Dried Apricot (Khubani)

Dried apricots are ripe apricots dried down to soft, tender halves with a bright orange colour. The flavour is sweet with a clean tang behind it, closer to apricot jam than to a raisin, and the texture stays plump and yielding rather than leathery.

These are the bright orange, soft style, dried gently so that the colour and the tender bite survive. They come as halves, ready to eat straight from the bag with no soaking needed. If you want the darker, firmer, deeper tasting traditional dry, that is our separate Sundried Apricot listing, which costs roughly double.

How to use them

Simmer them into a compote or khoshaf with figs and raisins, or stir them through an Afghan or Persian rice pilaf where the sweetness cuts the spice. They suit korma and tagine style stews, chop well into halwa, and belong on a Nowruz platter beside nuts. For baking, fold them into cakes, muffins, scones and granola, or spoon them over yogurt. Technique tip: cover them with hot water or weak tea for ten minutes before adding them to a stew, so they plump up instead of pulling moisture out of the sauce.

Details

Also known as

Dried apricot halves, Khubani, Zardaloo, Turkish apricots, Apricot dried fruit, Abricot sec, Albaricoque seco