Hyderabadi Naan

The Concept of munshi naan  Munshi naan was established in 1851 in Purani Haveli. I’m sure the location would’ve changed from the original one. Even the current incumbents don’t know for sure.  The person who started this shop used to work as a Munshi with the Nizam of Hyderabad. He left for some unknown reason ‘n started this naan shop. The shop was named after him. And as he was popularly known as Munshi. Hence the name Munshi naan.

Munshi naan makes five basic shapes of the bread. The Char koni naan being the most popular. I’m not entirely sure about why this shape’s more popular than the others. I’m told by the local populace of Old City that as it’s easy to tear this naan shape into four ‘n share at a table. The other shapes are the round, the oblong or the classic naan shape, star shape ‘n the pan or heart shape. The pan shape’s used mainly for weddings. Mainly as an accompaniment to Marag, the Hyderabadi stew of mutton on the bone flavoured with yoghurt, coconut ‘n almond. The Hyderabadi naan is made from maida, oil ‘n water. The original recipe’s not supposed to use yeast. And the bread’s supposed to be ‘prooved‘ overnight. Nowadays, I think almost everyone uses yeast to quicken the process.  The ‘prooven’ bread’s then cooked in an undergroundtandoor. The quality of a good Hyderabadi naan’s that it’s crisp on the exterior. And soft on the inside. And thick.

Abbasi naan’s another old naan place close by that’s more than a hundred years old. The other naan shops in Purani Haveli are relatively newer compared to Munshi ‘n Abbasi.