Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is fruit with most of its water removed in the sun or by gentle heat, which concentrates its sugar and flavour and lets it keep for months. In South Asian kitchens, dried fruit crosses from sweet to savoury easily. Raisins go into biryani, pulao and korma; dried apricots become Hyderabadi qubani ka meetha; dates break the fast in Ramadan and sweeten sheer khurma at Eid. Sour fruits such as kokum and alu bukhara are souring agents, used where others might reach for tamarind.

The category splits four ways. Dates covers soft pitted dates and dry dates, chuhara. Raisins and sultanas includes golden and brown sultanas, green raisins, large munakka and golden abjosh. Dried apricots are for eating and for qubani. Amla and kokum gathers the tart fruits: dried kokum rind, dried alu bukhara plums and amla candy.

Pick soft, moist fruit for eating and firmer, drier fruit for cooking, where it will soak up liquid. Soaking raisins, apricots and dry dates in warm water or milk for half an hour plumps them before they go into a dish.

Keep dried fruit in airtight jars, out of the sun; in a warm kitchen, the fridge is the safer place. It sits in nuts, dried fruit and seeds alongside nuts and seeds.