
Qottab - Pastry Filled Persian Sweet
Updated: Jun 6, 2021
Qottab is a traditional Persian sweet originating from the City of Yazd in Iran. Enchantingly nicknamed as the 'City of Windcatchers' due to its dry, warm desert climate and recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
Qottab is a pastry filled sweet, usually filled with almonds or walnuts and various other fillings. An extremely morish sweet that I can't get enough of, it's just small enough to fit into your mouth in one scoop, which doesn't help!
I've made mine with coconut but this sweet can me made with a variety of nut fillings.
Ingredients
For the pastry
375g plain flour
187g oil
62g yogurt
1/4 cup or 125ml water
For the filling
1 1/2 tbsp cardamom
20g coconut
50g sugar
For the sugar syrup
1 litre water
50g honey
250g sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2 / 3 tbsp rose water
1/4 tsp cardamom
For the garnish
1 tbsp of chopped pistachios
1tsp of icing sugar
1tsp of dried crushed rose petals
Method
Step 1
Making the pastry
Mix the flour and the oil together
Add the yogurt and knead until the dough starts coming together
Add the water
Knead well until all the ingredients have become one and you have a nice ball of dough very much like a short crust pastry consistency
Cover the dough with cling film
Set the dough aside to rest for 1 hour or over night in the fridge
Note: If after resting in the fridge the dough becomes hard, do not add water or oil to it, just put it in the microwave for 10 seconds or place in a bowl and put over a bowl of boiling water until the dough softens up.
Step 2
Making the filling
Add the coconut, cardamom and sugar to a medium sized bowl
Mix thoroughly
Set aside
Step 3
Make small round balls with the dough
Take each dough ball and flatten each with your fingers so it has enough room for the filling to be folded into it
Add a half a teaspoon to one teaspoon full of the filling into the middle of the flattened dough

Fold the dough over to cover the filling

Start to bring both sides of the dough together so it looks like a parcel

Start to shape the dough back into a ball

Place on a baking tray
Repeat the above steps until you have filled the tray (s)

Step 4
Pre-heat the oven at Gas Mark 4 (180 °C) for 5 minutes
Place your tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes remove one of the balls and break in half to ensure it has baked through
If the dough ball is light golden brown and has baked through remove the tray from the oven. If not continue baking for another 5 minutes.
Note: Depending on the size of the ball you make you should ideally get 50 mini dough balls.
Step 5
For the sugar syrup
Add the water to a medium sized saucepan
Add the sugar and honey
Place over medium heat so that both the sugar and honey dissolve
Increase the heat and allow the syrup to reduce to half
The syrup should be slightly viscous and sticky
Add the lemon juice and stir on a very low heat for a minute
Add the rosewater and stir for another minute
Remove from the heat
Add the cardamom and set aside
Step 6
Putting it together
Add the slightly cooled down Qottab to the sugar syrup
Toss gently in the syrup so all the balls are covered with the sugar syrup
Allow to soak for 1 hour and from time to time toss gently to ensure maximum syrup coverage (you could also keep this in the syrup over night)
Remove from the sugar syrup and place on your desired serving plate
You can now start to pile the Qottab up into a pyramid like the picture
Sprinkle with icing sugar, pistachios and rose petals
I also sprinkled some the filling over and around it as well but this is optional
Enjoy eating this scrumptiously morish sweet from the heart of Yazd with a lovely saffron tea. Noosh-e-Jaan :)
