Samanu

A sweet wheat paste

Samanu is thick and sweet. Wheat is soaked and allowed to sprout first, then boiled down in a big pot of the kind called a kazan. One dish, many names: samanak in Persian, sumalak in Uzbek, sümelek in Turkmen and Kazakh, sumanak in Tajik, sümölök in Kyrgyz, səməni halvası in Azerbaijani. At Nowruz it takes its place among the seven symbolic items known as the Haft-Sin. In Afghanistan it is also eaten at mela, which are picnics.

Origins and history

The custom is usually traced to the Sasanian Persian Empire, which ruled in the region before Islam arrived. How the dish first appeared is not recorded. What is clear is that the practice outlived that empire, stayed attached to the spring new year, and picked up a different name in each language it passed through. In 2025 the cooking culture of sumanak and sumalak, put forward by Tajikistan, was added to UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage.

Songs and wishes

The night is not quiet. Women sing songs about the making of samanu while the pot bubbles. In Tajikistan and Afghanistan a favourite line tells of the samanak boiling as they stir it, and of everyone else asleep while they play the daf, a frame drum. Each woman waits her turn at the spoon, and a stir is a good moment to ask for something. Near the end, whole walnuts go in, one wish each. Laughter and music belong to the night as much as the wheat does.

Today and change

In many homes the cooking has become a family activity. The old method used sprouted wheat and water alone. Cooks today often stir in a little flour so the paste thickens sooner, which makes it slightly bitter and less sweet. In Iran, buying and selling samanu in the closing days of the year has grown into a seasonal trade. It is based in Ashtian, from where the paste is sent on to European, Arab and East Asian countries.

How Samanu is kept

The wheat is soaked and left to sprout for several days, so the whole job can stretch to a week. The last stage is the long one: the pot goes on in the evening and the boiling runs until daylight. In the Iranian way the women sit in a circle round the pot, take turns with the spoon, sing and enjoy themselves. Wishes are made while stirring, and whole walnuts go in near the end, again with a wish. In the morning the paste is warm when it goes to the neighbours, to relatives and to friends.

When and where

It belongs to Nowruz, the new year at the beginning of spring. In Iran the cooking happens in the last days of the year, once the wheat has sprouted. The final boil takes a whole night, and the sharing comes at dawn, so the paste is ready for the holiday itself.

The paste is made in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, and further away in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In Afghanistan it is also eaten at mela, which are picnics. In Iran, buying and selling it in the last days of the year is a seasonal trade based in Ashtian, which sends it to Europe, Arab countries and East Asia.

What Samanu means

Samanu is one of the seven items set out at Nowruz, so it stands for the season itself: wheat waking up, the year turning, sweetness at the start. The long night of stirring carries meaning too. Each turn of the spoon is a moment to ask for something, and the walnuts go in with wishes of their own. Sharing the warm paste in the morning turns private hopes into something held in common.

Days Samanu is marked

Questions people ask about Samanu

See also

Armudu tea glassA pear-shaped glass used in Azerbaijan to serve and drink black tea.SamovarA heated urn that brews tea for a slow, sociable pour, from Russia to Iran and KashmirIftarThe sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityButter teaA salted tea churned with yak butter, served to guests across the Himalaya

Good reading and sources

• BBC PersianBBC, Article
• Culture of Sumanak/Sumalak cookingUNESCO, Heritage listing
• BBC PersianBBC, Article
• Culture of Sumanak/Sumalak cookingUNESCO, Article

• Samanu on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.