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Handiہانڈیاردو
Roti, naan & breads

Sheermal Recipe

شیرمال بنانے کا طریقہ

Sheermal: a soft, lightly sweet saffron flatbread made with milk and ghee, baked and brushed twice with saffron milk for its glossy orange top.
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Illustration of Sheermal

Prep

25 min

Cook

25 min

Marinate / soak

2 hr

Serves

6

Difficulty

Medium

Spice

Mild

Sheermal is a Mughlai bread that came to Pakistan with families from Lucknow and Delhi, and is now sold by bakeries in Karachi and Lahore, especially around Eid. 'Sheer' means milk: the dough is made with milk instead of water, plus ghee and sugar, and the top is brushed with saffron milk so it bakes to a shiny golden-orange. It is meant to be eaten with rich food like qorma, nihari or a kabab platter, not on its own as a dessert.

Ingredients

6 servings

For 6 servings

Measures

For the saffron glaze

Method

  1. Soak the saffron in the 3 tbsp warm milk for the glaze and set aside so the colour comes out.

    ⏱ 15 min

  2. Mix the maida, yeast, sugar, salt, milk powder if using and ground cardamom. Add the melted ghee and rub it in, then add the kewra and the lukewarm milk gradually and knead into a soft, smooth dough.

    ⏱ 10 min

  3. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled. Enriched dough rises more slowly than plain naan dough.

    ⏱ 105 min

  4. Heat the oven to 230°C with a baking tray inside. Divide the dough into 6 balls and roll each into a 6-inch round, about a third of an inch thick.

    ⏱ 15 min

  5. Prick each round all over with a fork so it bakes flat, then brush with half the saffron milk.

  6. Place on the hot tray and bake for 5 minutes, then brush again with the rest of the saffron milk and bake until golden-orange and cooked through.

    ⏱ 10 min

  7. Brush with melted ghee straight out of the oven and stack in a cloth so they stay soft. Serve warm.

Tips for the best result

  • Bakeries often add a few drops of orange food colour to the glaze for a brighter top; saffron alone gives a softer gold.
  • Warm leftover sheermal on a tawa with a little ghee; it is lovely with chai the next morning.

Common mistakes

  • Using hot milk in the dough. It kills the yeast; it should feel just warm on your wrist.
  • Skipping the fork pricks. The sheermal balloons in the oven and loses its flat, even shape.

How to serve

Serve warm with qorma, nihari, haleem or seekh kababs, or with chai.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 3 days in an airtight bag at room temperature and 1 month in the freezer. Warm on a tawa or in a low oven.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
400kcal
Protein
8g
Fat
15g
Carbs
57g
Fibre
1.9g
Sodium
220mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 11

Whole dish ≈ Rs 68 · 42% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Sheermal: questions people ask

Is sheermal sweet?

Only lightly. It has some sugar, milk and cardamom, but it is a bread to eat with savoury dishes like qorma, not a dessert.

Can I make sheermal on a tawa?

Yes. Cook it on a low-medium tawa with a lid on for 3 minutes a side, brushing with saffron milk after the first turn. It will be paler but still soft.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

All bread recipes

Read this recipe in Urdu: شیرمال بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/sheermal · Handi, DanixSoft