12 Indian Breads You’ll Want to Tear, Wrap and Scoop With

When it comes to South Asian food, roti and naan seem to get all of the fame and glory, but there are a bounty of lesser-known breads that hail from the Indian subcontinent, which are just as worthy of knowing. The cuisine is lauded for its large variety of leavened and unleavened flatbreads that serve as accompaniments to rich tomato-based curries, saucy chicken tikka masala, fragrant daals and creamy spiced yogurt. Here’s the lowdown on the different types of traditional Indian breads, plus details and recipes on how to prepare them at home.

A dosa is a savory crepe with a spicy potato filling, commonly served with chutney and a brothy vegetable stew, called sambar. The popular South Indian street food often appears on Indian restaurant menus, but it's simple enough to prepare at home, too. The crepe is made from a fermented batter of lentils and rice that is thinly spread and cooked on a flat pan until golden. The shell becomes crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and is stuffed with masala potatoes before being folded into a long cylinder or triangular shape. Dosas can be enjoyed by hand or with a fork and knife, dipping bite after glorious bite in chutney and sambar for an extra punch of flavor.

Roti is an unleavened round flatbread, made simply from a dough of whole wheat flour and water. After kneading the dough, a roti is traditionally rolled out and cooked on a hot griddle or skillet. A stack of rotis serves as an accompaniment to vegetables, daal and curry, but a roti can also double as a wrap for meat fillings, à la a kati roll. Aloo roti, meaning potato roti, is a heartier alternative made by incorporating mashed potatoes into the dough. With a dollop of yogurt or spoonful of chutney, an aloo roti makes a comforting meal for one.

Pillowy and soft, with a chewy bite, naan touts all of the drool-worthy traits you seek in a leavened bread. The dough is made using flour, water and yeast, with a dairy add-in like full-fat yogurt, which helps in achieving its fluffy texture. Traditionally, naan is cooked in a clay oven, or tandoor, but modern recipes offer convenient alternatives that work just as well. Naan serves as the quintessential vessel for scooping up every last drop of curry or stew. Amped up varieties like garlic naan and cheese naan are worth trying, but truth be told, plain naan is a pure indulgence on its own.

Dhokla is a savory sponge-like cake with a tart bite that comes from the Indian state of Gujarat. Made from a fermented batter of Indian split-pea flour, dhokla is traditionally steamed in a round pan and cut into individual squares after it has cooled. The squares are then dressed with chopped cilantro and chilies, and presented alongside mint chutney for a vibrant and flavor-filled snack.

Nidhi Jalan’s recipe gives dhokla the dinner party treatment, steaming it in an eye-catching ring shape, and pairing it with sweet-fiery paneer jhalfrezi.

Papadum with chutney is often brought out as a welcome start to a meal at traditional Indian restaurants. The thin, crackly flatbread breaks easily like a chip, making it easy to scoop up sweet tamarind or spicy green mint chutney. The dough for papadum is made with black gram flour and spiced with black pepper and whole cumin seeds. After rolling out thin rounds, papadum is cooked in oil until it puffs, resulting in crisp airy wafers with a peppery bite.

By its look and texture, a paratha is like a cross between roti and naan. Made from whole wheat flour, this layered unleavened flatbread is cooked with oil, or ghee, on a hot griddle until it has a crisp outer layer. And, like a roti, a plain paratha is tasty with just the simple addition of yogurt, achar or chutney, but add in a layer of potatoes to make an aloo paratha, and you have a heartier dish.

This deep-fried bread made from unleavened whole wheat flour is a popular accompaniment to chana (stewed chickpeas), and aloo (spiced potatoes.) Small rounds of dough are fried in oil, or ghee, until they are golden, often puffing up in the process and deflating when pulled from the heat. Pooris have a flaky outer shell and doughy interior, and similar to naan, they make a perfect vessel for saucy, brothy dishes.

Kachori, a popular street food that originated from Rajasthan in northwest India, is a savory fried pastry that is made using a variety of fillings. Akin to a samosa, kachoris are stuffed with zesty fillings like spiced peas, chopped onions and mashed potatoes, then fried until golden brown. While biting into a piping hot kachori right out of the pan is an epic moment, enjoying one at room temperature or while used as a base for chaat slathered with yogurt, chutney and spices is just as worthy.

Native to South India, uttapam bears a similar flavor profile to dosa, but its size, shape and texture differ a bit. The flat, savory dish is made from a mixture of lentils and rice soaked overnight, which are then made into a batter. Like a dosa, the batter is lathered into a circular shape on a hot flat pan, but instead of folding it over a potato filling, toppings like tomatoes, onion, peppers and cilantro are added on top. The result is a soft, flimsy round, similar to a pancake, with a pop of red and green color.

In the same vein as poori, bhatura is a soft, deep-fried leavened bread that accompanies stewed chickpeas, but it is much larger in size and incorporates all-purpose flour and yogurt, or curd, into its batter. In many restaurants, the classic North Indian bread is a sight to behold, often presented on the plate full of air, like a large, filled balloon.

Idli is a soft savory cake made from fermented rice and lentil batter that is popular in South Indian cuisine, often serving as a precursor or side to dosa. Puck-sized rounds are steamed until firm, and then served with hot sambar and coconut chutney. Light and airy with a sponge-like texture and crumbly center, it’s not uncommon to indulge in more than one of these delicate medallions.