RAWALPINDI: The tandoorwalas of Rawalpindi are catching up with the trend for stuffed naans and are giving the traditional flatbread an upgrade by filling them with various meats and vegetables.

Before, naan would either come with or without a dusting of sesame seeds but now, various tandoors and restaurants are offering potato, mince, chicken and mix vegetable filled naans, which most people prefer having for breakfast, brunch or with their afternoon tea.

The Sufi Naan Centre in Kartarpura is one of the more popular places for naan, where the aroma from the restaurant’s tandoors teases your appetite.

“The potato, chicken and beef mince naans are our more popular ones, and we have been making them for 54 years,” said Ijaz Ahmed, a baker at the Sufi Naan Centre.

Talking to Dawn, he said the recipe for making stuffed naans was simple and was referred to as the desi pizza.

“The meat of choice is first boiled and mixed with onions, green chillies, coriander, salt and other spices. The mix is then placed in dough, flattened, twisted and made a roti. It is then baked in the tandoor on a slow flame.

“The baked naan is then garnished with a bit of oil,” he said, adding that customers often bring in their own stuffing to put in the naans as well.

He said residents of the garrison city are also very fond of doodhvala naan for which wheat flour is kneaded with milk instead of water before making naans.

“They are simply garnished with sesame seeds,” he added.

A baker in Bhabra Bazaar, Mohammad Anwar, said chicken naans are becoming more popular and that people preferred beef mince filled naans before.

“We make naans three times a day at least, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some people also want naan to have with their afternoon tea in the winters,” he said.

“Stuffed naans are a full meal. My family usually wants something other than bread and eggs for breakfast on the weekends and I bring chicken naans to have with tea,” said Murtaza Shah, a resident of Westridge III.

He said that if people wanted a variety of flavours, they can take anything to put in a naan to their local tandoor.

“Last Sunday, I gave my local tandoorwala olives, chicken and cheese and the bread turned out to be so delicious,” he said.

A resident of Kartarpura, Hamza Ali, said that the taste of fresh naan was incomparable and that it was better to have it with piping hot tea in the tandoor while it is still hot.

“I can have at least three naans if they are fresh out of a tandoor,” he said, adding that the taste can also be altered with the various chutneys that restaurant offer with the naans including green chilli, coriander and mint and yogurt.

“If you do not want to go to trendier places, then you can enjoy naan and chai at the tandoor and it is so much cheaper,” he said.

A resident of Jamia Masjid Road, Saleem Malik, said his family serves guests chicken naan and tea in the winters.

“We used to serve samosas and jalebi before but now, the trend has changed and people offer guests boiled eggs, chicken naan and biscuits with their afternoon tea in the winter,” he said.

Published in Dawn January 16th, 2017