What is the difference between Naan and Pita?

[GB]

I have had Naan a number of times. Sometimes it seems like it is just pita bread. Other times it seems flatter and sometimes has things like scallions in it. I am assuming that there really is a difference and that maybe most of the Indian restaurants I go to might just not make very good Naan. So what is the difference. What should good Naan look, feel, and taste like?

 

[Ishbel]

Naan is 'puffier' and more spongey than pitta bread. It can be plain with coriander leaves, and I've also had it with a kind of onion bhaji filling too.

It is not 'dry' like pitta.

Here's a photograph of naan bread - it isn't a very good one, but it was the first one that came up on a google search! http://www.fotosearch.com/IMP162/ingufyth0029/

 

[Haggis]

Pita can also be more 'breadlike' than naan. Although it is sometimes quite flat it is more commonly as Ishbel said puffier and more breadlike (sometimes looking like a hollow bread roll) than naan. Naan is also a denser bread, possibly due to the fact that it is sometimes made with an unleavened dough and may contain yoghurt in the dough.

Also I find naan to be moisture and richer, possibly due to the use of ghee? Who knows. Seeing naan cooked in a tandoor and come out toasty hot for consumption is mouth watering.

 

[GB]

Thanks Ishbel! Wow the Naan I have had has been the exact opposite. I wonder if it can even really be called Naan. Before this post, if I were to have taken a guess that the differences based solely on my experiences I would have said pita was puffier and Naan was more flat. So interesting!

 

[Andy M.]

So many different cultures have similar quick cooking flat breads. They are often interchangeable in their uses.

 

[ironchef]

If you ever go to a Southern Indian cuisine restaurant, try the dosai, which is their version of a flat bread.

 

[Bangbang]

I am going to make some Pita Bread for Xmas. Yummy!

 

[velochic]

I believe true Naan is baked in a Tandoor oven. That's what sets it apart... not the ingredients.

 

[Bangbang]

I believe true Naan is baked in a Tandoor oven. That's what sets it apart... not the ingredients.

I wish I had one of those ovens. The pita I make comes out very good in my oven. It usually gets eatin all up within minutes of cooking it.

 

[buckytom]

hey!!! bang's back!!!! good to see you man, hope you and yours are well.

my favorite indian bread is called aloo paratha, which is a naan like flat bread, but it is stuffed with mildly spiced potatoes. yummmmmm.

 

[Robo410]

pita is cooked on a stove grill or a flat oven bottom. naan is stuck to and cooked on the side of a tandori oven...very HOT ceramic or clay.

 

[Haggis]

Naan is also traditionally cooked on a large, slightly concave metal pan in some areas.

Cooking it in the tandoor looks good though, it immediately sticks to the side and starts to bubble up, as Robo said very hot.