March 13, 2014

Loze Nargil - Persian Coconut Sweets with Rosewater and Pistachios for Nowruz


It's that time of the year when Iranians from the four corners of the world celebrate the vernal equinox, the first day of spring and the arrival of نوروز (literally meaning the "new day"). This ancient جشن - festival of Nowruz originally began as a Zoroastrian celebration during the Achaemenid dynasty, dating back 3,000 years, welcoming the rebirth of nature with all its radiance, blooms, colors, warmth, and glory. For those of us who celebrate, Nowruz preparations are already underway with khaneh-tekani - cleaning the house, getting rid of the clutter, and making it shine. With this long and freezing winter finally coming to an end I feel a surge of energy and excitement to celebrate nature's new life.

This post was written as part of a collaboration with many of my lovely fellow Persian food writers. This has been an amazing joint effort that brought all of us together for this happy occasion and I would like to thank each and every one of these outstanding bloggers who, through their efforts, made this collaboration meaningful and more delicious! My special thanks go to Sanam joon of My Persian Kitchen for her effort in putting together this fun project and on a more personal note, I'm so grateful for her generous spirit and support over the years. For the complete list of all the food bloggers/participants and their contributions to this round-up please see the bottom of the page.


I vividly remember my last Nowruz in Iran. Together with my parents and two of my brothers, we drove to Abadan to visit my dear aunt and uncle and my two lovely cousins (Yasi and Ladi). The precious memories of our visit, to the beautiful city of Abadan during the Nowruz holiday, will forever remain in my mind. As well as driving through the charming little towns and visiting the roadside attractions. For us, even the sight of a little stream at a distance in the middle of nowhere was exciting. Throughout our travels, we would stop at any little body of water anywhere in Khuzestan just to wet our feet and wash our faces!

My last Nowruz in Khuzestan

As we are getting ready to gather around our haft-seen table at the time of سال تحویل - sal-tahvil to celebrate the New Year with our loved ones, let us remember those who are less fortunate and pray collectively and globally for a better world.


Poems from Divan-e Shams Tabrizi

Cleaning, cooking, and baking may not be high on your list of priorities these days but to get into the mood for this beautiful festive occasion this no-bake and fragrant, melt in your mouth لوزنارگیل loze nargil treat is just perfect for spring.


Loze Nargil

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut, shredded (I used unsweetened shredded coconut to keep the sugar level down)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons coconut milk, unsweetened (I used organic)
2-3 tablespoons rosewater
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom *optional
1/2 cup pistachios, crushed

Method:

  1. Combine water and sugar in a heavy medium pan, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to simmer for another 8-10 minutes or until the syrup thickens a little bit. Remove from heat and let cool a little, beat well with a whisk for a couple of minutes. Return the pan back to the stove. Add the coconut, rosewater, and coconut milk, mix well over very low heat for about 5 minutes or until well blended. Pour the mixture into an 8 x 8 inch lined pan. Evenly sprinkle crushed pistachios on top. 
  2. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until firm. With a knife cut the loz in diamond-shaped pieces or use a diamond-shaped cookie cutter.
Place the loz pieces on a plate and serve with chai.

Participating Bloggers in The Nowruz Recipe Round-Up - 2014


Enjoy! سال نو مبارک  - Sal-e No Mobarak!

29 comments:

  1. Lovely, nostalgic story of memory lane. Beautiful narrative. I like this 'no bake' loze nargil topped with pistachios. How elegant and tasty. Thank you for sharing. ~ Fae.

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  2. Azita jan - this is incredible! Even though I have never tried this sweet before, I am blown away - it is so beautiful and some of my favorite flavors. Thank you for sharing I will be trying this for sure.

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    1. Merci, Ahu jan! Let me know if you give it a try.

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  3. Azita, thanks for sharing your memories and photos, so beautiful. I've been bitten by the khaneh-takani bug, too, we've gotten rid of so much clutter in the past month and our home feels lighter. I'm almost ready for Norooz! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I'm always curious about finding coconut in Persian recipes, if it's a traditional ingredient, and how it's used. These look delicious and easy! -Louisa

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    1. Thanks so much, Louisa. I wouldn't consider Persian coconut sweets as traditional. However, this recipe along with the coconut macaroon (shirini nargili) recipe have found their way into our cuisine and I grew up eating these.

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  4. very touched by your memories :), and love photoes. :). have a nice week end :)

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  5. I am super excited!!! My mom and I are going to do some baking next week and since I cannot have anything gluten, we’re restricted to just a few sweets… this is definitely added to our list of sweets to make and I am grateful you’ve shared this with us!!!
    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

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    1. Taraneh jan, I'm so glad you like the recipe. Thank you!

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  6. One of my favorite sweets ...I haven't made Loz in such a long time, you've inspired me to make some before Nowruz :)
    Thanks for this wonderful recipe and Happy Nowruz

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  7. What size of pan? Please want to try

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  8. Beautiful post! These look so delicious!!! Love coconut. Will definitely add these to my list of treats to make for Nowruz!

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  9. As always Azita jan, lovely recipe, stories and photos. Merci

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  10. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes and your stories! My family is also from Khuzestan and even though I never really got to live there, I find myself missing it immensely now that I'm in the US, especially around Norooz. Your post took me back to many fond memories and the feeling that the green countryside in Khuzestan smells like heaven in spring :) Happy new year! -Narges

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  11. I tried your recipe and it tasted greate! But it didn't stick together :( What did I do wrong? I followed the recipe exactly and it was a little bit dry and just fell apart. Thanks in advance

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    1. These are vegan, gluten-free and no-bake sweets. They are very soft and crumble easily. Allow them to cool completely before cutting. For a creamier texture use 2 tablespoons canned coconut milk.

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  12. These look lovely. Nowruz is my favorite favorite thing ever. 7 things that start with S. gold fish on the table. giant dinners. Persian raisin cookies! (and its my birthday March 20, so lots of singing Tavalodet Moborak:) )

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  13. Azita joon, happy nowruz! This is one of my absolute favourite holidays and I'm so proud to be Armenian from Iran.
    Thanks for the delicious recipe. I've never had coconut loze, but you know what I've got on my to-do list for the w/end.
    xoxo

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  14. Hi Azita,
    I am a great fan of your cuisine and I'll certainly try this delicious treat soon.
    Meanwhile, enjoy the beauty of these pictures, I hope you'll like them.

    http://www.boredpanda.com/nasir-al-molk-pink-mosque-shiraz-iran/

    Greetings from Italy

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  15. Last night, your sholeh zard.
    Tonight, your nargil loze!

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  16. Azita Joon, Wishing you a beautiful Nowruz. I loved reading about your nostalgic story. What a chic photo of you. XO

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  17. Kheillliiii khoshmaze bood!!! Kheili mamnoonam az in recipe!! I have a question should it be hard after putting it in the refrigerator? Or soft? Mine were soft and kind of creamy! Soooo delicious! Love this blog! Check out mine too! :)

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  18. Va nowroozetam mobarak!!!!! :)

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  19. This tastes so amazing! I'm in love mmmmmm.

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