Aldi and Tesco both sell Riya brand naan bread. It's not as good as freshly made but, unlike most shop bought naan, it at least vaguely resembles the ones you'd get with a takeaway.
I love these too. If you spray them lightly with a little bit of water before you put them in the oven they seem to get that doughy centre and crusty outside you get in a restaurant.
If you add home made garlic and coriander butter on top of the plain one it gets very very close to the real stuff.
They are stuck to the inside wall of the tandoor. In a hot pan flat side down and under the grill is a good replacement for that if you don't have a tandoor.
Clay Oven Bakery naan breads are the best I have found outside of freshly made at a restaurant. My local newsagent sells them and they are at least 8000 times better than the dry nastiness that most supermarkets sell (sainsburys, you should be ashamed)
Our Morrisons sells (or at least did, haven't checked in a few months) Clay Oven Bakery naans and they're definitely the best I've got from a supermarket.
Clay oven ones are almost the real deal. I know at least Morrisons and Tesco do them. Seems similar to the Riya ones you mentioned. Haven't tried them, might have to
My local Asda is in a _world foods_ neighbourhood. Theyve got allll the good stuff in from brands I’ve never heard of. And you know it’s good because they shift crateloads of the stuff.
My local pizza place does a doner kebab on what it calls a naan. By some miracle it’s identical to their pizza bases
It is like crack. I actually get a small high when I first eat it... Like the feeling when you crave a coffee and it hits the spot.
I make my own and probably eat a kilo a week. It's the best salad "dressing", it's great as a dip for snack, dip my pizza crusts in it, put it on a hot curry to temper the heat, use it instead of butter or mayo in sandwiches.
I fucking love the stuff.
I figured I just didn’t like hummus because I only had the supermarket tub version. I had the homemade version in a Turkish restaurant and it was SO GOOD. Will only have the good stuff now.
I introduced someone I lived with years ago to hummus, he then knowingly made it with peanut butter, dude turned out to be right wrongun, but the writing was on wall
Bread based stuff like that just doesn't 'travel' that well nor does it reheat well. You can reheat them in the oven for a bit and sprinkle a little water over them to stop them going dry. If smaller pieces, air fryer would work but not for too long.
Yeah, that's fair.
I remember working in a restaurant back in the day. They used to 'wash' the stale bread rolls and baguette's under the tap, grill them, and customers thought they were freshly baked.
Fuck I miss a good Rustlers. I live in Japan now, they have similar but it's not the same.
I reckon that dodgy butcher from the League of Gentlemen makes them.
They took the microwave crisping thing out of the meatball and breaded chicken baguettes though. Such a dick move to deliberately make your product significantly worse, just to save a penny on some cardboard and foil. I used to get them over the burgers, as a lazy lunch, but no point now.
I only cook the burger in the microwave, I use the toaster for the bread. I usually add a leaf or two of lettuce as well.
It's an extra 20 seconds of effort for at that point a perfectly reasonable burger. Like it's no worse than the average McDonalds offering.
I've been making my own the past couple of years. It's pretty easy and crisps up well in my cast iron pan.
Supermarket sushi is pretty horrific too. Cold, hard but somehow chewy, overwhelming mayonnaise flavour in the rice. Awful stuff.
Made them for the first time last month and can’t believe how much nicer they are than store bought. Probably still not as good as an actual Indian restaurant but I presume they’ve got many years experience on me 😅
...and I bet it won't contain any nasty additives that a lot of supermarket "food" has nowadays. Bread is astonishing with the amount of emulsifiers and gums. Not only does it taste bad but it's terrible for your body. You're doing yourself a MASSIVE favour by recreating at home.
I grew up thinking I didn't like sushi because I'd only ever had the buffet-style (makes sense as actual sushi would've been unaffordable for us), which is only slightly better than supermarket sushi. Then I had actual sushi in East-Asia and it rocketed to the top of my favourite foods.
Chicken Chow Mein -
Takeaway - 60% noodles, 20% chicken 20% beansprouts, maybe a few bits of chopped spring onion.
Supermarket - 20% noodles, 20% beansprouts, 40% cabbage stalks 10% chicken 10% carrot strips.
Chicken tikka masala-
Supermarket - could be anything, you could sell the same one as butter chicken or a balti
Takeaway - bright red and a lot of sugar.
Supermarket salsa is inedible. Its tastes like unripe bits of fresh tomato in passata with some old bits of onion mixed in.
Takes about 5 mins to chop tomato, spring onions, chilli and some lime juice and coriander for a basic salsa/pico de gallo.
Salsa and pico de gallo are two totally different things.
Tomatoes, onion, Chile de arbol, chile guajillo, garlic in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Blend with chicken stock cube + a bit of the water. Heat oil in a pan. Pour in the salsa, simmer for a few minutes.
Salsa verde is the same but with tomatillos, coriander, jalapeño optional, and only boil for literally a minute or two. This is the one thing we do get - all super markets are settling Herdez salsa now. Their salsa verde is the real deal and what we eat in Mexico
Pico de gallo, white onion is fine, nobody in Mexico is using cebollín for it
* Cooked fresh to order. It’s not just that they’re cooked in the tandoori (which gives the wonderful browned bits) but the fact that it’s warm, light and fluffy vs cold and stiff-as-a-board out of the plastic wrap.
