Iranian Dessert(Shirini-Jaat) Recipes
Yakh Dar Behesht
4 Servings
100 grams rice-flour
150 grams starch
500 grams sugar
5 tablespoons rosewater
1 liter milk
1 liter water
50 grams crushed pistachios
Directions:
Ice-in-Heaven is a delicious dessert that is easy to make. Dissolve starch well in cold water and dissolve rice-flour well in cold milk. Mix the two solutions and bring to slow boil over low heat. Regularly stir the mix until it thickens. Now add sugar and rosewater. Continue stirring the mix while it boils very slowly so that it does not settle.
When the mix becomes very thick, it is ready. Pour it into a deep rectangular dish and shake so that the surface is level. Let it cool down completely in the refrigerator, then cut a grid into it the lines of which are parallel to the diagonals of the dish. Sprinkle the pistachios on top and serve.
Baagh-lava
4 Servings
500 grams almonds
250 grams fine sugar
500 grams sugar
one spoonful cardamom powder
two egg yolks
1/2 cup milk
2 spoonfuls cooking oil
150-200 grams flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup rose-water
small metallic boxes
Directions:
Mix milk, baking powder, oil and egg yolks. Add flour gradually while mixing. Mix the dough well for a few minutes. Pour in a plastic bag and leave for 2-3 hours.
Peel and ground the almonds. Add fine sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Spread some flour on a table-top. Take a small ball from the dough and flatten into a sheet on the table-top as much as possible with a roller.
Use a brush to remove the flour from the sheet. Place a box on the sheet and cut the sheet at 0.5 cm away from the edges of the box. Place the cut sheet at the bottom of the box. Repeat this procedure three times.
Add the almond-sugar mix on top of the sheets to fill the box. Press using the back of a large spoon to obtain a flat surface. Spread a bit of rose-water on the mix. Cover with another three sheets of the dough. Cut along a grid. Heat up 150 grams of cooking oil and spread on top of the boxes.
Add sugar to 1/2 cup of hot water and bring to boil. Add rose-water and continue boiling for 2-3 minutes. Keep this syrup warm.
Pre-heat the oven to 300 F. Place the boxes in the lower part of the oven and leave for 15-20 minutes. Remove and add a bit of the syrup. Return to a higher part of the oven and leave for another 15 minutes until Baagh-lava turns slightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Add a bit of syrup over Baagh-lava 2-3 times at 5 minute intervals.
Fereni
4 Servings
1/2 litre milk
50 grams rice flour
100 grams sugar
2 tablespoons rosewater
2 tablespoons crushed pistachio
Directions:
Dissolve rice flour in milk. Add sugar and rosewater. Stir regularly over medium heat until it comes to slow boil and thickens. Sprikle crushed pistachio on top and serve cold.
Halva
4 Servings
250 grams wheat flour
200 grams sugar
200 grams cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup rosewater
1 tablespoon crushed pistachio
1 tablespoon crushed almond
Directions:
Halva is a tasty dessert. To prepare it, heat oil in a frying pan until it is hot. Add flour, reduce heat and stir frequently until the mix changes colour to golden, thickens and becomes fragrant.
Add sugar to one glass of water and bring to a boil. Add saffron and rosewater and stir. Let flour cool slightly, then add the mix and stir well. If the mix is not thick, heat for 1-2 minutes but not longer. Serve with crushed pistachio and almond sprinkled on top.
Naan-Berenji
4 Servings
500 grams fine rice flour
200 grams very fine sugar
250 grams cooking oil
1/2 cup rosewater
two small eggs
Directions:
Mix oil, sugar and egg yolks and beat until soft. Beat egg whites separately until they thicken. Add rosewater, flour, and egg whites to the mix and stir well. Pour the mix in a plastic bag and keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Spread the dough on a flat non-stick surface to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Cut with a cookie-cutter, and cook in the oven at 300F for 15 to 20 minutes. Colour should not change much.
Qotaab
4 Servings
two medium eggs
100 grams yoghurt
100 grams cooking oil
150 grams flour
one teaspoon baking powder
250 grams almonds
150 grams fine sugar
one spoonful cardamom powder
Directions:
Separate egg-yolks and mix well with baking powder, cooking oil and yoghurt. Add flour gradually while stirring the mix. Pour the dough in a plastic bag and leave for 1-2 hours.
Peel and ground almonds. Mix well with sugar and cardamom powder. Spread some flour on a tabletop. Make orange-sized balls from the dough. Flatten the ball on the tabletop to a thickness of 0.5 cm using a roller.
Cut circles into the dough with a cup. Place some of the almond-sugar mix at the centre of each circle. Bring the edges of the circle together and press to close completely.
Fry in pre-heated oil until colour changes. Drain the excess oil, and then roll in fine sugar.
Ranginak
4 Servings
500 grams wheat flour
500 grams pitted dates
125 grams fine sugar
125 grams walnuts
one spoon cinnamon
1/2 spoon cardamom
300 grams cooking oil
ground pistachio, one spoon
Directions:
Heat oil in a pan until hot. Pour in wheat flour and turn down the heat. Stir frequently until flour turns golden. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add fine sugar, cinnamon and cardamom to flour and mix well.
