Afghan Almonds (Badam)

Afghan Almonds are whole raw kernels with a hard snap and a sweet, marzipan-like flavour that lingers after the crunch. They taste closer to the almonds inside a piece of Persian nougat or a bowl of noql than to the flat, papery almond sold in most supermarket bags, and they stay crisp in cold milk or on top of hot rice.

These are grown in Afghanistan, hand-harvested and dried in the sun rather than in a kiln. Sun drying takes longer, and it is why the kernels vary a little in size and shade instead of arriving perfectly uniform. They are sold raw, so the flavour is yours to shape with toasting or soaking.

How to use them

Slice them thin and scatter them over Kabuli pulao or qabili with slivered carrot and raisin. Grind them into halwa, sheer payra and other Afghan sweets, or use them whole for noql. They toast well for granola, trail mix and salads, and they blend into almond milk and almond flour. Technique tip: soak them overnight in warm water and the skins slip off between your fingers, which gives you pale blanched almonds for garnishing without buying a second bag.

Details

Also known as

Badam, Afghan Almonds, Raw Almonds, Natural Almonds, Sweet Almonds, بادام افغانی (Pashto and Dari), لوز أفغاني (Arabic), अफगानी बादाम (Hindi), Amandes afghanes (French), Almendras afganas (Spanish), 阿富汗杏仁 (Chinese), Afgan Bademi (Turkish), Afghanische Mandeln (German)