Recipe for Sohan-e Qom, Pistachio-Heavy

As someone of Persian background who was raised in Australia, I’ve had limited exposure to Persian food and sweets. So I’ve been expanding my repertoire through experimentation.

Below is a recipe I use for sohan-e qom, a variety of sohan that’s more brittle than sohan-e-asali. It’s based on a few recipes online but also my experimentation — some of them got the temperatures wrong.

Sohan-e-qom is a crunchy pistachio candy that’s loaded with Persian aromas of saffron, roses, and pistachios. I absolutely load it with pistachios, but you can of course use almonds, too. But why would you?

Usual disclaimer — I’m not a chef or recipe blogger, just someone who likes to cook. I keep recipes here as my own recipe vault but also to share with anyone who cares.

Ingredients

Some of these ingredients are a bit speciality (like the little dried roses) and have to be obtained from a Persian or Middle Eastern grocer. Saffron is cheaper there, too.

Dry mix
- 15 g plain flour
- 10 g wholemeal flour
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
- Pinch of dried rose petals, chopped up
Sugars & liquids
- 150 g caster sugar
- 120 g honey (your main invert sugar)
- 1–2 tbsp corn syrup (optional but recommended for smoothness). You can also use glucose syrup.
- 40 ml water
Butter & aromatics
- 120 g unsalted butter, diced
- 1 tbsp rosewater (not more — it can get unpleasantly rosewatery)
- ½ tsp saffron threads, lightly crushed and bloomed in hot water (see step 1)
Nuts/toppings
- 120 g pistachios, coarsely chopped (100g for mixture, 20g for topping)
- 5 dried rosebuds, coarsely chopped

Method

Because sohan, like many caramels, burns quickly, it’s important to have your mise en place ready before you start.

Bloom the saffron (for a later stage, but needs time)
- Place crushed saffron threads in a small bowl.
- Add 1 tbsp hot water, cover with a saucer, and let bloom 10 minutes. This extracts colour and aroma fully. Warm it again if necessary to finalise bloom.
Do your mise-en-place, ready for every step. Sohan goes from perfect → burnt in seconds.
- Lay a sheet of baking paper on a tray near the stove.
- Prepare the pistachios and dried rosebuds for the final step, plus a spoon for pressing.
- Prepare the dry mix, sugars and liquids, and butter and aromatics.
Toast the dry mix. In a steel saucepan:
- Add the dry mix (all flours + spices/aromatics + salt).
- Toast on medium for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly. This replicates the nuttiness of sprouted wheat.
Add sugars and liquids
- Add sugar, water, honey, and corn syrup (if using).
- Stir over medium heat until dissolved and gently boiling.
- Clip on your candy thermometer and begin watching the temperature.
Add butter and aromatics
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add the butter, bloomed saffron, and rose water.
- With the bloom added, the mixture may lighten briefly — this is normal.
Cook to 140°C (soft crack)
- Increase heat slightly and cook, stirring occasionally until it reaches 140°C. (Maybe 135 degrees would work?)
- The temperature will increase gradually and then quickly as the moisture evaporates. When you stir it, it cools, but if you don’t stir it, the edges burn… so I stir every 10 seconds or so.

Note on temperature: Different guides specify different temperatures. I’ve experimented a bit and found 140 degrees to be the sweet spot.

Finish and present. Working quickly:
- Remove from heat once it has reached the target temperature.
- Quickly stir in half the chopped pistachios and almonds. The mixture will thicken rapidly.
- Spread onto the baking paper on trays.
- Immediately top with the remaining 20 g of chopped pistachios and the chopped dried rosebuds.
- Press down with a spoon and flatten into a thin wafer (for maximum crisp).