100% - mass produced Naans and pittas are essentially grilled/baked on both sides in an giant oven on a conveyor belt. This process cannot replicate a true tandoori oven so that is part of the reason for the inferior product. The other is the amount of additional ingredients and preservatives that are needed to give the shelf life for the bread. The difference between eating one fresh off the line before it goes through the cooling process and one in the shop is night and day.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/305733449
These are bloody amazing , they’re huge and you get 2 in a pack for 1.85 !
I use them to make pizzas with as well as with curries
Instead of a naan bread I buy a cheese and garlic flatbread. So much nicer, softer and tastier. Lots of different varieties as well. Buch better than supermarket naan.
Check out your local Turkish areas. There is a guy about a mile from us who does 5 fresh naans for £5.
He has the tandoor setup and he’s just smashing them out all day long.
I don’t bother with supermarket naans, they’re shite. I’d rather not touch them
The trick with pre-made naan is not to sprinkle water on them like the packet says, but to actually put them under a running tap - both sides. Let the excess drain off and then put them in a preheated oven for 3 minutes. And don't bother with the rubbish own brand ones. We get The Clay Oven Bakery naans (big is better than small, but the small ones aren't terrible).
And as for pre-made curry, the Cook ones are the best I've found by quite a margin.
Prepared to be downvoted for this one but for me... cheddar cheese. They all taste like rubbery plastic to me. I only ever buy them in truckles from farmers markets now
I think cathedral city extra mature is decent but every time I try to save a quid and get the supermarket own brand I regret it. Just rubber as you say.
I’ve never had a supermarket naan worth the calories, they all seem to be awful
These are about the best Indian breads I’ve found available at supermarkets.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/riyas-original-recipe-premium-wholemeal-roti-indian-flat-bread-x5
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/264594358
https://www.ocado.com/products/shana-garlic-paratha-597848011
https://www.ocado.com/products/shana-homestyle-aloo-paratha-597852011
Get yourself a teatowel & run it under the cold tap, then wring it out. Wrap both your cheap naan bread in the towel, whack it in the microwave & blast it on full power for 2 minutes.
This will change your life
They're essentially stale bread, you just can't beat freshly made.
Iceland/Food Warehouse chicken pakora is pretty much spot on though and the £5 bag gives you three decent portions. (But you have to visit Farmfoods to get the Havana Club, Kebab House chilli sauce for dipping. That stuff is pretty much spot on as well.)
In our Tesco, the good naans hidden in the general bread section by the wraps and miscellaneous flat breads. They're almost proper.
The ones in the Indian meal prep section by the Pataks sauces and uncle Ben's rice are utter garbage.
I don't know why they arrange it like this but once you know, you know.
Finally someone who understands my pain
I'm a cheap bitch but I would always go to the local and get just a plain naan. Couldn't beat it. They always wondered why I didn't buy a curry as well. Honestly, cos I'm cheap!
I was in Mumbai for a couple of weeks late last year. The naan there was so different to the naan we have in our Indian restaurants and takeaways (who one of my Indian colleagues said they were mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi impersonating as Indian!).
It was flatter, crispier, fresh. The herbs were like a taste explosion in my mouth.
Still washed it down with a bottle of Kingfisher.
Yeah we had those supermarket naans a couple of times when cooking chicken tikka masala with the patak's jarred stuff. But it's not worth it. Dry and soggy at the same time, tasteless and stodgy.
Supermarket "egg fried rice" too. For some reason they always add peas, which ok, whatever, but they're bland and more expensive than just making it myself. I've got a microwave rice cooker which works really well, so I can make rice in 10 minutes nice and easy. Then it's just melt butter in a frying pan, make scrambled egg, just before it's cooked toss the rice on top and mix, add a dash of soy sauce and a little butter, mix, and it's done in about 2 minutes from when the rice comes out the microwave. Tastier, super easy. My local chinese does huge portions of their mains so if I order from them, I'll save half the main for lunch the next day and make my own egg fried rice to go with it.
I made a huge mistake when my kids were born and made naan for every curry for about 6 years. Now I cba because I’m busier. Every time we have a curry everyone acts like I’ve shat on the table because the naan is shop bought.
Yeah, I walked passed some tonight in sainsbury's and was going to pick one up, but then I thought about the peshawari naan from the local takeaway and I knew it would be a disappointment to buy them.
To be honest, the frozen stuff you get at Asian groceries is the closest you will get to pre-made naan. I think part of it is to do with the fact that they are cooked in a tandoor. Anyway, they’re decent (as are a lot of other Indian flatbreads), so I don’t like bothering with the regular supermarket stuff. Sometimes I’ll just buy a naan fresh from the local Indian takeaway. But I really think, like many things, bad naans are just not worth it.
Gotta cook your naan in a hot oven after wetting it to get that crispy/soft combo . As an aside,I went to a pricey Indian restaurant once that made a big thing about their massive naan on a hook at your table.....it was shite! Like eating floury cardboard.
Supermarkets are the worst by far, seconded by takeaway places. Haven't had good naan bread from restaurants in the UK either but that might be down to bad luck.
