When British Indian chef Romy Gill travelled through Kashmir, the northernmost region in India, collecting recipes for her latest cookbook “On the Himalayan Trail,” she delighted in a flatbread called girda (also called kander). A fermented bread traditionally cooked in a clay tandoor oven, it also bakes up beautifully right on the cordierite baking stone in an Ooni oven (or in a cast-iron pan).

Romy, a series regular on “Ready, Steady, Cook” and BBC Radio 4’s “The Food Programme,” was served girda at Chai Jaai, a beautiful tea room in Sringar, alongside a cup of noon chai — a wonderfully pink and salty drink made with gunpowder tea, milk, salt and baking powder. Because these breads pair so well with tea and local breakfast specialities like harissa, a spicy and saucy mutton dish, “most of the breads [in the Kashmir region] are made in the tandoor before dawn so people can enjoy them in the morning,” Romy says.

Made with fast-acting yeast and left to ferment for only an hour, this bread comes together quickly, meaning you can have it before noon even if you sleep in. No need to wake before dawn like a Kashmiri baker.

The dough is covered in melted ghee (butter that has been clarified, meaning simmered and strained to remove all the water). If you can’t find ghee in your local supermarket, you can make your own at home using this guide, or you can use regular butter — but you’ll sacrifice the wonderfully nutty flavour and high smoke point that comes with clarified butter.

Bio: Romy Gill is a British Indian chef, food writer, author and broadcaster. In 2016, she was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 90th birthday honours list. Author of “ZAIKA: Vegan Recipes from India” (featured in The Observer), she regularly appears on TV and contributes to national and international publications, including The New York Times.