Delicious Sheermal aromatic saffron infused flat bread with touch of cardamom from land of Kashmir.Goes well with cup of tea or coffee.
Sheermal/shirmal is the common delicacy of Awadhi cuisine which was influenced by Mughlai kitchens. It has similarities towards Persian saffron bread. It is mildly sweet flat bread common in Lucknow and Hyderabad cities and Kashmir state in India and in other countries like Pakistan, Iran and Bangladesh.
One morning I saw picture in Facebook about the sheermal bread, and got hooked enough to search for the recipe. Finally I made sheermal this weekend, and yes it is really yummy.
Traditionally it goes well with spicy mutton soup called Nihari, but since I don’t cook mutton, I served it with spicy pickle.
In Kashmir, they make both sweet and salt version of sheermal bread. The sweet version of Sheermal is served with ‘kehwa’, a spicy traditional green tea made without milk, mixed with saffron.
The salty Sheermal, on the other hand, is taken with noon -chai or sheer chain (Pink tea) read from here. Sheermal is an old recipe of over one hundred and fifty years.
Earlier version is made thin and flat like roti/chapthi with flour and milk and sugar, however the modern day sheermal includes ghee, eggs, spices and sugar baked in tandoor (clay oven ) or oven.
I searched a few recipes from internet as well as YouTube. Some recipes use butter and heavy cream as fat. I decide to use ghee as it is more authentic when comes to Indian cooking.
Nowadays it is available as important street food; I have seen pictures of freshly baked sheermal by a street vendor; he makes it early in the day to attract his customers and here is a YouTube video, showing finished product and and also making sheermal here
My recipe is adapted from here and here. I used instant yeast along with all-purpose flour, saffron infused milk both for dough and final brushing and one egg with ¼cup of ghee and little cardamom.
Milk and saffron
Flour, yeast, ghee, salt and sugar
and egg
Knead everything and set aside for ferementation.
After fermentaiton, doubling of the dough.
Divide and press into thin flatbread
brush with saffron milk
After baking
This is delicious aromatic flatbread I have ever tried. Yes you will fall in love with them with the first bite. Saffron and cardamom gives a royal touch. If you go to any Indian store you will get sheermal in frozen section.
I bet you if you want authentic traditional taste, don’t get fooled by that one, make one on your own. Fresh out of oven is really great; your house had an aromatic bread smell which was really enthralling.
It takes only 1 and ½ hours to make it. You can have them with your favorite curry or soup. We can’t roam around the streets and taste these delicious treat so make it in your kitchen.
Sheermal: Saffron flat bread with touch of cardamom
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups /312.5g all purpose flour/Maida
- ½ teaspoon /3g Salt
- 1 large egg/ 30g
- 1 tablespoon/ 15g sugar
- 1 packet/ 7g/ 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant yeast
- ½ cup + 3 tbsp 176g milk
- ¼ cup /49g gheeHomemade ghee
- 8-10 strands saffron
- 4 cardamoms powdered
- 2 teaspoon melted butter for final brushing of the bread
Instructions
- In a bowl, dissolve saffron into of warm milk.
- In a kitchen aid bowl add all purpose flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, ghee, cardamom and mix everything.
- To this add ½ cup of warm saffron milk and egg.
- Knead well to form a soft dough transfer to a well greased pan and set aside for 1 hour for first rise.
- Preheat oven to 400F/ 200°C. Line the baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper. Punch down and divide the dough (581g) into 4 equal sized portions of (145.25g).
- Roll out each portion into a circle of about ½ inch thickness and about 6 inch diameter.
- Prick the rolled dough with fork so that it won’t puff up in the oven.
- When you are ready to bake brush them with saffron milk.
- And bake at 400F/ 200°C for 12-15 minutes or until it become golden yellow color.
- Once the bread is baked and out oven and still warm brush with melted butter.
- Serve with any soup or spicy curry or simple pickle.
Nutrition
Other few flatbread recipes are
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This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Mohsin Begum says
Hello..I tried this recipe today and I followed the same ingredients with(exact measurements)but the sheermal came out hard...it's not fluffy and soft...I don't know what went wrong....
mjskit says
I bet the saffron and cardamom really give this flatbread an awesome flavor!
Priya NM says
Inviting sheermal, i never made bread in oven..I am bookmarking the recipe..
Choc Chip Uru says
I am always so nervous in wanting to make flat bread but I do want to try your delicious recipe 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Winnie says
I've never eaten such flat-bread, and I'm sooooo curious
As soon as I can bake again, I'm making this recipe
Pinning and saving the recipe
easyfoodsmith says
We love sheermal especially coz it pairs so well with the piquant Indian curries. It happens to be close cousin of the Baakarkhani.
Rekha Vengalil says
New to me and looks delicious 🙂
Hema says
Very new to me, bread looks superb, very tempting..
gayathri says
bread looks so yummy. tempting.
Sony's kitchen says
Looks interesting bread....... Baking version is pretty good !!
julie says
new delicacy to me,looks very yummy similar to naan in texture 🙂
shama says
yummy bread...
Nalini Somayaji says
lovely recipe Sheermal Saffron flat bread. Thanks for sharing the recipe ..Swathi Iyer..will soon try it out ..
kaveri says
I came to know about this sheermal from one of the TV shows..but they never gave the recipe there..
Sheermal looks very tasty..would like to try it sometime
Babitha costa says
new bread type,ur great swathi trying all types
Gloria says
I always wanted to try sheermal..yours look too yummy...
Deepa says
Delicious and lovely looking flatbread. Pics are wonderful.
Deepa
priya satheesh says
omg....very tempting...This recipe is new for me... Bookmarked ! I am gonna try this for sure 🙂
ramya says
delicious bread and full of flavor dear.yet to try this one
Kanchi says
I was thinking of making this bread, thank you so much & lovely pics.
Divya says
Looks yummy and perfectly baked flay bread... inviting clicks...
traditionallymodernfood says
Love cardamom and saffron flavour 🙂 looks yummy
Avika says
Wow !! fell in love with it the moment I saw... Definitely going to try it, perhaps after my India trip and will let u know Swathi.. Love the way you have presented it.. Nice
Shobha says
Looks awesome Swathi.. I have been wanting to make this one since a long time too..always during Eid I see the pics and get tempted.