Maida is finely milled refined wheat flour, and it does the jobs atta cannot. Naan, bhatura, samosa pastry, cakes, and anything that needs to be soft, light or crisp rather than hearty.

If your samosa pastry has been disappointing, this is usually the missing piece.

It also turns up across Indian-Chinese cooking and in most Indian bakery items. Keep a bag alongside the atta rather than instead of it, because the two are not interchangeable.

In the pantry aisle at Curry Corner, North Melbourne.