Sheermal is a bread of Awadh, sold warm in the by-lanes of Lucknow and eaten with nihari at dawn or kebabs at night, mildly sweet enough to stand alone with tea. The name is Persian — sheer for milk, mal to rub or knead — and the bread came with the Persian and Mughal cooks who found a home in the Nawabi kitchens of Lucknow, where the dum style and the love of saffron and kewra were already at work. It is an enriched dough rather than an everyday roti: milk and ghee worked through the flour, perfumed with cardamom and rose, given a proper rise, then baked hot and brushed with saffron milk so the top sets to a glossy gold. This version follows The Delicious Crescent, an English-language record of the Lucknawi bread, kept close to the milk-rubbed original the name describes.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups about 375g plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup warm milk (plus 2 tbsp for the glaze)
- 4 tbsp ghee (melted, plus extra for brushing)
- seeds of 4–5 green cardamom pods (ground)
- 1 tbsp rose water (or kewra water)
- a generous pinch of saffron
- 1 egg yolk (optional, for a glossy crust)
- slivered pistachios or almonds (to garnish)
METHOD
- Warm the milk to lukewarm and stir in the saffron; set aside to steep and colour.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and ground cardamom.
- Make a well and add most of the warm saffron milk, the melted ghee and the rose water, holding back a little saffron milk for the glaze, and bring together into a soft dough.
- Knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic, then cover and leave to rise until doubled, about 1–1½ hours.
- Knock back, divide into 6 equal balls and rest 10 minutes.
- Roll each ball into a disc about 5mm thick and prick all over with a fork so it bakes flat.
- Heat the oven as hot as it will go (240–260°C) with a baking tray or stone inside.
- Bake the discs 5 minutes, then pull them out and brush generously with the reserved saffron milk (whisked with the egg yolk, if using).
- Return to the oven for 3–5 minutes until golden and glossy.
- Brush with melted ghee while warm, scatter with slivered pistachios, and serve with nihari, korma or kebabs.
