Store brought Indian Breads?

I admire people who bake fresh bread for their family. This is something I will like to do but perhaps never will on a regular basis. Nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread to make a house feel like a home eh? By bread here I mean sliced bread.

Bread was not part of a common meal back in India when I was growing up. Usually you carried a loaf of bread when you go to visit someone who is sick or is in the hospital. Yes that and a bottle of Horlicks. I think that was then and now is different I figure, bread seem to enjoy a renaissance like no other. It is made into toasts, sandwiches with several different toppings or upma which are perfect as breakfast or after school snack.

While here in the US no grocery shopping is complete without at least a couple of loaves of bread. Breakfast seriously depends on it and the kids lunch also is very dependent on bread. But the loaf bread is not what I wanted to talk about here. While it is a given that it is usually store bought, Indian breads on the other hand; by which I mean chapathis, rotis, naans, parathas and the like are not usually store bought. While I prefer making Indian breads at home and about 95% of the time do so I also have a few varieties of the store bought kind in the fridge/freezer always.

These store bought Indian breads are perfect for a quick weeknight meal when there is no time and dinner is quickly needed. Make a side dish and quickly heat up the breads and the dinner is ready in no time. They may not be the best nutritionally to eat regularly but once in a while or in a pinch they are better than fast food.

The StonefiRe brand naans available in Costco, the roti paratha available in Indian grocery stores and the Pita Bread ready available in most grocery stores are all the ones that I usually have handy. Costco started selling these small sized naans that are so very convenient.

Besides weekdays we have these as special treats on weekends when we have a spicy chicken curry or any tasty curry that needs some good bread to go with it and nobody can wait for it to be cooked from scratch. The Pita Bread are great for making quick and easy filled sandwiches.

While most of these breads can be heated in a toaster or microwave, they work best when heated on a griddle/tava.

Besides these breads which we use mostly for a meal, I also buy a couple of varieties of stuffed frozen parathas which are very convenient for snacking. They do not require a side dish. The kids eat them as an evening snack when they are back from school.

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing or advertising any of these products. Just saying.



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