Syrian Sliha
A traditional Syrian breakfast dish combining tender wheat berries with toasted nuts, pomegranate seeds, and aromatic spices. This nutritious mix offers a delightful blend of textures and flavors, featuring pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, and coconut.
Ingredients
- •1 cup wheat berries, preferably soft white wheat berries
- •2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- •1 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios
- •1 cup pine nuts
- •1 cup chopped walnuts
- •¼ cup sugar
- •¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- •¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- •½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- •½ teaspoon salt
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
1. Soak the wheat berries in a big bowl of cool water for at least 8 hours and up to 16 hours.
720 min
- 2.
2. Drain the wheat berries in a fine-mesh sieve or a small-holed colander set in the sink. Dump the grains into a medium saucepan with the fennel seeds and fill the saucepan two-thirds of the way with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grains are tender, about 50 minutes. Drain again in that sieve or colander; if you're using a standard colander with larger holes, line it with cheesecloth or paper towels so you don't lose the fennel seeds.
50 min
- 3.
3. As the wheat berries cook, scatter the pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts in a large dry skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Toast, stirring once in a while, until the nuts are lightly browned, maybe 5 or 6 minutes. Spread them out on a large cutting board and cool for a few minutes; then chop them into small pieces, about the size of the wheat berries themselves.
10 min
- 4.
4. Scrape the wheat berries and fennel seeds into a big bowl. Mix in everything else: the chopped nuts, sugar, pomegranate seeds, coconut, cinnamon, and salt. Cool to room temperature before serving, or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for breakfasts (or snacks) in the week to come.
15 min