
Qubani Naan
EVENT: MEGA BLOGGING MARATHON#92
THEME: A-Z FLATBREADS AND MORE – INDIAN FLATBREADS
RECIPE: QUBANI NAAN
Qubani Naan is a sweetish exotic flatbread with dried apricot,poppy seeds, cardamom and saffron. This Mughlai style naan is usually served with a more chilli or spicy curry. I decided to serve it with moong dal shorba.
What is Mega Blogging Marathon?
Well, its a group of bloggers who get together to post a dish for 26 days according to the chosen theme. For more details check out the initiator Srivalli’s page here. For this theme we had a choice of 3:
- A-Z Indian Flatbreads that are not made using batter e.g. like rotis
-
A-Z Indian Flatbreads using batters e.g. dosa
-
A-Z International Flatbreads.
India And Flatbreads
I decided to opt for option number 1. India has such a huge variety of flatbreads to offer that are made on the stove top, in the tandoor, in the oven, under the grill or fried. It is going to be a challenge to look for flatbreads beginning with all the letters of the alphabet as for my selected theme, cannot use batter based flatbreads. However, am up for this challenge.
Flatbreads is an integral part of the Indian Cuisine. When one thinks of Indian food, Naan and Curries is what one thinks of. Nowadays Naans are sold in most supermarkets all over the world. However, there is a huge variety of other flatbreads in the Indian Cuisine that are a part of the daily meal in different parts of India. Bhakri, roti, phulka, puri, dosa, parathas to name a few.
You may want to check out what flatbreads I’ve made so far for this event:
A for Akki Roti
B for Bhakri
C for Chousela
D for Dalpuri
E for Ekadashi Thalipeeth
F for Fungawela Mag na Paratha/Sprouted Bean Parathas
G for Gulachi Poli
H for Hyderabadi Halwe ki puri
I for Indori Masala Roti
J for Juar Jo Dhodho
K for Kulcha
L for Luchi
M for Makki Roti
N for Nagori Puri
O for Onion and Carrot Ragi Roti
P for Padvari Rotli
Memories
A very early morning flight to Nairobi and then from there to Mumbai… I’m exhausted. However, its good to be in Mumbai…with that blast of hot air as you come out of the plane and that typical “India” smell. I wish the Mumbai airport could have the queue system to catch taxis especially when the wifi is not strong enough for one to book and Ola or Uber. Taxi guys want to haggle with the fare which can be very annoying.
I prefer the system they have in Bangalore where one queues up for the airport taxis and they too have to queue up. So systematic and basically one cannot refuse to take you to your destination. However, really excited to be in India. It feels weird that we’ve arrived and are not able to greet my mother in law. We’re giving her a surprise for her 85th birthday…all meeting up in Goa. According to her it is only her daughter and son in law going to Goa for some R&R.
Qubani Naan
It’s day 17 and Q has been quite a difficult letter to find an Indian Flatbread. I could have opted to make quinoa roti which is a healthy option to normal wheat rotis. However, I wanted to make a bit more traditional and not a modern recipe. It was when I was searching for the Hyderabadi Halwe ki puri that I remembered Qubani ka meetha. And that’s when the idea struck that I can use up the few dried apricots I had in the fridge to make a sweetish naan recipe. Q for Qubani Naan turned out pretty exotic.
The naan was served with some moong dal shorba (moong dal soup). The slight chilli and sour taste of the shorba coupled with the sweetish naan was a delightful meal. This naan is similar to the Peshawari Naan which is filled with a mixture of dry fruits, nuts and coconut. Here I chose to use only chopped apricots or Qubani as they are called in Urdu. Sweet naans are very much a part of the Mughlai cuisine.
Ingredients Required For Qubani Naan
- Plain Flour – all purpose flour
- Yeast – I have used the instant active dry yeast. If you use active dry yeast then you need to allow it to ferment in the measured quantity of warm water with sugar. Mix sugar and warm water. Sprinkle the yeast and cover. Allow it to ferment for 10-15 minutes.
- Baking Powder
- Salt – I have used normal salt. You can opt to use Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt
- Sugar – normal white sugar
- Cardamom powder
- Oil – any oil of your choice or ghee
- Plain Yogurt – thick,at room temperature
- Hot Water – to soak the apricot
- Warm Milk – to form the dough
- Poppy Seeds – optional. Can replace it with sesame seeds.