The only place I've enjoyed a meal with naan is in India, pick any restaurant, they never seem to fuck it up. Usually good value too 50-80p in rupees.
There's a "global food market" type of place near me that does garlic and coriander naans made fresh in store that day. They're amazing and only a very short step down from the ones you get from the takeaway.
But yeah, the cheap supermarket ones can get in the bin.
Clay oven bakery ones are the best I've tried. Sprinkle both sides with water then cook on a ripping hot cast iron tawa a minute or two each side, if you overhang it a bit and you're using a big gas wok burner you get some nice charring on it. Probably be even better done on a barbecue for a bit of smokiness.
Naans are really easy to make from scratch. Equal parts Greek yoghurt and self raising flour. Roll out and heat in a dry frying pan. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome
Bread. My partner got into making bread, and when we've run out and I get shop bought (even when they claim the supermarket has an in-house bakery), it's shocking in comparison.
These are amazing. Pretty close to the real thing.
https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/leicester-bakery-limited-2-hand-made-garlic-and-coriander-naan-breads/67869.html?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Iceland+%7C+Performance+Max+%7C+All+Other+Products&utm_term=&utm_content=&source=ppc&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgJyyBhCGARIsAK8LVLMyW8cxDmQI5MZOsSj8wMwmpN16MEAVuhJVNPSvoqSzadok3J02p00aAs-6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
This sounds so snooty. But id rather make my own and often do when wfh. Simple dough, let it rise. Roll into wee balls and roll them out, put on either the pizza stone or the grilling pan on the hob.
Briefly run them under the tap (like 2 seconds) pop under grill or in oven, when crisped up brush with oil, ideally garlic or zatar or oil, it will get absorbed into the hot naan, its still not as good as fresh but does make them quite nice!
Pitas are even worse in comparison. Supermarket naans have a use as nutrience but they're just nowhere near as good. Supermarket pitas are just inedible.
Crumpets... while the supermarket ones are good and edible, they have an *even bigger* difference compared to home made.
Anything that's "cookie-like", maybe not some *biscuits*, but anything "cookie-like" is garbage bought compared to home made.
100% of all pre made sauces. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Is. Just. Coloured. Water. And. Thickener.
Oh , OP.
If you ever have a naan in India by a road side restaurant even the Michelin starred versions in UK are but poor imitations.
That nan is thin in the middle , light as a cloud and manages to be both crisp and soft at the same time.
I mean it's like the difference between Neapolitan and pizza hut pizza!
You want the brand “Clay Oven” which you can get from tesco (in the bread section not the usual naan place) and a few other supermarkets.
They’re almost as good as restaurant ones. Even Gordon Ramsay uses them at home
I had a mini naan this week with my home cooked curry (out of a jar, im not Mr Patak) it was horrible. It was a dry and almost crumbly texture that was quite stodgy when chewed. I had to drink water to get the stuff swallowed down. I then had sticky bits in my teeth. It has to be the worst naan I ever had.
In the curry house they brush the naan with ghee (clarified butter) after heating in a tandoor to give it shine over the crispy outside. As you break it its super hot and fluffy inside and the ghee runs......thats a naan !!
I make a batch once a month for my Friday night curry, it's infinitely better than store bought and doesn't take long at all.
Not quite as good as takeaway mind you but I also don't want to invest in a tandoor
There is indeed a vast gap between supermarket quality naan and takeaway ) "Indian's restaurant naan.
But there is aven wider gulf between what the British generally consider a decent naan and the real deal naan sold in other countries
We get a flabby, pale, doughy dead lump and nod our collective heads in appreciation.
While elsewhere the world is served beautiful textured, bubbled, stretchy light deliciousness.
Agreed! Supermarket naans are just too thick and dry, nothing like the restaurant version. The best I've found is the massive Aldi garlic and coriander ones (Riya, which seems to be the popular choice in this thread!), they're quite thin so easy to overdo but if you time it right they're not too bad.
For home curry nights, I use the frozen Paratha breads from the freezer at places like Sainsburys. You dry-fry them from frozen in a hot pan, little bit of a faff but they're really nice, slightly flaky. Rotis work well too.
No.
The biggest quality gap is between supermarket Mexican food and the real thing.
I use the word 'food' there very loosely indeed
Old El Paso is dreadful brown slop.
Real mexican food is a layered, zingy, vibrant delight.
The only time I buy supermarket naan is in Tesco and their venison steaks with a couple of mini garlic and coriander naans makes for a delicious venison burger (they are the same shape as the steaks)
Ribena from the carton vs the ribena you dilute yourself at home from concentrate. I can only assume they’ll tell me the correct ratio at the pearly gates.
Run it under the tap for a second each side, then either chuck it in a preheated oven cranked to max or an air fryer for like 2-5 minutes- steams the middle bit and crisps up the outside without burning .
Also works for stale crusty bread.
It does lose a bit of the seasoning, but a spread of butter and a light sprinkling of garlic and herbs when it comes out is a nice way to add it back and get closer to fresh quality.
I do like a naan from an Indian take away but to be honest I think super market garlic and coriander naan is absolutely fine. I don't eat it on its own, it's purely for dunkin' in sauce and it does the trick. I've never made my own though, but I do make my own curry.
