Just Wheat It!

Behi -

When the word wheat comes to mind, all we think about is bread... lots and lots of bread right? I mean what a crazy idea to use wheat to make a paste instead...

Samanu, Samanak, Sümelek, Sumanak, Sumalak or Sümölök is a sweet and healthy paste made entirely from wheat. This delicious paste is one of the most important elements of the Iranian new year celebration "Norooz", tracing back to the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire.

As part of Norooz, a table is set with elements starting with the letter S in Farsi (Iranian language) each representing an aspect of life (e.g. health, wealth etc.). Samanoo represents fertility and sweetness of life.

The entire process of making samanoo from scratch takes roughly a week (as the wheat needs to be soaked and prepared), but my oh my it's worth it in the end!

Traditionally, the final cooking of Samanoo would be an overnight activity, accompanied by music and singing of related songs.

ِA persian song fully dedicated to Samanoo!

Preparation:

  • To prepare Samanoo, you need one kg of whole wheat flour for every kg of wheat
  • Make sure to wash the wheat and soak in water overnight. Once soaked overnight, pour into a tray and wipe with a cotton cloth making sure that the cloth is always wet
  • After 2-3 of germination grind them before they have turned green

Cooking Samanoo:

  • Pour the ground wheat into a strainer, along with a little water, and move them around in order to separate the wheat juice from the wheat bran
  • Mix the juice with flour. The flour should be completely dissolved in the juice and water and not appear lumpy
  • For 10 kg of flour and 1 kg of wheat, about 8 to 10 litres of water are needed
  • Put the juice mixed with flour and water in a pot and on the flame, increase the heat and stir the material constantly not to settle until it boils
  • Once boiled, it no longer needs to be stirred constantly. Stir it only every 30mins-hour and reduce the heat to very low. Samanoo is prepared in 10 to 15 hours
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  • Once ready to serve, you can decorate it with pistachios or almonds