- Saffron – you need a few strand

QUBANI NAAN
Ingredients
FOR THE NAAN DOUGH:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp instant dried active yeast
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ cup plain yogurt room temperature
- ½ - ⅔ cup warm milk
FOR THE QUBANI/APRICOT FILLING:
- 10 - 12 dried qubani/apricots
- ¼ cup hot water
FOR THE TOPPING:
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- a few strands of saffron
Instructions
PREPARATION OF THE NAAN DOUGH:
- Mix flour, baking powder,salt, cardamom powder and sugar in a bowl.
- Add the yeast and mix well.
- Add the yogurt and mix the flour.
- Add milk as required to form a soft dough.
- Dust the work top with little flour and knead the dough till it becomes smooth and silky. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Add the oil and knead it gently.
- Shape the dough into a ball.
- Grease the bowl and dough with some oil.
- Put the dough in the bowl and cover it.
- Let it ferment till the dough is double the size. This will take about 1 hour in a warm climate.
- Gently punch down the dough and let it rise again for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime prepare the filling.
PREPARATION OF QUBANI FILLING:
- Soak the qubani or apricots in the hot water for 10-20 minutes.
- Remove from the water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
- Chop the qubani into small pieces and keep it on the side till required.
BAKING THE NAAN:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll each part into a ball.
- Divide the filling into 4 parts.
- Dust the rolling board or worktop with little flour.
- Take one ball of the dough and roll it out to a 3 inch circle.
- Add one part of the filling in the middle of the circle.
- Gather up the edges of the rolled dough to the centre, pinch it well to seal and press gently to flatten.
- Dust the rolling board or worktop again with little flour and roll the stuffed naan into an oval shape of 3-4 inches in diameter and about 4-5 inches in long.
- Place the rolled naan on a greased baking tray.
- Repeat the above steps with the remaining dough and filling.
- Brush the naans with little milk.
- Sprinkle poppy seeds and saffron strands over the naan.
- Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes until they puff up and become light golden in colour.
Notes
- You can roll the naans into a round shape if you like.
- You can cook the naan on the tawa too. I prefer to bake them for even cooking.
- Add other dry fruits like raisins, cranberries, etc, nuts and dried coconut as a filling to make Peshawari Naans.
- Enjoy these sweet naans with a curry of your choice or with some hot masala tea or coffee as a snack.
- I used instant active dry yeast. If you use normal active dry yeast then you will have to add the yeast to warm milk with a bit of sugar it to allow it to ferment. Cover the mixture and let it ferment for 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.
- You can smear some butter or ghee on top of the baked naan before serving.
Pin For Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
Check out what other Blogging Marathoners have made:

34 Comments
Sowmya:)
September 20, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Apricot in naan must be pure bliss! And your pictures make it all the more tempting Mayuri!! Fabulous pick!
mayurisjikoni
September 21, 2018 at 3:58 pm
Thank you so much Sowmya.
Priya Suresh
September 22, 2018 at 9:48 pm
Amazing Mayuri, not even in my dream i would have thought of adding apricots in naan, would love to give a try to this qubani naan very soon. My hubby like naans very much, hope this qubani naan will definitely surprise him and surely tickle his tastebuds.
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Thanks Priya..I’d always wanted to try the recipe for the sweetish naan and apricots and letter Q gave me the opportunity.
vaishalisabnani
September 23, 2018 at 8:24 am
Omg ! This qubani naan is such a innovative naan and I am drooling over it . Beautifully made naan and with apricots it must have tasted heavenly .
Mayuri , have a fun trip in Goa , and do let us know the reaction of your mil on her surprise party .
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:44 pm
Thank you so much Vaishali, I loved the sweetish naan and will be making them more often. My MIL got the shock of her life to see us all in Goa.. she still keeps on telling everyone how we nearly gave her a heart attack.
harini
September 23, 2018 at 10:21 pm
OMG! the apricots peeking out of the naan sounds very tempting. Very creative pick Q for Qubani.
