Qubani Ka Meetha
Qubani ka Meetha never fails to reminds me of the grandiose and pompous Hyderabadi weddings. A Hyderabadi gathering is never complete without the presence of this glorious meetha that has become synonym and a glory to the place of Hyderabad.
Qubani Ka Meetha topped with thick cream
Qubani, in Urdu language means Apricot in English. For this particular meetha, only dried apricots are used along with their seeds. The seeds contain kernels inside. The dried apricots are rehydrated in a sugary syrup into a thick compote. I prefer Kashmiri or Afghanistani dried apricots with their seeds to prepare this dessert as I find the dried apricots from Kashmir or Afghanistan very delicious and sweeter in comparision to others.
Dried apricots are high in fibre and proteins. I usually stock up my pantry with a few extra packets of dried apricots as they keep very well in room remperatures.
Anti-Cloclwise from top-Dried apricots, soaked and halved apricots,
its seed, white kernel without skin, and kernel with skin
The amount of sugar you use in the preperation of this dessert depends on the sweeteness of the kind of dried apricots you are using. Be careful before you add sugar, use it according to your tastes.
Qubani Ka Meetha – Apricot Compote
Ingredients:
- Dried Apricots/Qubani – 400gms (preferably dried naturally)
- Saffron threads – a pinch (optional)
- Sugar – 300 gms
- Thick cream/Custard/Vanilla Ice-cream for serving
Method:
- Wash and soak the dried apricots overnight in a deep bowl with surplus water so that the water covers them by about 2 inches. The next day, slit the sides of the swelled up apricots to remove their seeds and keep them aside in a cup. Put the slit apricots into a large non-reactive saucepan with the soaking liquid. Add sugar and cover the lid. Let it cook on medium heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the apricots are very soft. Add more hot boiling water if needed. Once the done, let it cool down. (You can even pressure cook for speedy cooking)
- Meanwhile, crack open the apricots kernels using a nut cracker and soak the badam or nuts in a cup of water to loosen their skin.
- Once the apricots are cool, pour half of it into a blender container and blend till pureed.
- Pour the pureed apricots and the other half of the cooked apricots back into the saucepan and let it cook until it has become thick and pasty in consistency. Taste check for sugar. Add more if you need.
- Remove the skin of the soaking apricot nuts or badam. This should be pretty easy as they have been soaking.
- Garnish with the badam/nuts and the saffron threads and serve it chilled topped with fresh thick cream, custard or a generous dollop of (Amul) Vanilla ice cream.
Qubani Ka meetha served garnished with nuts
Note: You can use pureed dates instead of sugar for sweetness in this recipe.
It is one of the most simple but incredibly delicious Hyderabadi desserts that you will definitely love and remember always.
Mansi from Fun and Food Cafe has requested me to send this dish to her Vegetarian Thanksgiving event that is hosting on her delicious blog. Mansi, so, here it is.. my recipe all the way to you 🙂
Foodbuzz: A couple of days ago, I recieved a lovely Apron and a Rubber Spatula from Foodbuzz. Thankyou for the genorosity for sending me those gifts. I am enjoying using them in my kitchen everyday.
Luv,
Mona
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Tempting apricot compote, really deliciousss!!!am drooling over here..
November 6th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Looks yummy! a new dessert to me…gonna try this for the weekend dinner. Thanks for sharing it.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Was jus wondering what to make next with my left over dried aprocots. This totally is it 🙂
The pics luks amazing.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
That compote looks so yumm.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Looks delicious Mona 🙂 this dish is new to me, will try it sometime…
November 6th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Hi Mona, Lovely recipe, I enjoy your blog a lot. Your recipe is exactly the way my mum makes Quabani ka Meeta! I simply adore this dessert.
Thanks and Take Care!
Rachel
November 6th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Assalamu-alikum Mona,
Love the meetha 🙂
P.S:Did you know the consumption of too many apricot kernels can lead to poisoning? Google it up and see.
Yes Nabeela, I was surprised to read that too. But I think it is the consumption of bitter apricot kernels that leads to poisoning when they are consumed in high doses. ~Mona
November 7th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Asak mona,Nice recipe,,i like the way u present it,n ur recipe is simple and easy to make.i will make it for next weekend party!!!
November 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Yes ! Qubani ka meetha is definitely a sweet reminder of Hyderabadi daawats Excellent job Mona,you presented it so lusciously:)
November 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
so this is what this dessert is.. heard so much abt it but couldn’t imagine it till u explained so well! yum.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I always wanted this recipe, but you know what, I was waiting for you to post it!:) thanks so much for posting this!!
November 8th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Hey, this looks super super yummmm. Got to give it a try.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Mona, I can only image how great this tastes.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am
i love this meetha…i made some days back, i finished it in a songle day:)
November 10th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Hi Mona,
I am a big fan of apricots especially dried ones. The kernels are so full of flavour too.
I bet this recipe sure is one to remember I know I would love it.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:01 am
ASAK Mona,
I wonder if we can make this meetha with dried turkish apricots??
Ann, you can prepare this meetha with dried apricots of all kinds, from anywhere. They will however vary in the sweetness and you may need to add more sugar in the meetha. ~Mona
November 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hi Mona,
Where we live, only seedless dried apricots are available. Can I use the same weight as given by you?
