Afghan Ghazni Red Raisins (Kishmish Surkh)

Afghan Ghazni Red Raisins are dried grapes with a reddish amber colour and a deep, winey sweetness behind the sugar. They are chewier and more grape-forward than the small dark raisins in a supermarket cereal box, with a soft skin that gives way rather than sticking to your teeth.

They come from Ghazni, a highland region in Afghanistan known for its grapes. Sizes and shades are not uniform in the bag, which is what happens when a real grape harvest is dried rather than sorted down to a single machine grade.

How to use them

Fry them briefly in oil with slivered carrot for the topping on Kabuli pulao or qabili. Stir them into ash and other Afghan soups, into korma and into rice pilafs where their sweetness offsets the spice. Use them in halwa, sheer payra and festive breads, in chutney alongside tamarind, or simply with tea, nuts and dried fruit on a mewa tray. They also work straight into granola, oat cookies, trail mix and grain salads. Technique tip: soak them for ten minutes in warm water and they plump back up and separate easily.

Details

Also known as

Kishmish, Kishmish Surkh, Red Raisins, Afghan Red Raisins, Ghazni Raisins, Dried Grapes, کشمش سرخ (Dari), سرې کشمشې (Pashto), زبيب أحمر (Arabic), लाल किशमिश (Hindi), لال کشمش (Urdu), Kirmizi Kuru Uzum (Turkish), Raisins secs rouges (French), Pasas rojas (Spanish), Красный изюм (Russian)