Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. A naan appetizer, a joke goes, is a “naan-starter” (non-starter).
   
“I thought I had a good idea for an Indian appetizer, but it was a naan starter” was posted on Twitter by rtkelly on October 15, 2010. “Did you hear about the appetizer served at the Indian restaurant? It was a naan-starter” was posted on Twitter by Hostrauser on January 28, 2011.
   
     
Wikipedia: Naan
Naan (Hindi: नान, romanized: nān) is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Myanmar and the Caribbean.
   
Twitter
rtkelly
@rtkelly
I thought I had a good idea for an Indian appetizer, but it was a naan starter.
8:56 PM · Oct 15, 2010·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Hostrauser
@hostrauser
Did you hear about the appetizer served at the Indian restaurant? It was a naan-starter. (wocka wocka wocka!)
4:08 PM · Jan 28, 2011·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
Casey Newton
@crumbler
An appetizer at an Indian restaurant is a total naan starter.
10:08 PM · Mar 12, 2011 from San Francisco, CA·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
stinksgood
@StinksGood
When I eat Indian food, I never have an appetizer. It’s a Naan starter.
12:44 PM · Apr 26, 2011·Twitter for Android
 
Reddit—3amjokes
Posted by u/chiaone March 7, 2015
I was going to tell you guys a joke about the appetizer I got at the Indian restaurant
But then I realized it was a naan-starter.
COMMENTS
smeltfisher
Well, you came to the raita place.
   
Reddit—Jokes
Posted by u/Blu3moss November 16, 2015
No one liked my innovative appetizer at my dinner party – cut up naan bread, topped with sliced tandoori chicken and fresh coriander.
It was a naan-starter.
     
Twitter
The Guy
@theguydf
If you order that Indian bread for an appetizer, to me, that’s a naan starter.
5:53 PM · Jul 23, 2016·Twitter for iPhone
 
Dawn
Naan starter: UK curry restaurants feel betrayed by Brexit
AP March 22, 2017
Mohammed Faizul Haque makes it all look so easy.
     
Twitter
RainnWilson
@rainnwilson
If someone I’m getting to know doesn’t like Indian food, it’s a Naan starter. (you’re welcome)
5:48 PM · Dec 19, 2017·Twitter for iPhone
 
The Economic Times (UK)
Flatbreads from UK maybe a naan-starter
However, as even reheat and-eat naans by local brands find it tough to outdo vendors of fresh ones in India, the minister should be made aware that rolling them out from Bedfordshire could be a naan-starter.
ET Bureau|Sep 02, 2018, 11.31 PM IST
 
Reddit—Dadjokes
Posted by u/dmdeemer October 9, 2019
Never get bread for an appetizer when you go out for Indian food
It’s a naan-starter