Khobani (Dried)

The 250g pack is the trial size, and we are glad it exists, because dried apricots vary enough between sellers that nobody should start with a kilo anywhere. It covers a week or so of morning soaks or one good batch of cooking. The 500g is the kitchen size: enough for regular snacking and a few dishes without the fruit sitting open long enough to dry out. The kilo only makes sense in a house that goes through apricots steadily, and it is the best per gram value of the three. Buy your rhythm, not the discount. Fruit that dries out in your own cupboard was not cheaper in any sense that matters.

Press one. A good dried apricot gives under the thumb and springs a little; a woody one resists and will chew like it. Smell the pack: clean and fruity is right, musty is not, at any price. Look at the colour without worshipping it, because deep orange brown is natural for dried apricots and brightness is often cosmetics. At home, keep the pack sealed, cool and dark, and press the air out before you close it. Apricots that have firmed up with age are not lost: ten minutes in warm water brings them back for cooking, and an overnight soak brings them back for the morning bowl.

Soaked apricots at breakfast are the classic, four or five with their soaking water. Chopped through rice, they give a sweet tart bite where kishmish gives a soft one. Simmered, they make a simple chutney base for roast and grilled dishes. And eaten plain, two or three with tea is the portion most people settle into, which is why the small pack lasts longer than buyers expect. Dried apricots carry fibre, potassium and vitamin A in useful amounts, along with the fruit's own concentrated sugars, so the handful measure is both the tradition and the sense of it.

WD Foods lists dried apricots twice, so here is the honest map. This page is the line the shop tags as its premium dried apricots: 250g for Rs 500, 500g for Rs 1,000 and 1kg for Rs 2,000, and it is the only one of the two with a small 250g trial pack. The everyday line, Dried Apricot Khubani, runs Rs 900 for 500g and Rs 1,800 for 1kg with no 250g option. Choose this line for the trial pack and the premium listing; choose the other when you already know your usage and want the lower per-kilo rate.

What is the khobani price in Pakistan? On this listing, Rs 2,000 for 1kg, Rs 1,000 for 500g and Rs 500 for 250g. Everyday market rates sit around Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,000 a kilo.

Should dried apricots be washed or soaked? A quick rinse is sensible for any dried fruit. Soaking is optional: overnight for eating, ten minutes in warm water before cooking if the fruit has firmed.

How long do dried apricots keep? Sealed, cool and dark, several months. They gradually dry further rather than spoil, and soaking restores the texture for eating or cooking.

WD Foods is the online store of Wahid Nimco, working from Quetta since 1990. We deliver across Pakistan in 3 to 5 business days. If you are in Quetta, come to the shop on Masjid Road, open every day from 9 AM to 10 PM, and press the fruit in our pack before you pay. The rest of the shelf is in the dry fruits collection, with all rates in our dry fruits price list.