Pour half of the flour-mix in a flat dish and flatten the surface with the back of a spoon. Insert a piece of walnut inside each date and place the dates on the flour-mix. Cover the dates with the rest of the flour-mix and again flatten the surface with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle ground pistachios on top. Cut into diamond-shaped pieces and serve.
Samanoo
4 Servings
500 grams wheat
2 kg wheat flour
Directions:
Samanoo is usually made at the Iranian new year (or No-Rooz, starts on the first day of spring: 20 or 21 March).
Wash wheat with cold water, then rinse. Add cold water until there is 2-3 cm of water over the wheat. Leave for about two days, changing the water after the first day. The wheat should begin to germinate. Rinse thoroughly.
Hold a thin piece of cloth under cold water until it is completely wet. Pour wheat inside and wrap the cloth around it. Place it in a bowl and leave the bowl in a warm place. Once or twice a day, sprinkle a bit of cold water over the cloth to make it wet but not soggy.
When roots appear, spread wheat on a large plate, then spread the cloth over it and sprinkle with water. Continue sprinkling with water once or twice a day until silvery sprouts appear. Wheat should be used before the sprouts turn green.
Grind the wheat, add two glasses of cold water, and mix well. Filter out the excess water. Press the wheat hard to squeeze out the extract. Add wheat extract to flour while mixing. The mix should become thin.
Place the mix over medium heat, stirring frequently until the mix starts boiling and thickens. Continue heating until water disappears. Fry the mix without any oil or sugar for about 10-15 minutes.
Gradually add 1-2 glasses of hot water and mix well. Allow to boil slowly, stirring occasionally until the mix slightly thickens. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes at low temperature.
Shir Berenj
4 Servings
200 grams rice
sugar or jam
1/2 cup rosewater
2 litres milk
150 grams cream
Directions:
Wash rice well, then drain the water. Add two glasses of water to rice and cook until rice slightly softens. Add milk and continue cooking over medium heat until the mix thickens. Add rosewater and cook for another minute or so. Add cream and serve with sugar or jam on top.
Sholeh Zard
4 Servings
250 grams rice
500 grams sugar
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup rosewater
2 tablespoons crushed pistachio
2 tablespoons crushed almond
1/2 teaspoon crushed cinnamon
Directions:
Wash rice a few times until the water is clear, then drain. Add six times water and bring to a boil, removing the foam. When rice softens completely, add sugar and stir well.
Dissolve saffron in half a cup of hot water and add to the mix. Heat up oil and also add to the mix. Add in most of the almonds and the rosewater. Stir well and cover. Cook in oven at low temperature for half an hour. Serve with pistachio, almond and cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Sohaan-e Asali
4 Servings
150 grams fine sugar
3-4 spoonfuls thick honey
100 grams cooking oil
one teaspoon saffron
150 grams almonds
100 grams pistachios
Directions:
Wash and thinly slice almonds, then allow to dry. Thinly slice pistachios. Mix sugar, honey and oil and cook over high heat stirring occasionally until sugar melts and turns golden.
Add almonds and continue cooking while stirring occasionally until almonds also turn golden. Avoid too much stirring of the mix. Dissolve saffron in a bit of hot water and add to the mix.
Pour some oil on a flat tray and rub over the entire surface. Pour a small amount of the mix on the tray. If it solidifies quickly, the mix is ready, Turn the heat very low.
Pour small portions of the mix using a teaspoon on the tray at equal distances so that the portions do not touch. As soon as each portion is poured on the tray, place a few slices of pistachio on top. Allow to cool.
Separate the sohaan from the tray using a knife and keep in a covered container.
Zoolbia
4 Servings
500 grams starch
150 grams yogurt (non-skim)
200 grams sugar
2 cups cooking oil
3 tablespoons rose-water
Directions:
Mix starch, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and water, then add yogurt and mix well until the mixture is even and smooth.
Heat oil in a pan until hot. Pour the mix through a funnel into the pan creating round lattice shapes about 5-6 cm in diameter. Turn heat down and fry fully on one side, then on the other.
Mix well sugar, rose-water, and a glass of water. Heat until water comes to a boil, and the syrup thickens. Remove from heat. Soak zoolbia in the syrup for about 5 minutes, then serve.
Baamieh
4 Servings
125 grams flour
3 large eggs
200 grams sugar
5 tablespoons cooking oil
3 tablespoons rose-water
Directions:
Mix cooking oil with a glass of water and 1-2 spoons of sugar, and bring to a boil. Pour in flour and mix well. When water boils off and the mix thickens, remove from heat. Allow the mix to cool down, then add eggs and mix well until smooth. Heat oil in a pan until hot. Pour the mix through a funnel into the pan, creating flattened balls about 3 cm in diameter. Fry on both sides.
Mix well sugar, rose-water, and a glass of water. Heat until water comes to a boil, and the syrup thickens. Remove from heat. Soak baamieh in the syrup for about 5 minutes, then serve.