{"id":8538,"date":"2026-10-26T18:39:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8538"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:51:13","slug":"khashtak","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/khashtak\/","title":{"rendered":"Khashtak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Khashtak (also Hashtak) is a sweet from Uzbekistan made by filling dried apricots with nuts and other ingredients. The apricot flesh serves as a kind of outer skin, and walnuts or almonds are placed where the pit used to be. Without boiling sugar or baking a dough, it brings together the sweet-tart flavor of dried fruit and the richness and crunch of nuts in a single bite.<\/p>\n

A simple form with a single piece of walnut inside is known from markets and elsewhere, but the name khashtak is not limited to fruit and walnuts alone. In Burchmulla, in the Bostanlyk District of Tashkent Region, a version with almonds, raisins and honey has been handed down. Even a sweet that seems to use few ingredients carries differences in combination passed down locally.<\/p>\n

Filling the space left by the pit with something else<\/h2>\n

In the Burchmulla method, a dried apricot is cut partway open and the pit removed, then almonds or walnuts, raisins and a little honey are put inside and the fruit is closed. As long as the apricot is not cut fully into two pieces, the flesh can wrap around the filling. Because it keeps the shape of the fruit itself, the structure you experience when eating it differs from sweets in which the outer part and the filling are crushed together and rolled into balls.<\/p>\n

\"Dried
An example of dried apricots made in Armenia. For khashtak, the flesh is opened to wrap the filling. Photo: \u0531\u0580\u0561\u0580\u0561\u057f \u0539\u0580\u057e\u0561\u0576\u0581 \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no content alterations after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The apricot forms a soft outer layer that is easy to bite through, and the nuts become a firm core. Raisins, as small dried fruits, fill the gaps, and honey adds sweetness. It is a combination that layers another fruit and nuts inside a single kind of fruit. Whereas the walnut-only form emphasizes the presence of one large nut, the form with raisins and honey brings small ingredients together inside.<\/p>\n

\"Walnuts
An example of walnuts in the shell and cracked open. When the kernels are stuffed into dried apricots, they form a crunchy core within the flesh. The photographer focus-stacked 18 images. Photo: Ivar Leidus \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no content alterations after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Raisins\"
An example of raisins. Some versions of the Burchmulla method add them inside together with nuts. Photo: Pawe\u0142 Ku\u017aniar (Jojo_1, Jojo) \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no content alterations after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The apricot pit also contains a kernel, but the almonds and walnuts placed in the space left after removing the pit in this sweet are a separate ingredient. It is neither a sweet eaten with the pit left inside in its shell nor one in which the flesh is removed and only the kernel is eaten. Looking inside the opened flesh shows what has been used as the filling.<\/p>\n

A local method using sun-dried fruit<\/h2>\n

In Burchmulla and nearby Khumsan, almonds are used in everyday life for sweets and baked goods. For khashtak in this area, drying the apricots in the sun is highly valued. This is distinguished from finishing the fruit with a dryer or heat, and fruit dried without sulfur-based treatment is darker in color than industrially dried apricots that keep a bright orange color.<\/p>\n

This sun-drying condition is valued as part of the local method. Products made with bright-looking dried apricots also exist, so it cannot be assumed from the name alone that the same drying method was used. The character of khashtak depends not only on the filling but also on how the outer fruit was dried.<\/p>\n

The local almonds used for khashtak also faced a risk that the trees and native strains would decline because of felling for fuel. In 2007, Slow Food and others began surveying and conserving native almonds in Bostanlyk, and in 2009 a Slow Food local community group was formed in Burchmulla and Khumsan. These efforts protect the ingredients of a fruit-filled sweet from the stage of the trees in orchards and on the mountains.<\/p>\n

From home handwork to the markets of Tashkent<\/h2>\n

Khashtak in Burchmulla is made by local residents and is also carried to markets in Tashkent. It is also taken as a gift to households that are hosting guests. Fruit dried for storage is not only an ingredient to eat as it is; the extra step of filling it with nuts makes it a gift to bring when visiting.<\/p>\n

In December 2019, a khashtak-making competition was held in Burchmulla, and villagers judged the pieces made by confectioners. A local school principal organized the event, and teachers, students and forestry staff also took part. In addition to khashtak in homes and markets, that day became an occasion for the makers to show their confectionery skills to the people of the village.<\/p>\n

Local records from Burchmulla include an account that explains khashtak as meaning \u201cseven ingredients\u201d and says that four are used in the present-day method. However, this is not an independent, older linguistic source that confirms the etymology, nor a record showing three lost ingredients. The clue to its present form lies in how apricots, nuts, raisins and honey are actually wrapped together.<\/p>\n

\"Schematic<\/p>\n

The structure that uses apricot flesh as a wrapper. Original diagram by Sweetlore. Based on one example from Burchmulla; it does not show the actual size of the fruit or ingredients, or the proportions used in every region.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Burchmulla<\/strong>: A village in the Bostanlyk District of Uzbekistan. A tradition of khashtak filled with almonds has been recorded there.<\/p>

Khumsan<\/strong>: A village in the same district near Burchmulla, with a food culture that uses almonds.<\/p>

Sun-drying<\/strong>: A method of drying that uses the sun and open air. In this article, it refers to the method of drying apricots that is valued in the region.<\/p>

Slow Food<\/strong>: A movement to protect local food cultures and biodiversity. In this article, it refers to the organization and local community group involved in conserving native almonds in Bostanlyk.<\/p>

Kernel<\/strong>: The part inside the hard shell of a seed. This article distinguishes between the kernel of the apricot pit and the nuts used as filling.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Slow Food Foundation, \u201cKhashtak\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Ingredients in Burchmulla, sun-drying, shaping and markets.<\/li>
  2. Sottile et al., \u201cAlmond Germplasm in Bostanlyk Area,\u201d 2014<\/a> \u2014 Conservation of native almonds and local khashtak, in pp. 303\u2013306 of the text made public by the authors.<\/li>
  3. Slow Food Foundation, \u201cBostanlyk Ancient Almond Varieties\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The local community group formed in 2009 and the conservation of native almonds.<\/li>
  4. Nuz.uz, \u201cKhashtak Competition in Burchmulla,\u201d 2019<\/a> \u2014 The competition in the village and its participants.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Khashtak (also Hashtak) is a sweet from Uzbekistan made by filling dried apricots with nuts and other ingredients. The apricot flesh serves as a kind of outer skin, and walnuts or almonds are placed where the pit used to be. With no step of boiling sugar or baking a dough, it brings together the sweet-tart flavor of dried fruit and the richness and crunch of nuts in a single bite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7658,"menu_order":309,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Khashtak\u30fbHashtak","subtitle":"Dried apricots opened and filled with nuts","topics":"Dried apricots opened and filled \/ The crunch of walnuts and almonds \/ Markets and gift-giving in Uzbekistan","country":"Uzbekistan and other areas","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","nuts"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":[],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[159],"class_list":["post-8538","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t