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:38 pm
Thank you so much Harini.
gayathriraani
September 27, 2018 at 5:15 am
We get a sweet Kashmiri naan here. That is the only time I have tasted sweet naan and I really liked it. Your version sounds so much richer than that and it looks fabulous Mayuri. Welcome to India. Have fun.
mayurisjikoni
September 29, 2018 at 10:53 am
Thank you so much Gayathri.. I love the sweet naan but with tea rather than with a curry.
Seema
December 14, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Kublai naan is a full on treat. The bread topped with the apricots may become my new favourite.just to confirm, you have used dried apricots isn’t it? Not the fresh ones?
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:44 pm
Thanks Seema, I have used dried apricots which were soaked in hot water for the qubani naan.
Srivalli Jetti
October 7, 2018 at 6:01 pm
The bread sounds fantastic! and love how lovely it looks…nice to read about your surprise party..looking forward to read more about the party..:0)
Renu Agrawal Dongre
October 12, 2018 at 10:44 pm
Qubani naan looks delicious, never heard of it. Something new and different to try for sure. And yes in Mumbai you have the prepay taxi option which is more systematic .
mayurisjikoni
October 12, 2018 at 10:48 pm
Thank you Renu, the idea came about because I’d always wanted to try out peshwari naan.
Padmajha PJ
October 16, 2018 at 4:31 pm
Hope you all had a good time in Goa and birthday [belated] wishes to your mom in law Mayuri. The naan looks really nice!
mayurisjikoni
October 16, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Thank you so much Padmajha. Yes we all had a wonderful time in Goa and will pass on your wishes to her.
Preeti
October 17, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Love the addition of apricot in bread… Gives really fantastic natural sweetness.
mayurisjikoni
October 18, 2018 at 7:46 pm
Thanks Preeti and it does.
Annapurnaz
October 21, 2018 at 7:29 pm
Oh My! Naan sounds real yum with apricots. I’m holding myself from drooling over it 🙂
mayurisjikoni
October 21, 2018 at 10:49 pm
Thank you so much Ritu.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
October 22, 2018 at 1:17 am
The naan studded with the apricots is just so amazing. My husband is a big lover of sweet naan and he would be so happy if I made this for him.
mayurisjikoni
October 22, 2018 at 10:21 pm
Thank you so much Sandhya, go on make it for him and make him happy 🙂
code2cook
October 22, 2018 at 6:38 pm
so cute. love this idea of making qubani naan. it is looking very tempting from the clicks, surely eating would have been awesome. Loved this idea of adding apricots.
Shobha Keshwani
December 13, 2021 at 10:59 pm
Qubani naan looks so good. It will pair well with shahi gravies. I will try it out when I make some non-veg gravy dish.
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:50 pm
Thank you so much Shobha, am sure it will taste really good with non veg curries.
Archana
December 13, 2021 at 11:18 pm
Wow! I love this Qubani Naanlooks simply delicious and exotic! Must have tasted simply yum with moong sorba. Will definitely try my hand at it sometime soon.
On the next trip to Goa, I hope we can meet. BTW your MIL must be older than 85 now so happy birthday to her.
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:50 pm
Thank you so much Archana. Qubani Naan is so delicious. Definitely meeting up with you whenever I visit Goa next. Yes my MIL is 88.
Neha
December 14, 2021 at 2:06 pm
Qubani Naan looks so rich and bursting with flavors. I would rather just have it as is; rich and fragrant. Although I liked its combination with dal shorba as mentioned in your post. Thanks for such a wonderful post.
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:45 pm
Thank you so much Neha, as mentioned we enjoyed the warm naan next day with our masala tea. It is a versatile naan recipe.
Jayashree T.Rao
December 15, 2021 at 1:40 am
Qubani Naan looks rich and exotic. Good way to make this for the letter Q, thats an innovative one. It must have tasted great too.
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:43 pm
Thank you so much Jayashree, it does taste so good with a hot curry. a good balance of hot and slightly sweet.
Preethicuisine
December 17, 2021 at 9:20 pm
Qubani naan sounds fabulous. Serving it with spicy curry is interesting. I would love to try this delicious combo sometime. Visiting family in india is always a memorable experience. Lovely family picture too.
mayurisjikoni
December 18, 2021 at 4:38 pm
Thank you so much Preethi. Am sure you and your family will enjoy these different naans when you make them.