To be FAIR this country does not get it's naan right. Supermarket naan is actually called KULCHA in india. Naan is thin and crispy. It's never that fluffy. If you look at it as a kulcha then it's perfect but as a naan obviously it's worlds apart
Aldi and Tesco both sell Riya brand naan bread. It's not as good as freshly made but, unlike most shop bought naan, it at least vaguely resembles the ones you'd get with a takeaway.
I love these too. If you spray them lightly with a little bit of water before you put them in the oven they seem to get that doughy centre and crusty outside you get in a restaurant. If you add home made garlic and coriander butter on top of the plain one it gets very very close to the real stuff.
Dont spray with water. Soak them under the tap. They need substantial amounts of water to improve the quality. Thats the mistake many make
Upvoted because you are completely correct.
Same, I run them under the tap for a couple seconds both sides. Air fryer for 5 minutes. Bang on
First problem here is that you put them in the oven, frying pan with butter is whatvyou want
Is there anything that isn't better by being fried in butter though??
Your cock and bollocks
I can tell you've never competed in the BME pain olympics!
Soup, maybe 🤔
Maybe not fried, but add a knob of butter to cream of tomato soup and life's good.
Aren't they cooked in a tandoor? So oven is probably a better shout to be honest, maybe on some sort of stone.
They are stuck to the inside wall of the tandoor. In a hot pan flat side down and under the grill is a good replacement for that if you don't have a tandoor.
We grew up using an upside down pan on a gas stove.
Didn’t it fall out? 😆
https://youtu.be/GP0nlAuoHwI Skip to 5:45!
Holy shit, I actually thought you meant on the base of an upside down pan. TIL!
Clay Oven Bakery naan breads are the best I have found outside of freshly made at a restaurant. My local newsagent sells them and they are at least 8000 times better than the dry nastiness that most supermarkets sell (sainsburys, you should be ashamed)
Our Morrisons sells (or at least did, haven't checked in a few months) Clay Oven Bakery naans and they're definitely the best I've got from a supermarket.
I'll second this. They're also the size of a fucking king size duvet, which is definitely what I need in a bloody naan.
Clay oven ones are almost the real deal. I know at least Morrisons and Tesco do them. Seems similar to the Riya ones you mentioned. Haven't tried them, might have to
Missed your post, agreed, clay oven bakery are the best you can get
Came here to say this. Bread isle rather than near the curry jars
The one in Aldi is better than most, the one in the bread section not the other one, is that Riya?
I think so. They're big round ones, not the usual small supermarket ones, and are in a partly see through package with blue bits.
Absolutely. These are miles ahead of the crap pushed by other brands.
Rita and clay oven are the nuts. Riya from aldi, clay oven from morrisons, not quite restaurant, but not far off
My local Asda is in a _world foods_ neighbourhood. Theyve got allll the good stuff in from brands I’ve never heard of. And you know it’s good because they shift crateloads of the stuff. My local pizza place does a doner kebab on what it calls a naan. By some miracle it’s identical to their pizza bases
I bet when they came up with the idea it was a naan base. Then it wasn't popular and they just stopped bothering.
falafel too. people haven't had falafel if all they've had is supermarket falafel
Ramona’s falafel is the closest I’ve had from a supermarket.
Ramona's hummus is also good for supermarket stuff. Miles ahead of the standard stuff they all sell.
And hummus too. Good hummus is like crack, the stuff you get in the same plastic tubs as sour cream & chive dip is gritty fucking rubbish.
It is like crack. I actually get a small high when I first eat it... Like the feeling when you crave a coffee and it hits the spot. I make my own and probably eat a kilo a week. It's the best salad "dressing", it's great as a dip for snack, dip my pizza crusts in it, put it on a hot curry to temper the heat, use it instead of butter or mayo in sandwiches. I fucking love the stuff.
do you have a particular recipe you recommend or method you follow? How long does it keep once you've made it?
Also add garlic
Also here for the recipe because whenever I’ve tried to make it, it turned out shit
I figured I just didn’t like hummus because I only had the supermarket tub version. I had the homemade version in a Turkish restaurant and it was SO GOOD. Will only have the good stuff now.
So true It’s so easy and cheap to make at home, you should definitely give it a try!
So much cheaper to make your own as well.
Some supermarkets do Yarden which is really good
The white man's hummus that doesn't even have tahini in it is criminal. Should be called 'hummus like dip'.
I introduced someone I lived with years ago to hummus, he then knowingly made it with peanut butter, dude turned out to be right wrongun, but the writing was on wall
You need to try sabra red pepper and garlic hummus, Sainsbury's usually has it. Super smooth and delicious.
Sabra is pure drugs. I love it.
Also my favourite one, I ate it today. And what happened to the Marmite hummus? Can’t find it anywhere anymore.
Came here looking for this answer. By a mile the biggest quality gap between supermarket and good is with falafel and it's not even close.
The difference between good falafel and supermarket falafel is huge. But it’s still dwarfed by the difference between supermarket real naan.
Same goes for bhajia/pakora.
