Reshteh Khoshkar

Reshteh khoshkar (رشته‌خشکار) is a confection from the Gilan region of northern Iran. A batter of rice flour mixed with water is poured in thin streams onto a hot copper plate, and the lines are crossed over and over to form a thin net. The net is folded, fried in oil and finished by soaking it in sweet syrup. The surface has a lattice pattern, and nuts peek out between the syrup-soaked layers of dough. Its appearance differs from that of a crepe, which is spread thin and cooked.

A name that reflects whether there is a filling

The two names reflect a distinction in how it is made. Reshteh refers mainly to what is made from the rice flour dough, and khoshkar to what has a filling of ground walnuts, sugar and spices inside. In shops and in food introductions, the two together are called reshteh khoshkar, but not every parcel has the same contents inside.

In addition to walnuts, the filling uses cardamom and cinnamon, and some versions include ginger or hazelnuts. The dough, based mainly on rice flour, and the filling, based mainly on nuts, are made separately. The nuts are not mixed into the dough and cooked; they are filled in after the thin net has been made. This preserves both the shape of the outer lines and the grainy texture inside.

Shaped on a copper plate, finished by frying

The tool used to pour the rice flour batter has several small spouts, through which the artisan draws many lines at once. As the hand moves over the copper plate, the lines cross vertically and horizontally. The dough, joined together by brief heating, is lifted off the plate and, while it can still be handled, its corners are folded in to make a square parcel. It is a technique of cooking the dough as lines from the start, rather than cutting a lattice from a single round sheet.

Heating on the plate is the step that forms the shape of the thin dough, and its role differs from that of the final frying. The parcels are put into oil and, once they have colored, transferred to the syrup. The syrup is made with sugar and water, and some methods add cinnamon or cardamom. Because gaps remain in the net, the parcels absorb syrup from the surface through to the center.

There is also a custom of buying the white parcels at a shop, taking them home, and frying them and soaking them in syrup before eating. Because the appearance changes between the stage at which it is sold and the stage at which it is eaten, whitish folded parcels and glossy brown ones may represent different stages of the same confection.

Ramadan and the confectioners of the north

In Rasht, the main city of Gilan, and its surroundings, reshteh khoshkar is closely tied to the table at which the Ramadan fast is broken. It is prepared for iftar, the meal after sunset, and eaten with tea. People who moved from the north to other places also passed on the method, and the confection spread beyond Gilan.

There is also a local tradition that it began about 300 years ago in Taher Gurab, near Rasht. This cannot be treated as a contemporary record showing the year of its invention. The work of pouring batter onto a copper plate is sometimes passed down as a family trade. Reshteh khoshkar is a confection in which the artisan’s hand movements and specialized tools go together as a set. The distinctive character of the region’s confectionery appears not only in the finished squares but also in the process of drawing a net from a liquid.

The sequence of cooking a net from rice flour batter, wrapping the filling, frying and soaking in syrup. A process diagram created by Sweetlore. Not a reproduction of the actual tools or dimensions.

Glossary