Known as Happy nut in China, Pistachios are the rare snack or a dry fruit to be mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible and were consumed during prehistoric times. Pistachio nuts are native to the Middle Eastern areas of the globe, including the Levant, which includes Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and even southern Russia. These nuts were taken and cultivated far and wide to the United States of America and many parts of Europe by traders and immigrants from the Middle East during the 16th century. Do Nuts Make you Fat? Health Benefits and Everything Else You Should Know About Nuts and Weight Gain.

Pistachios are a power nut packed with so much of nutrients and figure among the top three healthiest nuts. Low in calories, this nut contains more than 30 different vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, protein, fibre and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Meanwhile, the USA is currently the largest producer of pistachios worldwide with 47%, followed by Turkey with 30% and Iran with 19%.

On that note, here are the 5 Pistachios recipes one must try once:

1. Pistachio Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

  • Raw Pistachios (1 cup)

  • Grated garlic ( 2 cloves)

  • Grated Lemon zest (1 teaspoon)

  • Olive oil (1/4 cup)

  • Kosher salt, Black pepper powder

  • Yogurt

Preparation:

Pistachio Yogurt Sauce (Photo Credits: Flickr)

Brown pistachios on a non-stick pan for 5-10 minutes. Leave them to cool. Then add garlic and lemon zest to toasted pistachios and blend in a food processor until a rough paste is formed. Add ¼ cup of oil to the paste and grind the mixture until it becomes even. Now make a thin yogurt paste in another bowl and add some salt, pepper, and little oil until its consistency is similar to pistachios paste. Now mix and stir well until a marbled sauce mixture is finally formed. Serve it with chicken barbeque or fried trout.

2. Pistachio Dessert Salad or Watergate Salad

Ingredients:

  • Pistachio instant pudding mix (1 pack) (3 ounces)

  • Chopped nuts – Pistachio. (1/2 cup) (you can use more nuts to add variety as per your liking)

  • Miniature marshmallows (1/2 pack)

  • Crushed pineapple (1 can) (20 ounces)

  • Cool whip (1 pack) (8 ounces)

Preparation:

Watergate Salad (Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons)

  1. Put crushed pineapple with juice and pistachio pudding in a large bowl and mix them.

  2. Then add miniature marshmallows nuts and cool whip into the bowl. Blend well all the ingredients.

  3. Refrigerate until chilled and then serve.

  4. Ain’t it the easiest yet tastiest salad you can ever try.

3. Honey Pistachio Ice Cream

Ingredients:

  • Pistachios (salted and roasted) (1cup)

  • Whole milk (1 cup)

  • Honey (1/2 cup)

  • Cream (2 cups)

  • Regular sugar (1/4 cup)

  • Vanilla paste (1 tablespoon)

  • Salt (1/4 teaspoon)

Preparation:

Pistachio Ice Cream (Photo Credits: pixabay)

  1. Take a large bowl and put whole milk, honey, cream, vanilla paste, regular sugar and salt in it. Stir all the contents with a whisk.

  2. Now, in a separate step, take the toasted pistachios in a food processor and let it crush until small pieces are formed, but no powder or paste.

  3. Now add the crushed pistachios in the large bowl containing already made paste.

  4. Now put this mixture from a large bowl into an ice cream maker and let it whip the mixture for 35 minutes.

  5. Now put this mixture in a freezer-safe container and freeze for 9 hours. Serve and enjoyyy!

4. Pistachio Halvah or Israeli Tahini Halvah

Ingredients:

  • Toasted pistachios (1 ½ cup)

  • Tahini (2 cups)

  • Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)

  • Honey (1 cup)

Preparation:

Israeli Tahini Halvah (Photo Credits: pixabay)

  1. Put 2 cups of honey in a saucepan on medium flame till 240 F.

  2. Let the honey cool down a bit, and then add toasted pistachios and vanilla extract in the saucepan.

  3. Now put tahini into the saucepan mixture and double over it until blended well.

  4. Now take a cake pan, grease it with oil, and then transfer the saucepan mixture into it and let it cool.

  5. After it cools down completely, wrap the pistachio halvah and refrigerate it for 3 hours.

  6. A crystallised solid texture will develop.

  7. Make slices of halwa out of it and serve.

5. Pistachio Butter

Ingredients:

  • Roasted and salted pistachio (500gm)

  • Honey (1 tablespoon)

  • Salt (1 teaspoon)

  • Cardamom powder (1 teaspoon) (optional)

  • Cocoa powder (1 teaspoon) (if you want a chocolaty flavour in your butter)

Preparation:

Pistachio Butter (Photo Credits: Flickr)

Put roasted pistachios in a blender. Blend it for 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, keep checking the consistency of the mixture. At first 5 to 10 minutes, pistachios will only break into small pieces. Don’t rush to add any liquid (water, oil etc.).Keep blending for another 8-10 minutes until a smooth paste is formed. Add honey, salt, cardamom powder (optional), cocoa powder (optional) and mix well in a blender. After a buttery paste is finally formed, transfer it to an airtight glass bottle. Refrigerate for upto one month. Before using, do microwave for 3-4 minutes to soften it.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2022 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).