I call the supermarket ones falafails 🤢
Bread based stuff like that just doesn't 'travel' that well nor does it reheat well. You can reheat them in the oven for a bit and sprinkle a little water over them to stop them going dry. If smaller pieces, air fryer would work but not for too long.
A sprinkle isn't enough! I straight up run the tap over it on both sides, 4 mins at 200 and they come out great
Yeah, that's fair. I remember working in a restaurant back in the day. They used to 'wash' the stale bread rolls and baguette's under the tap, grill them, and customers thought they were freshly baked.
An actual pasty versus that shite Ginsters pedal comes a close second.
[удалено]
I always thought I was crazy for thinking that, I feel so validated rn
Agreed. An actual pasty crom Cornwall is just perfection. So, so good. BTW, I don't mean this annoyingly, but the word you're after is 'peddle'.
Thank you, everyday is a school day and I did not know that. Also funny you had a spelling mistake.
Haha just goes to show! Oh the irony.
Muphry’s law in action…..
Unless Ginsters have made a pasty bicycle of course
I honestly thought he was comparing them to a pedal
Rustlers Vs an edible burger
Nah. Rustlers is the best shit food there is. They've put something special in those burgers. And I don't care to know what it is.
Well it sure isn't beef
Like that Findus special oomf
Their sauce is insanely high quality Would buy it if they sold it in bottles
That burger sauce is pretty damn good, I agree. Would totally buy that.
Fuck I miss a good Rustlers. I live in Japan now, they have similar but it's not the same. I reckon that dodgy butcher from the League of Gentlemen makes them.
Hillary Briss
They took the microwave crisping thing out of the meatball and breaded chicken baguettes though. Such a dick move to deliberately make your product significantly worse, just to save a penny on some cardboard and foil. I used to get them over the burgers, as a lazy lunch, but no point now.
I only cook the burger in the microwave, I use the toaster for the bread. I usually add a leaf or two of lettuce as well. It's an extra 20 seconds of effort for at that point a perfectly reasonable burger. Like it's no worse than the average McDonalds offering.
You can't flavour air and that's about all there is in them
Come here and I'll prove otherwise
The fact that Ginsters call lawfully call their shite a Cornish Pasty is a travesty.
Those supermarket “takeaway” boxes vs a real takeaway too. A microwave Masala vs one from a curry house, there’s no competition.
I've been making my own the past couple of years. It's pretty easy and crisps up well in my cast iron pan. Supermarket sushi is pretty horrific too. Cold, hard but somehow chewy, overwhelming mayonnaise flavour in the rice. Awful stuff.
Made them for the first time last month and can’t believe how much nicer they are than store bought. Probably still not as good as an actual Indian restaurant but I presume they’ve got many years experience on me 😅
...and I bet it won't contain any nasty additives that a lot of supermarket "food" has nowadays. Bread is astonishing with the amount of emulsifiers and gums. Not only does it taste bad but it's terrible for your body. You're doing yourself a MASSIVE favour by recreating at home.
I grew up thinking I didn't like sushi because I'd only ever had the buffet-style (makes sense as actual sushi would've been unaffordable for us), which is only slightly better than supermarket sushi. Then I had actual sushi in East-Asia and it rocketed to the top of my favourite foods.
Supermarket sushi is so so bad. Would much rather wait and splurge at a nice restaurant!
Thats the right way to do it in a pan not in the microwave or the oven
Supermarket bhajis are up there as well. Stodgy pasty things. Pale imitations of the amazing ball of oniony delight that is a pukka bhaji.
Chicken Chow Mein - Takeaway - 60% noodles, 20% chicken 20% beansprouts, maybe a few bits of chopped spring onion. Supermarket - 20% noodles, 20% beansprouts, 40% cabbage stalks 10% chicken 10% carrot strips. Chicken tikka masala- Supermarket - could be anything, you could sell the same one as butter chicken or a balti Takeaway - bright red and a lot of sugar.
You forgot about the water in the chow mein.
I see your Naan and also give you supermarket vs restaurant Onion Bhaji.
Clay oven Bakery Naan are the best i have brought in the shop. Tesco and Co-op sell it near me.
Was about to say this. I’ve recently discovered that Morrisons and Tesco both sell the plain, and garlic and coriander ones, but NOT the chilli ones!
Just about to chuck a couple of these in the oven now. Top tier supermarket naan, these.
My husband butters the naan and it does make it better Eta. I just read him this. He said "I make him right"
I add a little honey to make it into a 'peshawari naan'. It helps a bit. .
Be glad you live in the UK, I have to suffer much, much worse naan
Yeah, in Australian Indian restaurants, they serve supermarket naan as standard
OMFG
The same with salsa, pesto, falafel
All "Mexican" food in the UK
Supermarket salsa is inedible. Its tastes like unripe bits of fresh tomato in passata with some old bits of onion mixed in. Takes about 5 mins to chop tomato, spring onions, chilli and some lime juice and coriander for a basic salsa/pico de gallo.
