Blog · 7 Jul 2026Why Is Tandoori Bread So Smoky and Flavorful? Inside the Tandoor Oven

The secret is the tandoor - a 480°C clay oven

Tandoori bread is smoky because it is baked in a real clay tandoor, and flavourful because the dough is fermented slowly before it is stretched. At Masala & More, Baltzarsgatan 12, Malmö, the tandoor runs at around 480°C over a live flame, and each naan is slapped by hand onto the clay wall, which gives a crisp, blistered base, a charred top and a soft middle. The naan dough is made with yoghurt and a little ghee and left to ferment for 12 hours, and that slow rise is where the depth of flavour comes from. Clay oven plus 12-hour fermentation is the answer, and an electric or gas oven cannot copy it. We brush each bread with butter as it leaves the oven and bake all 13 of our breads to order, making ours the most authentic smoky tandoori breads in Sweden.

Why the smoke flavour happens

Three things create that unmistakable flavour. First, the intense radiant heat chars small spots on the bread (the dark blisters on a good naan), creating toasted, smoky notes through the Maillard reaction. Second, drippings and flour dust hit the coals or burner at the base and send aromatic smoke back up over the bread. Third, the porous clay itself, seasoned by years of baking, imparts a subtle earthy character that a regular oven cannot replicate.

The dough matters too

Traditional naan dough is enriched with yoghurt and sometimes milk, which caramelise in the high heat and add flavour and softness. A brush of ghee or butter straight out of the oven carries those smoky aromas to your palate.

At Masala & More the naan dough is mixed with yoghurt and a little ghee and then left to ferment slowly for 12 hours before it is stretched and slapped onto the clay wall. That long fermentation is what gives the bread its flavour, while the tandoor gives it the smoke. We bake 13 different breads this way, each one only when it is ordered. Eat in at Baltzarsgatan 12 or order at order.masalaandmore.se.

Where to eat fresh tandoori bread in Sweden

At Masala & More in Malmö we bake our naan and tandoori breads fresh to order. You can enjoy them in the restaurant or get tandoori bread as takeaway - perfect alongside our Indian curries. We also serve fresh tandoori breads through our catering service across the Malmö region.