The baking of bread is perhaps the most important activity known to humankind. Nobody knows when bread was first eaten, but archaeologists have discovered that the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland had learned to make bread as early as 10,000 years ago. They ground wheat, barley or millet, mixed the flour with water, rolled the dough into thin sheets and baked them on hot stones.

The Egyptians were the first to devise ovens to bake bread. They are believed to be the originators of modern bread loaves which we now buy from supermarkets. Loaves of bread have been found in Egyptian pyramids 3,500 years old.

The Romans had a well-developed bread business by 100 B.C. In that year there were more than 250 bakeries in the Roman capital. The Romans had strict laws about the weights and grades of bread and errant bakers were fed to the lions. The early English paraded their skimping bakers through the streets in fool’s caps and garlands of their faulty loaves.

Today, bread is a universal item of food in most wheat-eating countries. It is also one of the cheapest kinds of food. Nutritionists, though, frown upon bread, as the modern practice of bread-making removes much of the roughage from the flour. Roughage is an important component of diet as it aids bowel movement and digestion.

In India, although bread is available in most cities, it is not a very popular food item. The humble roti, which is made from the same ingredients as bread, wheat flour, has taken its place. Different types of rotis are made in different parts of the country, from the heavy tandoori rotis and nans of Punjab to the paper thin phulkas of Gujarat and Rajasthan. The oil-fried puri is a variant of the roti which equals the roti in popularity. Other varieties of the roti include the parathas. There are several varieties of them including the stuffed ones (aloo paratha, gobi paratha, muli paratha, etc.). A similar fare is the debras of Gujarat. These are made by mixing buttermilk and shredded gourd or methi leaves in the wheat flour while preparing the dough. In India rotis are made not only of wheat flour; the flour of bajra, millet and other course grains are also used and they lend special flavours to the rotis.

Curiously, unlike bread, the making of rotis has never taken the form of an industry. This is probably because Indian tastes vary so widely that a standardized approach to it is difficult.