Dates

Dates are the fruit of the date palm, grown across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. Soft dates are eaten fresh from the box, stuffed with nuts, blended into milkshakes and baked into date and walnut loaf, sticky toffee pudding and maamoul. Dry dates, called chuhara or kharek, are dates dried until hard and wrinkled, with a deep caramel sweetness. They are sliced into sheer khurma, the vermicelli and milk dessert of Eid, simmered in milk in winter, and offered at Hindu and Sikh weddings and pujas.

In Muslim homes, dates are traditionally the first thing eaten to open the fast at iftar during Ramadan, and a box is always in the cupboard through the month. Pitted dates save time for baking and cooking, and they chop cleanly for date chutney, energy balls and date syrup. Dry dates need soaking or slow cooking to soften; slice them thin with a sharp knife or soak them in warm milk overnight.

Soft dates keep best in a sealed container in the fridge, where they stay moist for months. Dry dates keep in a cool cupboard in an airtight jar. See the wider dried fruit range, including raisins and sultanas and dried apricots, and for sheer khurma add vermicelli, or make a date chutney with tamarind.