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Samanu
Sprouted wheat pudding
سمنو · Sprouted-wheat pudding cooked overnight for the Nowruz haft-sin
Samanu is one of the seven 's' items on the Nowruz haft-sin table, standing for strength and abundance, and in many neighbourhoods of Tehran and Shiraz women still gather to stir the great pot through the night, singing and taking turns. It is made from nothing but sprouted wheat juice and flour, cooked very slowly for many hours until the natural malt sugars caramelise into a thick, toffee-brown, gently sweet pudding. This home version uses a smaller batch, but it still takes days of sprouting and a long, patient simmer. The common mistake is turning the heat up to rush it, which scorches the base and makes the samanu bitter. Chef's tip: drop a few clean walnut halves into the pot near the end; tradition says whoever finds one in their bowl will have a lucky year.
- Total time
- 720 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the sprouts
- 10 ½ oz whole wheat berries
- 8 ¼ cups water for soaking and rinsing
For the pudding
- 6 ¼ cups water for blendingplus extra as needed
- 5 ½ oz plain flour
- 6 walnut halves (optional)
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Four to five days ahead, soak the 10 ½ oz whole wheat berries in plenty of the 8 ¼ cups water for soaking and rinsing for 24 hours. Drain, spread on a tray lined with a damp cloth, cover with another damp cloth and keep at room temperature.
10 minStep 2: Rinse the wheat and re-dampen the cloths once or twice a day for 3–4 days, until the sprouts are 2–3 cm long, sweet-smelling and the roots are knitted together. Throw them away if they smell sour or show mould.
10 minStep 3: Put the sprouts in a blender with a third of the 2 cups water for blending and blend for 1 minute. Strain through a muslin cloth into a large bowl, squeezing hard. Repeat twice more with the pulp and the rest of the 4 ¼ cups water for blending; you should have about 1.5 litres of cloudy, milky juice.
20 minStep 4: Whisk the 5 ½ oz plain flour into the juice a little at a time until there are no lumps, then pour it into a heavy, wide pot.
5 minStep 5: Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, about 15 minutes. As soon as it thickens, lower the heat to the lowest setting.
15 minStep 6: Cook uncovered for 8–10 hours, stirring and scraping the base every 15–20 minutes. Add 100 ml hot water whenever it gets too thick to stir. A common mistake is leaving it for an hour at a time; the bottom catches and burns.
600 minStep 7: Add the 6 walnut halves, if using, in the last hour. The samanu is ready when it is a deep brown, glossy, as thick as soft caramel, and tastes sweet with no raw flour flavour.
45 minStep 8: Spoon into small bowls and let it cool; it firms up as it cools. It keeps 2 weeks covered in the fridge.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does samanu take?
- About 720 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 660 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
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