Photos

A naan baker in Urümqi (乌鲁木齐), China. Naan is a type of bread traditional originally to Persia and Central Asia. Although made popular in the west primarily through its spread to North Indian cuisine, where most people would recognise it, the tradition of naan was also spread to western China, where it is just as much a staple food (locally often pronounced nang 馕). Xinjiang naan, while still baked in a clay oven, is unlike the Indian version in that it has a crusty edge, is much harder and crispier, and is not eaten alongside curries but is instead often eaten by itself or carried on journeys.