Latha, the kernels in the dried apricots are used for garnish and add a crunch to the dessert, however in case they are not available, you can always go ahead with whatever options you have. You can use the same weight as I have mentioned above. ~Mona
November 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I have a surprise for you in my blog:).
November 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
By God!!! Bless you. By far this is the best recipe I have seen for the khubaani ka meetha. This is my favorite Indian desert… no this is the only Indian desert I eat. I too make it the same way. You are from Hyderabad (Daccan), right? only people from there could make this dish so well. Have you tried the same thing with prunes? It comes out absolutely delishsh. But occasionally I do tend to add a pinch of hot pepper to it. Try that. It will be a real surprise…just 1/8 tsp added to the whole recipe.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
You have nice collection of hyd dishes. I too some… have a look to my blog.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:09 am
Hi I am a first timer at ur site. To be honest I came here because of the common title we share- Zaayeka. Only the spelling is different. lol
It was nice to see ur posts. Real yummy, found u thru the Veg Thanksgiving Carnival.
dDo visit me…wud love to be friends.
Navita
November 18th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
That’s a yummy new way to eat apricots!!!
November 18th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Lovely authentic recipe! Will try this out as I have quite a lot of apricots left after Diwali:)
November 21st, 2008 at 1:32 am
What next, so much of swt, and so much of delicious side dish. What will be the accompanying main dish, please. Hyderabadiz have their own menu. May be you must have the dastar khwan sample n your widget….
Best wishes.
November 28th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Dear Mona,
My thanks is slightly delayed. I made the meetha just a day after receiving your reply. It was for my son’s preschool. I was a bit doubtful if the kids would like it but they did. I had sent it along with idlis (i know it sounds wierd!) for an international food week. They said the ‘jam’ was very tasty:) Thank you very much for sharing the recipe and also for your prompt response. I used the locally available apricots (that comes from Turkey).
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi Mona, after long time in your blog:) qubani ka meetha looks so good. never tasted one before, heard of only double ka meetha in hybd.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Hi, I am trying this today for our New Year Gathering at our place. Bless me..I hope everyone likes it..if it turns out good, I will post it too 🙂 Thanks, dear, for this indigineous recipe.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Dear Mona,
Best wishes to you on Ramadan. For a long time I wanted to try your Qubaani ka meetha and finally did. It tasted really good. Thanks for the recipe.
Anupama
November 14th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Mona, wow…. yummy dessert recipe. My husband loves this dessert and asked me couple of weeks ago to prepare this. I got the link to your blog through Sailu’s food and quickly jotted down this recipe. I made it this noon and it is chilling in the refrigerator for a late lunch dessert. The aroma was superb and we are all waiting for it to chill to devour it up. Thanks for this tasty dessert recipe.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:23 am
i like meatha after after every function
December 20th, 2009 at 8:11 am
i was just searching this recipe for my weekend party as qubaani is good during winters.thanx
February 10th, 2010 at 12:43 am
it is one of the famous desret dish only we can get in hyderabad….. sepcially…. make it in easy method….
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:54 pm
What exactly is fresh thick cream,where can i get it
can i use heavy cream or Devon Cream or clotted cream which one works best for this?
Thanks
Rajesh, after boiling fresh milk and letting it cool down uncovered in the refrigerator, one can observe a layer of thick cream on top of the milk. Back home in India, we used to collect this fresh cream to add to desserts or chai, or to make fresh butter/ghee etc. In North America access to fresh cream or fresh milk is not that basic. You can use any unsweetened pourable but thick cream like condensed milk, heavy cream, evaporated milk, or even melted plain or vanilla ice-cream according to your likes. You can even use custard instead. ~Mona
April 28th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
hi,i am new to your blog,but it doesn’t seems to be new ,I tried almost every dishes of yours.thanks a ton,every dishes came out perfect.loved your blog & keep up the good work
November 6th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Hi Mona,
Happy Diwali…
I used your recipe to make this dessert for Diwali party and it was a great hit with my guests.
I want to thank you for this wonderful and simple recipe.
Warm regards
February 18th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
What a wonderful website of delicious mouth-watering Hyderabadi recipes. By far the best that I have seen so far.
Thanks a bunch for sharing your superb collection with fans of Hyderabadi cuisine the world over.
Will be sharing the link with family and friends.
I love Qubani ka Meetha, definitely one of my favorite deserts.
August 22nd, 2011 at 8:55 pm
hello…..this is delicious.
I live in sydney and i get dried apricots in orange colour. can i use them?
plz do rely for my question.
thanks
September 6th, 2013 at 11:00 am
Yummy. Love this. Bt i make a varaiation. Instead of pureeing i leave it as it is.
Ur blog has become my daily recipe book. Keep up the good work. Jazakallah khair 🙂
December 17th, 2015 at 6:30 am
[…] Ka Khatta, Boti ka Salan, Marag, Aloo Methi Gosht, Besan Ka Salan, Dil Khush, Kulcha, Khatti Dal, Qubani Ka Meetha, Rowghani Roti, Mithi Dal, Mash Ki dal, Sheer Qurma, Tamate Ka Kut etc. Most of these dishes are […]