Every Pakistani Bread Worth Knowing How to Make
Pakistani breads are as varied as the country's regions — the flaky parathas of Punjab, the smoky peshawari naan from the north-west, the millet rotis of Sindh, the yeasted sheermal of the Mughal kitchen. This collection covers the full range, from the everyday chapati to the elaborate bakarkhani.
17 recipes in this collection
Chapati
Chapati is the everyday whole-wheat flatbread at the heart of Pakistani home cooking — thin, soft, and cooked on a tawa before being placed directly on the gas flame to puff up into a golden, steam-filled balloon. It is the simplest bread you will ever make and the most forgiving, requiring nothing more than flour, water, and practice. Once you make good chapati at home, you will never look at store-bought the same way again.
Butter Naan (Home Tawa Method)
Soft, pillowy butter naan made at home on a tawa (flat griddle) — no tandoor required. Brushed with makhan (butter) the moment it comes off the heat, this leavened flatbread is the perfect vehicle for any Pakistani curry.
Garlic Naan
Garlic Naan takes everything great about a classic leavened naan and then — at the very last second — hits it with raw garlic butter and fresh coriander that cook against the bread's scorching heat. It is aggressively good, impossible to stop eating, and ready in under 10 minutes of baking.
Peshawari Naan
Peshawari Naan is a thick, cloud-like flatbread from the ancient city of Peshawar — so large and puffy it barely fits on a standard plate. The dough is more hydrated than regular naan, giving it a pillowy interior with a slightly crisp exterior, and it is finished with nothing but a generous slick of butter.
Kashmiri Naan
Kashmiri Naan is a sweet, fragrant stuffed bread filled with khoya, dried fruits, and cardamom — the kind of bread that makes you question why you ever ate plain naan. It is brushed with butter and rose water straight from the oven and is equally at home beside morning chai or as a dessert bread after a big meal.
Lachha Paratha
Lachha Paratha is the showstopper of Pakistani flatbreads — a multi-layered, flaky paratha made by the coil method that creates dozens of crisp, butter-kissed layers visible when you hold it up to the light. When you pull it apart, it falls into beautiful golden ribbons. It is the kind of bread that makes people ask who made this and then look at you differently.
Makki Ki Roti
Makki Ki Roti is Punjab's golden corn flatbread — thick, slightly grainy, and impossibly satisfying when eaten hot off the tawa with a mountain of sarson ka saag and a pat of white butter. It is not rolled with a belan; it is shaped with love, patience, and wet hands. Getting your first one right is a rite of passage in every Punjabi kitchen.
Missi Roti
Missi Roti is a rustic, spiced flatbread made from a blend of besan (gram flour) and whole wheat atta that's been a Punjabi staple for centuries. It's earthy, slightly nutty, and packed with the fragrance of ajwain and fresh coriander. One bite and you'll understand why dhabas across Punjab sell out by noon.
Sheermal
Sheermal is a royal saffron flatbread from Mughal kitchens — slightly sweet, impossibly fragrant, and golden enough to look like it was baked by the sun itself. The dough is enriched with milk, ghee, and saffron, then pricked all over before baking so it stays flat and tender rather than puffing up.
Bakarkhani
Bakarkhani is Lahore's layered, laminated breakfast bread — crisp on the outside, tender in the centre, with visible flaky layers that shatter satisfyingly when you break it. It is the Pakistani answer to a croissant, except it has been around longer than France, costs almost nothing, and tastes even better dunked in tea.
Roghni Naan
Roghni Naan is the Rolls-Royce of Pakistani bread — leavened, egg-enriched, oil-glossed, and studded with sesame and nigella seeds, baked until golden and billowy. It is the bread that makes any meal feel like a celebration, and once you've baked your own, the bakery version will never quite measure up.
Keema Naan
Keema Naan is the ultimate Pakistani stuffed bread — spiced minced meat cooked dry and packed inside leavened naan dough, sealed, and baked until the crust is golden and the filling is fragrant and juicy. Served with cold yoghurt and mint chutney, it is a complete meal that happens to look like bread.
Kulcha
Kulcha is Lahore's beloved leavened flatbread — softer than naan, richer in fat, and baked on the floor of the tandoor where it develops a flat base and an irresistibly puffy top. Whether you eat it plain with just a slick of butter or stuffed with spiced potato or paneer, it is the kind of bread that ruins all other bread for you.
Tandoori Roti
Tandoori Roti is a thick, slightly smoky whole-wheat flatbread traditionally baked by slapping it onto the scorching inner wall of a clay tandoor oven — where it puffs, blisters, and develops charred spots in a matter of minutes. It is chewier and more substantial than chapati, with an unmistakable smoky char from the intense heat. A home oven method using a cast-iron pan on maximum grill heat gives you a genuinely good approximation.
Khameeri Roti
Khameeri Roti is the leavened cousin of the everyday chapati — yeast-risen, slightly tangy, and wonderfully soft with a chewy pull that plain roti just can't match. It's the bread that Lahori roti shops start preparing before sunrise. Once you taste a fresh khameeri roti slathered with makhan, you'll understand the queue outside those shops.
Rumali Roti
Rumali Roti is a paper-thin, silky flatbread folded like a handkerchief — 'rumal' literally means handkerchief in Urdu. It's the bread of grand restaurants, wedding banquets, and show-offs, because watching a skilled cook stretch it paper-thin and slap it onto an inverted karahi is genuinely theatrical. At home, it's more achievable than it looks and absolutely worth the effort.
Aloo Paratha — Spiced Potato Stuffed Flatbread
Aloo Paratha is Pakistan's most beloved breakfast bread — whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a spiced potato filling, cooked on a tawa (griddle) with butter or ghee until crisp and golden on the outside, soft within. It is the meal that gets children out of bed without argument.