Slivered Pistachios (Khalal Peste)

Slivered pistachios are kernels cut lengthwise into thin green matchsticks. Cut this fine, the flavour reads lighter and sweeter than a whole kernel, and the texture is a delicate, brittle crunch rather than a solid bite, much like slivered almonds but with far more colour and a softer, greener flavour.

This listing exists for looks and for labour. What you are really buying is the knife work: no shelling, no chopping, no ragged pieces, just even slivers that sit neatly on top of a dessert and stay bright green. If you want pistachios to eat by the handful or to grind into a paste, the whole kernel listings are better value per gram. Slivers are for finishing a dish, not for filling it.

How to use them

Scatter them over sholeh zard, firni, kulfi and bastani, press them into the top of baklava and sheer payra, or crown a cardamom cake. Stir a spoonful through qabili palaw or a sweet rice right at the end. Outside the region they finish yogurt bowls, granola, a salad of feta and orange, and any iced pastry. Technique tip: add slivers after the dish comes off the heat, since prolonged cooking dulls both their colour and their snap.

Details

Also known as

Slivered pistachio, pistachio slivers, pistachio slices, shaved pistachios, khalal peste, خلال پسته, فستق مقطع, پستہ کٹا ہوا, कटा हुआ पिस्ता, Dilimlenmiş Antep Fıstığı, pistaches émincées, 切片开心果, pistacho en láminas, Фисташки ломтиками