Introduction
editTandoori roti is commonly consumed in South Asian countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and India as the main wheat-based product[1]. This bread is served in restaurants, hotels, industrial canteens and home. It is also gaining popularity in the continents of Asia and Europe. [2]
History
editCooking food in tandoori oven has been around for approximately five millennia. Remains of the clay oven has been excavated in the Indus River valley, present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northwest India, Iran, and Central Asia[3].
Tandoori ovens are not prevalent in the average Indian home because they are expensive to fabricate, install, and maintain[4]. Authentic Tandoori cuisine in urban areas can often be found in specialty restaurants[3]. However, in rural areas in India like Punjab, the tandoori oven is considered a social institution, for a tandoori oven is shared among the community. Women would go to the oven place with atta along with their marinated meats to meet up with their neighbors and friends, so they could converse and share stories while waiting for their food to cook[5]. The people in cities once engaged in this social activity, but as businesses and commercialism grew in these areas, communal tandoori ovens have become rare. It is not uncommon for people to bring food to their local bakeries to cook it there at a fair price[3].
Because of the growing inaccessibility of a tandoori oven in urban areas, especially in cities outside of Southern Asia, people have developed ingenious techniques to replicate the cooking process and the food without the use of the oven. Common alternatives include an oven or a grill fueled by charcoal or wood so the food will be infused with the smoky flavor.[3]
Preparation
editTandoori bread is made by kneading flour, active dry yeast, salt, and water together until the dough becomes uniformly firm into a disc of 2-3 millimeter thickness, 15-20 centimeter diameter and a weight of 50-60 grams. Then, it is divided by serving sizes, proofed or set aside for fermentation, docked or poked holes through to let the dough rise[3]. Once it is shaped, the dough is placed on the walls of the tandoori oven. The dough is placed onto the pre-heated inner walls of the tandoor and allowed to bake for 37 seconds at [around] 425°C.[2] The bread is baked until it reaches uniform thickness, develops small blisters on the top crust, and achieves a reddish brown crust color. Tandoor bread is commonly served with meats that were also cooked in the oven like tandoori chicken, seekh kebob, or chicken Moghlai[1]. Meals made in the tandoori oven come out moist and tender, with a hint of infused smoky flavor, which makes it a special delicacy in Southern Asia.[2][3]
Production and Chemical Composition
editProduction of Tandoor bread is based on seven different phases: survey of current practice, design and installation of a tandoor, and development of standardized procedure for tandoori bread production, development of an evaluation scheme for tandoori breads, development of a reference set of grain and flour samples, investigation of the significance of parameters, and investigation of the relationship between wheat and flour parameters and tandoori bread quality.[6] Aroma, smell, appearance, color, and size, and overall texture are the general characteristics that are optimized by producers of tandoor bread[2]. The texture and quality of tandoor bread are determined by the percentage of wheat protein, the number of essential amino acids, and type of flour present in the bread[7]. Various studies have demonstrated that the chemical and biochemical composition of flours affects the flour’s ability to interact with the other ingredients in tandoor bread.[2][7]
Response surface methodology (RSM) is a process which allows for development of palatable tandoor breads that have a long shelf life and contain minimal amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)[8]. Research suggests that, for optimal sensory and chemical stability of tandoori bread, the water level is 720 milliliters per kilogram, protein concentrations range from 10.3% to 11.5%, between 1.2% to 1.6% salt is added, and the bread is baked in temperatures ranging from 330 to 450 degrees Celsius[1].
Health Hazards
editThere are 16 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in tandoor bread. PAHs and pyrogenic affects in tandoori bread cause it to be nearly 3.7 times as carcinogenic than other breads.[3]
- ^ a b Gocmen, D.; Inkaya, A.N.; Aydin, E. (2009). "Flat Breads" (PDF). Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science. 15: 298–306.
- ^ a b c d e Saxena, Dharmesh C.; Salimath, Paramahans V.; Rao, Punaroor Haridas (2000-02-01). "Indian wheat cultivars: their carbohydrate profile and its relation to tandoori roti quality". Food Chemistry. 68 (2): 185–190. doi:10.1016/S0308-8146(99)00174-0. ISSN 0308-8146.
- ^ a b c d e f Chandra, Smita (1999). Indian Grill: The Art of Tandoori Cooking. Manhattan: The Ecco Press. ISBN 0880016876.
- ^ Jaffrey, Madhur (2011). An Invitation to Indian Cooking. New York City: Knopf. ISBN 978-0375712111.
- ^ Malhi, Manju (2005). India with Passion: Modern Regional Home Food. Northampton: Interlink Pub Group Inc. ISBN 1566566096.
- ^ Hasmi, Irfan A. (1996). "Wheat and flour properties affecting tandoori bread quality". vuir.vu.edu.au. Werribee, Australia: Victoria University of Technology. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
- ^ a b Galali, Yaseen (2014). "Quality and Shelf-life of Pita and Tandoor Breads Supplemented with Three Novel Functional Ingredients". Plymouth University – via Pearl.
- ^ Kumar, Brijesh (2020). "Profiling and Health Risk Assessment of PAHs Content in Tandoori and Tawa Bread from India". Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds. 40: 21–32. doi:10.1080/10406638.2017.1349679. S2CID 102741102.