, I mean) that you can see individual pieces of it, and it looks medium brown and you can tell that it is from wheat, which you cannot for atta just by looking at it - atta just looks like a light brown (near white) flour which could be from any of a number of grains.

- rava - I think this is like or the same as semolina - less coarse than daliya but still coarse, you can see the small individual pieces - used to make upma, also to make rava dosa (mentioned in the OP)

- atta - the whole-wheat flour used to make chapati, roti, puri - finer [1] than rava, this one is a flour

- maida - the refined wheat flour, finer than atta - this is used to make naan.

[1] finer - meaning in diameter, not in taste or quality.