Name: Persian Gulf Date + Walnut Balls (Bontu)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Makes 24 date balls
Cuisine: Iranian
Ingredients: 1 cup/100 g shredded coconut; 1 tablespoon rose water; 2 cups/250 g walnuts; 1 cup/120 g coarsely chopped raw pistachio kernels; 1½ teaspoons ground nutmeg; 20 Medjool dates, any remaining hard stalk parts removed, pitted and chopped and sliced (about 2 cups/480 g); 1 cup/120 g coarsely chopped almonds; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1½ teaspoons ground cloves

Preparation info

Makes
24
date balls

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
30 min

Appears in

Cooking in Iran

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2020

About

This combination of dates, coconut, pistachios, and a dash of orange blossom water makes a delicious vegan dessert.

Ingredients

coating:

1 cup/100 g shredded coconut
1 cup/120

Method

For the coating: Place the shredded coconut, and chopped pistachios, and almonds, in 3 separate bowls and set aside.
For the date paste: Place all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until you have a grainy paste, then transfer to a mixing bowl.
Use a 2in/5cm-diameter ice-cream scoop to pick up about 24 portions of the paste and s