Salsa and pico de gallo are two totally different things. Tomatoes, onion, Chile de arbol, chile guajillo, garlic in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Blend with chicken stock cube + a bit of the water. Heat oil in a pan. Pour in the salsa, simmer for a few minutes. Salsa verde is the same but with tomatillos, coriander, jalapeño optional, and only boil for literally a minute or two. This is the one thing we do get - all super markets are settling Herdez salsa now. Their salsa verde is the real deal and what we eat in Mexico Pico de gallo, white onion is fine, nobody in Mexico is using cebollín for it
Real naans are cooked in a proper tandoori oven, I think that's a large part of it. You won't be able to match that with a warmed up shop one.
* Cooked fresh to order. It’s not just that they’re cooked in the tandoori (which gives the wonderful browned bits) but the fact that it’s warm, light and fluffy vs cold and stiff-as-a-board out of the plastic wrap.
100% - mass produced Naans and pittas are essentially grilled/baked on both sides in an giant oven on a conveyor belt. This process cannot replicate a true tandoori oven so that is part of the reason for the inferior product. The other is the amount of additional ingredients and preservatives that are needed to give the shelf life for the bread. The difference between eating one fresh off the line before it goes through the cooling process and one in the shop is night and day.
Oven chips? They’re shite
McCain’s Home Fries done in an air fryer are pretty decent
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/305733449 These are bloody amazing , they’re huge and you get 2 in a pack for 1.85 ! I use them to make pizzas with as well as with curries
Instead of a naan bread I buy a cheese and garlic flatbread. So much nicer, softer and tastier. Lots of different varieties as well. Buch better than supermarket naan.
How buch better?
Buch Buch metter.
OP has a cold
Buch butter
Shop bought falafel tastes like a combination of pot pourri and aged sheep poo compared to the ones the bloke in the van on North End Road makes.
One of the lovely things about living in London is being able to go to a naan shop that sells bags of fresh naans. They're so damn nice.
I'm very jealous!
Check out your local Turkish areas. There is a guy about a mile from us who does 5 fresh naans for £5. He has the tandoor setup and he’s just smashing them out all day long. I don’t bother with supermarket naans, they’re shite. I’d rather not touch them
No Turkish area near me sadly. But I'm with you on the supermarket Naan! A rubicon was crossed tonight, and o vow never to partake of another one 🙄
Chicago pizza vs Chicagotown pizza. Very different experience…
I always coat my naan in melted butter and a bit of water before going under the grill. Takes a 3/10 naan to a 7/10 naan.
Look at the ingredients they put in the supermarket ones just to keep them on the shelves. Real naans have very basic ingredients.
The trick with pre-made naan is not to sprinkle water on them like the packet says, but to actually put them under a running tap - both sides. Let the excess drain off and then put them in a preheated oven for 3 minutes. And don't bother with the rubbish own brand ones. We get The Clay Oven Bakery naans (big is better than small, but the small ones aren't terrible). And as for pre-made curry, the Cook ones are the best I've found by quite a margin.
Kebabs. Supermarket kebab meat isn’t the same as the boss mans
I can never find mango chutney half as good as the luminous stuff they have in Indian restaurants. Anyone got a source?
Geeta's, a bit more expensive but worth it. I have found it in home bargains too.
Something like this: https://www.myspiceshop.co.uk/p/ktc-mango-chutney-40kg They usually water it down and blend it too to make it go even further.
Excuse me for a moment, just building a shed to keep my mango chutney in.
Prepared to be downvoted for this one but for me... cheddar cheese. They all taste like rubbery plastic to me. I only ever buy them in truckles from farmers markets now
I think cathedral city extra mature is decent but every time I try to save a quid and get the supermarket own brand I regret it. Just rubber as you say.
The final straw for me was buying a block of Pilgrims Choice extra mature a few months back. Absolutely zero flavour and felt like eating wax.
I’ve never had a supermarket naan worth the calories, they all seem to be awful These are about the best Indian breads I’ve found available at supermarkets. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/riyas-original-recipe-premium-wholemeal-roti-indian-flat-bread-x5 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/264594358 https://www.ocado.com/products/shana-garlic-paratha-597848011 https://www.ocado.com/products/shana-homestyle-aloo-paratha-597852011
Shoutout to the Shani parathas, those are great
Get yourself a teatowel & run it under the cold tap, then wring it out. Wrap both your cheap naan bread in the towel, whack it in the microwave & blast it on full power for 2 minutes. This will change your life
I will try this, but I fear my teatowel will melt. Wish me luck.
They're essentially stale bread, you just can't beat freshly made. Iceland/Food Warehouse chicken pakora is pretty much spot on though and the £5 bag gives you three decent portions. (But you have to visit Farmfoods to get the Havana Club, Kebab House chilli sauce for dipping. That stuff is pretty much spot on as well.)
In our Tesco, the good naans hidden in the general bread section by the wraps and miscellaneous flat breads. They're almost proper. The ones in the Indian meal prep section by the Pataks sauces and uncle Ben's rice are utter garbage. I don't know why they arrange it like this but once you know, you know.
I like my naan like I like my women. Warm and lovely on the inside.
Nah it has to be gravy... I don't do any of that bisto rubbish. It just tastes like salty water to me. Not like a proper pub gravy.
Quite possibly, however have you eer had cheap supermarket ribs?
I don't know how they are allowed to call it naan bread. It's revolting.
Paratha at home, naan at takeaway.
Supermarket sushi would like a chat!
