In a region of the world with a relatively low Christian population in comparison to the either Muslim, or in India's case Hindu, majority, it seems like this time of year, before the commercialization and consequent acceptance of Christmas, there wasn't much to do. (Yes, I know there's Chanukah, but that actually still is a very religious holiday that non-Jews have not adopted, and given the current strain in the region, they probably won't adopt any time soon.)
Well, for Persians though, we do have a tradition that's close to Christmas.
Shab e Yalda, also known just as "Yalda" is this Friday. It's caused some delays here in terms of sewing, but it's also given a few things to post about in lieu of the lack of sewing.
Yalda tradition extends back thousands of years as a celebration of the beginning of the end of the "darkest" days; essentially, it's celebrated on the day with the shortest daylight hours to welcome back the longer days that will be arriving. Despite being something that has been around so long, like Christmas, it really comes into it's "modern" version in the 19th century.
Image of a very simple korsi with family gathered around it by Antoin Sevruguin (gotta love this guy for all his photos!) via
During Yalda, family and friends stay gathered around something called a korsi. Traditionally, a korsi is a low to the ground table with a heater built into it. The heater traditionally is kept warm by coals (the same way we used to keep water warm in samovars) and the table is then surrounded by pillows and draped with blankets that everyone can snuggle under. Yalda is a time to be with people you enjoy the company of. Like the New Year's Eve of the Gregorian calendar, everyone should stay up all night; passing time by chatting, snacking, drinking (tea), and playing games.
Speaking of eating and drinking. That brings me to my next point, ajil!
Ajil is a favorite snack in my family. My father loves it.... So much so he eats it year round in the form of haphazardly begotten trail mixes and pillages from my pantry (when I used to live with him). I've always made ajil myself, though I know a lot of Persian markets sell it not only this time of year, but year round now as well. But I don't usually care for the store-bought mix. Sometimes I don't like everything in there (read, I like wet figs, not dried ones and I dislike dark raisins)
So the natural solution is to spend twice the amount of money and get 5 times more the ajil, all with stuff I like!
Store bought ajil isn't very different from my own. The main difference is that store bought often mixes "extras" in there that are traditionally left as separate components of the korsi. And if you're willing to go on a little scavenger hunt, I have a "recipe" for you.
Ajil:
- Shelled pistachios. You can buy them with the shells and shell them yourself, it's not a big deal. It's just very important to the ajil that they're without shells
- Dried chickpeas
- Cashews
- Walnuts
- dried apricots
- Dried mulberries
- Dried and pitted cherries
- Dried "sultana" grapes
- Optional almonds (I'll explain in just a moment)
Now I put almonds as optional here because of how I mentioned earlier about store-bought ajil containing "extras" that are usually separate entities on the korsi.
Almonds are one of those separate entities.... But not just any almonds..... They're noghl!
Noghl is a candy coded treat. The center is usually cardamom, coriander seed, or almond, though nowadays in Iran you can find it with Walnuts, Peanut, etc. In Persian markets you can buy them either as slivers coated in white sugar in a plastic box, or you can buy them whole, by the pound, from a bin, in either a rainbow of mixed colors, or in solid white.
I like white.... I'm going to probably be eating a lot of food-colored goodies over Christmas time, and I have already eaten a lot of colored food leading up to the holidays (orange colored frosting on Halloween cupcakes was a big culprit there a few months ago). So in the interest of not eating too many falsely colored foods, and in keeping this korsi spread as "age of steam" as possible, I went ahead and purchased white ones.
A lot of times in non-Persian markets you can buy noghl as "Jordan Almonds". Any store that has a wedding section should have them, as they're not only traditional sweets for Yalda, but also for Persian weddings, Italian weddings, and probably most Western weddings now I imagine. If not in the wedding section, then the candy section perhaps. I know noghl has always been my guilty comfort sweet because it's so easy to come by in a non-Persian setting.
Another separate item on the korsi that's often mixed into store bought ajil is baslogh. Baslogh is really sweet. It's basically sugar and starch flavored with rosewater and cardamom. It's similar to Turkish Delight.... in fact, they may be the same thing.... I don't really know. I refused to eat anything with such an ambiguous name as "Turkish Delight". Long story, has to do with my friends, they're terrible, really. I joke of course.
Store bought baslogh
I usually prefer to make my own baslogh, and for those of you who have the time and muscle strength to do it, this is the recipe I use.
The English translation is the first line on the left
The reason why I like my own baslogh is because of the nargil, or coconut. But sadly this year there is just no time for this, and my shoulder already hurts; so no desire to stir this stuff on my part, and good luck getting my fiance to do it, he'd probably burn himself on accident. So I stopped by the store and got a box of it, and dear lord, is it sugary.
Normally I can eat baslogh without a walnut to cut the sweetness, but this year, that's not going to happen. I need these walnuts now. Normally the sticky of the baslogh is stopped by the coconut outside, but the place that made them for me this year rolled them out in powdered sugar.
Still, they're pretty tasty. Just not something I should/could eat a lot of in one sitting.
So, now we have ajil, baslogh, and noghl. We can make a korsi with a tiny ELECTRIC heater if we're careful, but never ever EVER leave it unattended, and make sure it's one of those little heaters with the automatic shut off. Every year many people die during the holiday season because Christmas lights malfunction or bedecked trees dry out and result in a fire; in Iran, korsis can do much the same. Left unattended or carelessly kicked, be they traditional coal or modern electric, they can cause fires that will burn you to a crisp.
For safety reasons, our korsi here is a temporary one. Made with a heater and a non-flammable table and our couch pillows. It's assembled only at night, taken apart before we go to bed. The time in between the korsi spread is left on a side table for pretty.
Our spread, patiently (and safely!) awaiting the night when it will be put on the korsi
So please, if you do decide to pick up this new tradition, be safe! And if you have small dogs, or really any dogs, be careful of them. Dogs LOVE korsis. It's all of their favorite things, snacks** , warmth, and cuddling next to their masters, rolled into one big thing. So please be safe for yourself and for them. Yalda Mubarak!
** Author's note:
This is from personal experience with my own dogs. I'm not a vet, and I'm not liable if your dog has some unforeseen reaction to eating this food. Like people, every dog is different, some may have unusual allergies or ailments that make consuming certain "people foods" dangerous to them. Mine don't, but please be careful that yours don't either.
That said, this is what I've learned from experience:
I'm writing this as though the recipe for ajil was followed 100% and without the "optional" bits. Dogs can eat most of the ajil ingredients in moderation. Tree nuts are not necessarily good for them, but a few given here and there don't cause any damage. Chickpeas are probably the best out of the mix for them, as they're unsalted legumes, like a peanut. If you add any other nuts or fruits to your mix, be sure to check that they're safe for the dog to eat before you give it to them (No pits in the fruits!). The one thing in the ajil I know for a fact that you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT GIVE YOUR DOGGY is the raisins. I don't know why, but it's a pretty consistent agreement amongst veterinarians that dogs should not have grapes or raisins. Most dogs in my family (my own and my relatives' dogs) are under 10lbs and exhibit no ill effects after snacking on the nuts/legumes in ajil.
I'm not a vet, and I definitely don't advocate giving your doggy a people treat without first checking yourself with the vet if it's ok. But sometimes accidents happen, and your fur-baby decides to give itself a snack from your bowl, or they're handed a little bit of snack from a visitor. If that's the case, just watch your doggie to make sure they're not having an allergic reaction, or getting ill in general from it. It goes without saying that if they're sick looking, call a vet. It's always better safe than sorry.
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