Oval Useful news from Azerbaijan and Caucasus
The town of Sheki in northwest Azerbaijan is famed for its piti – a lamb stew with chickpeas – and for its sweets.
One of the best known Sheki sweets is girmabadam, which is made from almonds or hazelnuts and coriander seeds.
Preparation time: 60 min
Cooking time: 25-30 min
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
- 675 g/1 lb 11 oz granulated sugar
- 275 g/11 oz shelled almonds or hazelnuts
- 2-3 glasses of water
- whites of 2 eggs
- 75 g/3 oz rice flour
- a drop of citric acid
- pinch of coriander seeds
Preparation
- Make a syrup by mixing the sugar, water and citric acid. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer until most of the moisture has evaporated and caramel is left.
- Beat the caramel and allow to cool slightly.
- Add the egg white when the caramel has cooled to 50-60 degrees Celsius (120-140 degrees Fahrenheit) and beat well. The mixture is ready when it has turned snow-white.
- Add the crushed hazelnuts and coriander seeds and mix in.
- When cool, the mixture should be brittle.
- Shape the girmabadam into rectangles 15 x 8 cm (3″ x 8″) and 0.5 cm (0.2″) thick.
- Sprinkle browned rice flour over the top of the girmabadam.
