Karachi-Style Sheermal

Ingredients

• 1.5 L Water (For mixing the dough; use small splashes only if the dough is too firm.)
• 500 g Granulated sugar (Dissolve completely in the water.)
• 1 tbsp Salt (Added to the dough.)
• 3 kg All-purpose flour (Use refined white flour (maida), not whole-wheat or brown flour.)
• 500 g Clarified butter (ghee) (Warm until melted but only mildly warm before incorporating into the dough. Some is used for working the dough and some for finishing.)
• 250 g Salt (For the salt-water coating used to prepare and heat the iron tandoor; dissolve in 500 g to 1 kg water. This is primarily used on the oven surface, not incorporated into the bread.)
• 0.5 kg Water (Mix with the tandoor salt to make salt water; the source gives a range of 0.5–1 kg water.)

Steps

1. 1

   Combine 1.5 liters water, 500 g sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a large mixing vessel. Stir thoroughly until no visible sugar crystals remain and the mixture is completely dissolved.

2. 2

   Add the refined all-purpose flour and begin mixing as you would a normal bread dough. Keep the dough slightly firm rather than soft or wet. If it feels too hard to work, sprinkle or splash in only a little additional water; do not make the dough loose, because it will soften when the ghee is worked in.

3. 3

   Knead the dough firmly with the palms of your hands until it is cohesive and smooth, with no obvious stickiness. The finished dough should not cling heavily to your hands and should remain noticeably firmer than a typical soft naan dough.

4. 4

   Roll or press the dough into a broad, relatively even sheet. Warm the ghee until melted and only mildly warm, not hot, then pour it over the top surface of the dough.

5. 5

   Using your fingertips and the flats of your palms, gently work the warm ghee into the upper surface of the dough. Spread and massage it gradually for about 30 minutes, allowing the flour to absorb the ghee. Work gently: pressing too hard can puncture the dough and allow ghee to pass through to the underside.

6. 6

   Keep the ghee concentrated on the top side. The underside should remain intact and free of ghee; the upper surface should look evenly covered and smooth, without holes or tears.

7. 7

   Fold the dough inward from all four sides to enclose the ghee, then gather it into one large dough ball. Set it aside or refrigerate it for 15–20 minutes to rest.

8. 8

   After resting, divide the dough into portions and shape them into balls slightly larger than a standard naan portion. Arrange the dough balls so they are ready to shape, and rest them for only 5–10 minutes. Do not let them sit much longer, because ghee-enriched dough softens quickly and over-rested portions may collapse.

9. 9

   Heat the iron tandoor thoroughly before baking. Prepare salt water by dissolving approximately 250 g salt in 500 g to 1 kg water, then apply the salt water to the hot tandoor surface as described in the source. The salted surface should be hot and ready before the breads are attached.

10. 10

    Take one dough ball and flatten it into a thick round or tikki. Mark the top with a traditional comb-like tool (kangi), making the characteristic lines without tearing through the dough. Do not apply water to the top at this stage.

11. 11

    Apply the shaped sheermal to the hot iron tandoor. The water used for adherence is applied at the tandoor stage rather than while forming the dough. Bake over moderate heat, turning or managing the bread as needed, until it is cooked through and develops a reddish-golden color.

12. 12

    Remove each sheermal from the tandoor and place it on a wire rack or mesh surface. Allow excess surface moisture to evaporate briefly until the bread is no longer visibly wet.

13. 13

    Brush or rub the hot sheermal with ghee immediately after it comes out of the tandoor. Serve warm, or keep the finished breads covered; according to the source, they can remain soft for approximately 6–7 hours after ghee is applied.

Notes

This is a commercial-scale recipe and requires a large mixing vessel and an iron tandoor. The source emphasizes keeping the initial dough firm, incorporating ghee only into the upper surface, and avoiding punctures that would let ghee reach the underside. The stated salt-water quantity is intended for preparing/coating the tandoor surface and is not a normal dough ingredient.

Nutrition per serving

• bread
• flatbread
• main
• South Asian
• Pakistani
• tandoor-cooked
• vegetarian
• ghee-rich