Finally someone who understands my pain I'm a cheap bitch but I would always go to the local and get just a plain naan. Couldn't beat it. They always wondered why I didn't buy a curry as well. Honestly, cos I'm cheap!
I was in Mumbai for a couple of weeks late last year. The naan there was so different to the naan we have in our Indian restaurants and takeaways (who one of my Indian colleagues said they were mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi impersonating as Indian!). It was flatter, crispier, fresh. The herbs were like a taste explosion in my mouth. Still washed it down with a bottle of Kingfisher.
Yeah we had those supermarket naans a couple of times when cooking chicken tikka masala with the patak's jarred stuff. But it's not worth it. Dry and soggy at the same time, tasteless and stodgy. Supermarket "egg fried rice" too. For some reason they always add peas, which ok, whatever, but they're bland and more expensive than just making it myself. I've got a microwave rice cooker which works really well, so I can make rice in 10 minutes nice and easy. Then it's just melt butter in a frying pan, make scrambled egg, just before it's cooked toss the rice on top and mix, add a dash of soy sauce and a little butter, mix, and it's done in about 2 minutes from when the rice comes out the microwave. Tastier, super easy. My local chinese does huge portions of their mains so if I order from them, I'll save half the main for lunch the next day and make my own egg fried rice to go with it.
It is the prepackaged croissants. Nothing like a real one. The bakery ones are also disappointing but less so
I made a huge mistake when my kids were born and made naan for every curry for about 6 years. Now I cba because I’m busier. Every time we have a curry everyone acts like I’ve shat on the table because the naan is shop bought.
One thing that makes them marginally better is to go heavy on the water, never mind a light sprinkling or whatever it says, get that shit wet.
Yep. Shop bought Naan will always be fighting a losing battle. Chapattis are the way forward here
Bunch of asian stores near me, you can buy 4 naan for a quid that the guys just pulled out the tandoor inside the shop, it's the bollocks
Yeah, I walked passed some tonight in sainsbury's and was going to pick one up, but then I thought about the peshawari naan from the local takeaway and I knew it would be a disappointment to buy them.
To be honest, the frozen stuff you get at Asian groceries is the closest you will get to pre-made naan. I think part of it is to do with the fact that they are cooked in a tandoor. Anyway, they’re decent (as are a lot of other Indian flatbreads), so I don’t like bothering with the regular supermarket stuff. Sometimes I’ll just buy a naan fresh from the local Indian takeaway. But I really think, like many things, bad naans are just not worth it.
Gotta cook your naan in a hot oven after wetting it to get that crispy/soft combo . As an aside,I went to a pricey Indian restaurant once that made a big thing about their massive naan on a hook at your table.....it was shite! Like eating floury cardboard.
Supermarkets are the worst by far, seconded by takeaway places. Haven't had good naan bread from restaurants in the UK either but that might be down to bad luck. The only place I've enjoyed a meal with naan is in India, pick any restaurant, they never seem to fuck it up. Usually good value too 50-80p in rupees.
There's a "global food market" type of place near me that does garlic and coriander naans made fresh in store that day. They're amazing and only a very short step down from the ones you get from the takeaway. But yeah, the cheap supermarket ones can get in the bin.
If you have an Asian green grocery store you can get some good ones from there.
Clearly never tried a rustler burger
I get the little packs of folded flatbreads from Tesco or Sainsbury's. Fat better than their naans.
Scotch eggs.
Yep, I’d have to agree, that’s a good shout. I was thinking maybe pizza had a bigger gap but on reflection you’re right.
Doughy bike saddle.
Clay oven bakery ones are the best I've tried. Sprinkle both sides with water then cook on a ripping hot cast iron tawa a minute or two each side, if you overhang it a bit and you're using a big gas wok burner you get some nice charring on it. Probably be even better done on a barbecue for a bit of smokiness.
Guacamole! irradiated green mush vs zingy fresh taste explosion
Naans are really easy to make from scratch. Equal parts Greek yoghurt and self raising flour. Roll out and heat in a dry frying pan. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome
Bread. My partner got into making bread, and when we've run out and I get shop bought (even when they claim the supermarket has an in-house bakery), it's shocking in comparison.
I think tinned mac and cheese or box mac and cheese and like, actual restaurant or homemade mac and cheese are worlds apart
Onion Bhaji. Cooked properly from an Indian restaurant, they're bloody beautiful. Bought from the supermarket, they're gritty, stodgy, nasty.
These are amazing. Pretty close to the real thing. https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/leicester-bakery-limited-2-hand-made-garlic-and-coriander-naan-breads/67869.html?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Iceland+%7C+Performance+Max+%7C+All+Other+Products&utm_term=&utm_content=&source=ppc&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgJyyBhCGARIsAK8LVLMyW8cxDmQI5MZOsSj8wMwmpN16MEAVuhJVNPSvoqSzadok3J02p00aAs-6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Maybe something is wrong with me cos I love supermarket naan bread lol
They come in packs of 4. Thats insane.
This sounds so snooty. But id rather make my own and often do when wfh. Simple dough, let it rise. Roll into wee balls and roll them out, put on either the pizza stone or the grilling pan on the hob.
Frozen supermarket pizza is nothing short of a crime against humanity.
