Haft Mewa Recipe
Haft Mewa is the Afghan New Year 'seven fruits' compote — dried apricots, two kinds of raisins, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cherries soaked until plump in a delicately rose-scented syrup. Lightly sweet, nutty, and refreshing.
Adapted from TheMealDB
Ingredients
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- 4 oz Dried Apricots
- 1¾ oz Light Raisins
- 4 oz Raisins
- 1¾ oz Walnuts
- 1¾ oz Almonds
- 1¾ oz Pistachio
- 1¾ oz Cherry
- Splash Rose water
Method
- Wash the apricots and both raisins and place in a bowl - cover with cold water to 2 in above the fruit.
- Put the walnuts, pistachios and almonds in another bowl or pan and add boiling water.
- Leave to soak, and then peel off all the skins as they soften.
- This is a fiddly job and make take some time - but it's definitely worth the effort! Throw away the water.
- Combine the fruits with the nuts and cherries, including the juice they have been soaking in.
- Add the rose water, cover the mixture and leave in the fridge to rest for two days.
- When you leave the mix, the juice will become sweeter and syrupy, giving the dish a really unique consistency.
- To serve, spoon the fruit, nuts and juice into individual bowls or cups, and enjoy!
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
- 368 cal
- 9g protein
- 20.2g fat
- 45.6g carbs
- 5.8g fiber
- 32.8g sugar
- 11mg sodium
About the ingredients
- Dried Apricots Prunus armeniaca
- Small orange stone fruit (drupe) of the rose family. Eaten fresh, dried, or cooked; whole fruit minus pit. Sweet-tart, good fiber, beta-carotene, potassium, vitamin C. Fresh and plain-dried forms are whole-food canonical; juice removes fiber matrix (noncanonical).
- Light Raisins Vitis vinifera
- Dried grape; whole fruit with water removed by sun or dehydration. Concentrated source of natural sugars, fiber, potassium, iron and antioxidants. No additions in plain form. Canonical WFPB whole food (dried).
- Walnuts Juglans regia
- Name itself is an oil (isolated fat). Even cold-pressed walnut oil retains omega-3 ALA but the food matrix and fiber are gone; pure lipid. Noncanonical regardless of extraction method.
- Almonds Prunus dulcis
- US almonds labeled raw are pasteurized (PPO or steam) per USDA mandate since 2007 — still canonical, but worth noting for sources audit.
- Pistachio Pistacia vera
- Edible seed of the pistachio tree, eaten as a whole nut. Rich in protein, healthy fats, fiber, potassium and B6. A whole plant food with intact matrix. Canonical to WFPB when raw or dry-roasted without added oil/salt.
- Cherry Prunus avium
- Cherry, the small stone fruit of Prunus avium (sweet) / P. cerasus (sour). Eaten fresh or dried. Whole fruit; rich in anthocyanins, vitamin C, potassium, fiber. Canonical whole plant food. ('cherrie' is a misspelling.)
- Rose water
- Plain potable water (H2O). Universal solvent and culinary base, no calories or nutrients beyond trace minerals. Not derived from any organism; an unprocessed essential. WFPB canonical.