Dried Apricots (Khubani)

Unsulphured sun-dried khubani, sold whole and by weight in a sealed 250 g pack.

Colour tells you almost everything about a dried apricot, and it says the opposite of what most people assume. A bright orange apricot has been treated with sulphur dioxide to stop it darkening. A sun-dried apricot with nothing added turns deep amber, then brown, and looks less appealing on a shelf for exactly that reason. Ours arrive dark because nothing was added.

Dried whole in Himalayan valleys where the air is thin and dry enough to do the work without help, they are firmer and more concentrated than the soft, bright fruit sold in most supermarkets, with a tangy-sweet flavour that deepens when soaked.

Sealed against light, with the drying season stated on the pack.

For soaking overnight, for compotes and pulao, and for anyone who has only ever eaten the orange kind.