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When’s the last time you got excited about the naan served in a restaurant? I know; forever, right? Too often this Indian flatbread takes the role of nothing more than a ho-hum if well-meaning scoop that gets whatever you are eating from point A, the plate, to point B, your mouth.

Not so at Mango Pickle, the new Indian bistro in Edgewater.

Here, the naan gets the star attention it deserves, and that shows in flavor, texture and aroma. The slow-rise naan is served warm with a light gloss of butter and a sprinkling of sea salt. On one visit, the naan was fluffy, almost buoyant. On another, a portion of the bread took on a crackerlike crispness — a nice textural element. Once the bread arrives, you’ll want to tear into a piece ($3 for 2 pieces) with abandon, and when it’s all gone, you’ll seriously debate whether to flag down a server and order more.

Chef-owner Marisa Paolillo says her background is in bread and her naan represents “the best of both worlds” in terms of European and Indian approaches. She uses a poolish, pre-fermented yeast starter, to give a little bit of sourness to the dough. She makes the dough using a high-quality bread flour from Wisconsin, a small amount of yeast, and hours of rising time — often 5 hours depending on the temperature inside the restaurant.

“Throughout the day, I will knead it as it’s fermenting until it feels really fluffy and pillowy to me,” Paolillo says. She then portions the dough and lets it rise again very slowly to avoid giving the bread a yeasty flavor.

As for baking, the naan are done to order. Paolillo puts the dough on a stone plate in a conventional oven, cranked to 550 degrees, where it takes just 6 minutes before going directly to the table.

While butter and sea salt are the garnishes for Paolillo’s naan now, she is thinking of introducing “snacking” naan this summer with toppings.

“Definitely there will be a cheesy naan, but I haven’t delved into it yet,” she said.

Mango Pickle, 5842 N. Broadway, 773-944-5555, www.mangopicklechicago.com

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Twitter @billdaley

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