Sheermal ( Persian/ Urdu: , hi, शीरमल), also spelled shirmal, is a saffron-flavored traditional

flatbread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ran ...

eaten in Iran and the Indian subcontinent. The word sheermal is derived from the Persian words شیر (

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

sheer) meaning milk, and مالیدن (

malidan) meaning to rub. In a literal translation, sheermal means milk rubbed. Originating in Persia, it was introduced to North India by the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperors during the medieval period. It became a delicacy of Lucknow, Hyderabad and Aurangabad. It is also part of the

Awadhi cuisine Awadhi cuisine ( hi, अवधी पाक-शैली, ur, ) is a cuisine native to the Awadh region in Northern India. The cooking patterns of Lucknow are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India with the cuisi ...

and is enjoyed in Old Bhopal and Pakistan.

Preparation

Shirmal is a mildly sweet naan made out of maida, leavened with yeast, baked in a tandoor or oven. Shirmal was traditionally made like roti. Today, shirmal is prepared like naan. The warm water in the recipe for naan roti was replaced with warm milk sweetened with

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

and flavored with saffron and cardamom. The final product resembles

Danish pastry A Danish pastry ( da, wienerbrød ) sometimes shortened to just Danish, especially in American English) is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the ''viennoiserie'' tradition. The concept was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers, where the r ...

. In Iran, there are slight regional variations in the preparation of sheermal. As such, it is sometimes sold as a souvenir when travelling between the regions. In India, especially in the city of Lucknow, shirmal is sometimes served with kababs, tikkia, or alongside nihari.

References

{{Flatbreads Indian breads Pakistani breads Iranian breads Indian cuisine Mughlai cuisine bn:শিরমাল

Preparation

See also

References