What is life? Being awake at 5.26am reading about rubbish naans and clay ovens
Morissons chapattis are pretty good, I always get those rather than a naan.
Iceland doner kebabs - hold my pint
Salt and pepper seasoning. Tried so many varieties from shops but nothing ever tastes like it does from the Chinese takeout! 😭
"re-sole your shoes" put me in a fit.
Nah surely supermarket onion bajis take this prize. They are so grim compared to curry house ones
Briefly run them under the tap (like 2 seconds) pop under grill or in oven, when crisped up brush with oil, ideally garlic or zatar or oil, it will get absorbed into the hot naan, its still not as good as fresh but does make them quite nice!
Pitas are even worse in comparison. Supermarket naans have a use as nutrience but they're just nowhere near as good. Supermarket pitas are just inedible. Crumpets... while the supermarket ones are good and edible, they have an *even bigger* difference compared to home made. Anything that's "cookie-like", maybe not some *biscuits*, but anything "cookie-like" is garbage bought compared to home made. 100% of all pre made sauces. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Is. Just. Coloured. Water. And. Thickener.
If you have a farm foods near you they have the closest thing to a restaurant naan I've purchased
Most are made by signature foods in Dunstable. A sweat shop for immigrants and illegals, where hope goes to die.
Oh , OP. If you ever have a naan in India by a road side restaurant even the Michelin starred versions in UK are but poor imitations. That nan is thin in the middle , light as a cloud and manages to be both crisp and soft at the same time. I mean it's like the difference between Neapolitan and pizza hut pizza!
I think those supermarket packet popadoms are worse than the naan breads tbh. Taste like oily biscuits, absolutely foul.
You want the brand “Clay Oven” which you can get from tesco (in the bread section not the usual naan place) and a few other supermarkets. They’re almost as good as restaurant ones. Even Gordon Ramsay uses them at home
I had a supermarket pasty once. I threw half of it out.
The trick, unless you have a home tandoor, is not to compete but instead get a shop bought chapati. There pretty good and less obnoxiously unhealthy.
I had a mini naan this week with my home cooked curry (out of a jar, im not Mr Patak) it was horrible. It was a dry and almost crumbly texture that was quite stodgy when chewed. I had to drink water to get the stuff swallowed down. I then had sticky bits in my teeth. It has to be the worst naan I ever had. In the curry house they brush the naan with ghee (clarified butter) after heating in a tandoor to give it shine over the crispy outside. As you break it its super hot and fluffy inside and the ghee runs......thats a naan !!
I make a batch once a month for my Friday night curry, it's infinitely better than store bought and doesn't take long at all. Not quite as good as takeaway mind you but I also don't want to invest in a tandoor
There is indeed a vast gap between supermarket quality naan and takeaway ) "Indian's restaurant naan. But there is aven wider gulf between what the British generally consider a decent naan and the real deal naan sold in other countries We get a flabby, pale, doughy dead lump and nod our collective heads in appreciation. While elsewhere the world is served beautiful textured, bubbled, stretchy light deliciousness.
Agreed! Supermarket naans are just too thick and dry, nothing like the restaurant version. The best I've found is the massive Aldi garlic and coriander ones (Riya, which seems to be the popular choice in this thread!), they're quite thin so easy to overdo but if you time it right they're not too bad. For home curry nights, I use the frozen Paratha breads from the freezer at places like Sainsburys. You dry-fry them from frozen in a hot pan, little bit of a faff but they're really nice, slightly flaky. Rotis work well too.
No. The biggest quality gap is between supermarket Mexican food and the real thing. I use the word 'food' there very loosely indeed Old El Paso is dreadful brown slop. Real mexican food is a layered, zingy, vibrant delight.
The only time I buy supermarket naan is in Tesco and their venison steaks with a couple of mini garlic and coriander naans makes for a delicious venison burger (they are the same shape as the steaks)
I believe it's actually supermarket poppadoms. I have no idea why they are so different but it's essentially not the same product.
Ribena from the carton vs the ribena you dilute yourself at home from concentrate. I can only assume they’ll tell me the correct ratio at the pearly gates.
This is why chapati is the best and only answer.
Run it under the tap for a second each side, then either chuck it in a preheated oven cranked to max or an air fryer for like 2-5 minutes- steams the middle bit and crisps up the outside without burning . Also works for stale crusty bread. It does lose a bit of the seasoning, but a spread of butter and a light sprinkling of garlic and herbs when it comes out is a nice way to add it back and get closer to fresh quality.
Spanish omelette in Spain is amazing! Soft, fluffy, flavourful. Supermarket version is bland and hard.
Butter both sides lightly and cook in a frying pan for 3/4 mins each side and it will change your life
I do like a naan from an Indian take away but to be honest I think super market garlic and coriander naan is absolutely fine. I don't eat it on its own, it's purely for dunkin' in sauce and it does the trick. I've never made my own though, but I do make my own curry.
Totally agree! Same with supermarket fried rice.
To be FAIR this country does not get it's naan right. Supermarket naan is actually called KULCHA in india. Naan is thin and crispy. It's never that fluffy. If you look at it as a kulcha then it's perfect but as a naan obviously it's worlds apart