Persian Charoset Recipe with Fresh and Dried Fruit
Sweet wine and fresh and dried fruit come together with warm fragrant spices and crunchy nuts for a delicious Persian style charoset for the Passover seder meal. Includes directions for rolling into balls for a traditional presentation.
Servings: 40 servings
Calories: 73kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup walnuts shelled, toasted, and salted; DIVIDED, 1 cup for decorating balls and ½ cup for haroset mixture.
- ½ cup almonds blanched or raw
- ½ cup pistachios shelled, toasted, and salted
- ½ cup black raisins
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup dates pitted
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 small apple peeled, quartered, and cored
- 1 small pear peeled, quartered, and cored
- 1 medium banana peeled
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
- 2 tablespoons sweet kosher wine can substitute grape juice
Instructions
- Prep walnut decoration: in a large food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse 1 cup walnuts until they are in finely ground into tiny pieces, and set aside for decoration.
- Add nuts, dried fruits, spices: Combine the remaining ½ cup of the walnuts, almonds, pistachios, black and golden raisins, dates, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg. Pulse until the nuts are coarsely chopped.
- Add fresh fruit and liquids: Add the apple, pear, and banana, and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add vinegar, pomegranate juice, and wine. Pulse again, and check for consistency- the mixture should stick together in a thick paste that is lightly textured with tiny pieces, but not chunks. If needed, add another splash of any of the liquids to make a coarse paste, and pulse again. Stop the food processor before the paste is completely smooth.
- Roll the haroset balls: make the portions using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop (or spoon), and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Then lightly wet hands, and roll each one into a 1 inch round ball.
- Decorate: place ground walnuts in a bowl, and roll each haroset ball in the nuts so that each one has a light dusting of nuts.
- Chill: Place the haroset balls in the refrigerator in a single layer to firm up, about 3 hours.
- Store and serve: Once firm, store in an airtight container. Put wax paper between layers. Make the day of or the day before serving for maximum freshness. Take out of refrigerator about a half hour before serving so that it’s spreadable on top of matzo.
Notes
- Alternatively, this charoset can be served in a serving bowl if you don’t want to roll it into balls or if the consistency turns out too soft for rolling. It will be equally delicious.
- Adapted from King Solomon’s Table by Joan Nathan. Recipe used with permission by publisher and author. Recipe halved with added direction of rolling charoset balls in chopped walnuts.
- Store leftover haroset in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 73kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 13IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.4mg