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Golab (home-distilled rosewater)
Golab (گلاب): rosewater distilled from fresh Damask roses, Kashan style
Every May the valleys around Kashan and Qamsar fill with pickers gathering Damask roses at dawn for golabgiri, the rose-water festival, when copper stills bubble in village courtyards. Golab is the backbone of Persian sweets, sharbat and rice, and a small batch can be made at home with a stockpot, an upturned lid and a bowl of ice. You need fragrant roses that have never been sprayed: florist roses are not safe to use in food. A common mistake is boiling hard, which cooks the petals and gives a grassy, dull water; the pot should only simmer. Chef's tip: pick the roses early in the morning, when their scent is strongest, and distil the same day.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put a heatproof bowl or a small ramekin topped with a heatproof bowl in the centre of a large stockpot, so it sits above the water line. Scatter the 10 ½ oz fresh unsprayed Damask or other scented rose petals around it and pour in the 5 cups filtered water so the petals are just covered.
10 minStep 2: Turn the stockpot lid upside down and set it on the pot, so its handle points down over the bowl. Fill the lid with 2 ¼ lb ice cubes; the cold lid condenses the steam, which drips from the handle into the bowl.
3 minStep 3: Bring to a bare simmer over a medium-low heat, then turn it to low. Keep it just below the boil for 45–60 minutes, replacing the melted ice and pouring off the water from the lid as needed. Don't lift the lid, or the scented steam escapes.
55 minStep 4: Stop when the petals have lost their colour and about 300 ml has collected in the bowl. The distilled water should smell clearly of roses; the liquid in the pot can be thrown away.
2 minStep 5: Cool the golab, pour it into a sterilised glass bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 6 months. Use it in sweets, sharbat, rice and tea.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 2 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 0 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does golab (home-distilled rosewater) take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
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