Peshwari Naan Recipe | Sweet Coconut Naan Bread

If you’ve never heard of Peshwari Naan before, don’t worry. I hadn’t either for a VERY long time.

I wasn’t aware of them until we accidentally ordered them as a side to our butter paneer and chicken korma when we were holidaying in the Isle of Skye back in 2018. I’m pretty sure my husband ordered them assuming we’d be getting a robust, large naan akin to the ones we get back home in London from all our local take outs. I don’t know about him, but that’s certainly what I was expecting. We both certainly were not expecting small, sweet coconut stuffed naans garnished with raisins and pistachio nuts.

I’d like to state here and now, those naans were delicious – but just not what we were expecting (or wanting!) at the time! It’s not too nice a sensation when your taste-buds are after savoury and they get sweet. It just hits a lil’ different when you aren’t expecting it! I personally love the combination of sweet and savoury together (a’la Kabuli Pilau), however I just wasn’t sold after that first experience, probably because I didn’t fully understand what it was.

It was many months later, a non-Asian friend of mine asked me for the recipe for ‘those really nice sweet naans you guys make’. I had no idea what she was talking about, so she sent me pictures. And that’s when it all clicked together and I realised… Peshwari Naans are an actual thing!

A quick Google search confirmed this… and I suddenly realised I had been missing out big on something amazing all my life.

I experimented that exact same day (this was back in 2018, mind you) and pulled through with some delectably sweet, cushiony soft and oh-so indulgent Peshwari naans. I was hooked! How had I lived all my life not knowing about these?

I posted them to my Instagram the first time I recreated them and have made these on occasion throughout the years. Spiked with just a hint of cardamom and cinnamon, this recipe is such a treat for a bit of chai-time action and so satisfying that you won’t even have to serve anything else alongside it!

What are Peshwari Naans?

Peshwari Naans are traditional naans cooked with a stuffing of sugar, coconut, nuts and dried fruit such as raisins. They are sweet, though depending on the Naan you have they may not be dessert-level sweet. 

My research drew inconclusive as to whether these have any true link to Peshawar (a city in Pakistan), as the name suggests, or whether these are exclusively a British-Indian takeaway thing. Whilst online sources and the name (obvs) does point out a link to Peshawar, friends on my Instagram informed me they have never seen these in their family or even in Peshawar.

My conclusion from my research was quite simply: these are damn delicious and too good not to have up on the blog, so I think I can be forgiven if I don’t know where these are from… right?

How Do you Cook Peshwari Naan at Home?

Good question.

Traditionally Naans are baked in a tandoor oven, which is a super hot clay or metal oven used around South Asia. If you’re reading this blog, you likely don’t have access to a tandoor oven. If you do, how luck are you!?

Fret not, we can still cook Naan at home.

The two most common options (probably your only options tbh) are to cook it on the hob much like you’d cook roti, or to bake it in a super hot oven. I have provided instructions for oven baking too in the recipe.

The Naans you can see in the pictures in this post were cooked on the hob. I cooked my Keema Naans in the oven and you can probably notice the difference in the colouring. It’s totally up to you which you prefer.

How do you eat Peshwari Naan?

Peshwari naan is often eaten alongside curries too in the British Indian takeout scene. I can understand why – the mild sweetness of the naans would counterbalance the heat of any hot curry for someone who may not be so used to spice. 

Whichever way you prefer to eat your Peshwari Naan, with a curry or without, this is a wonderfully easy recipe and something always on my repertoire for when I want to make something special.

I made these for my daughters third birthday and my Mother insisted I serve these alongside the main course of Kormas and curries, however the majority of our guests ended up having them for dessert alongside their desi tea. My personal preference is also to have these as a dessert alongside tea, as shown in the pictures.

Tips for Your Peshwari Naan

• The measurements for the stuffing are super forgiving, honestly. The measurements I have provided are for a mild sweetness – they’re definitely sweet but not sweet enough to satisfy perhaps the strongest sweet tooth. You can totally play around with the measurements to adjust the flavour to your liking
• Be prepared to generally play around with the quantity of filling you prefer for the naan too. Use the following recipe as a starting point – you may find you prefer more filling or maybe even less
• My preferred nuts for this recipe are almonds, pecans and pistachios. You can use any nuts you like, though!
• Please double check to ensure the nuts you use aren’t salted, as that really impacts the overall flavour

• If you’d like some SUPER fluffy Naans, sub the plain flour for self-raising flour
• For a modern twist, try adding some chocolate chips!
• The dried fruit are optional. Many people don’t tend to like raisins in their food – if so, you can serve them on the side so those who would like to have them can do so. That’s what I’ve done in the images shown
• You can garnish these with icing sugar, chopped nuts, more coconut – you can really get creative!
• These have a tendency to harden upon cooling thanks to the sugar in the stuffing. Therefore these are best served immediately.
• If you do need to store these, wrap up well in foil so no air can get through and keep at room temperature so the naans don’t harden

 

Enjoy, with love x