Bamieh is the choux half of Iran's Ramadan sweet duo, short ridged fingers of egg-rich pastry piped through a star tip, deep-fried until puffed and hollow, then steeped in saffron-rose syrup. Crisp-shelled and soft within, they take their name from their resemblance to a small okra pod. Sold from the same trays as the lattice zoolbia all through the fasting month, the pair is the iftar sweet of choice, broken open with strong tea after the day's fast. The grooves from the star tip do real work, holding syrup and crisping the ridges.
Bamieh shares its history with its partner zoolbia, remembered in Iran from the Qajar nineteenth century and the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, when the inexpensive fried-and-syruped sweets spread as a fasting-month treat in places where dried fruit was scarce. The name borrows the Persian and Arabic word for okra, bamia, after the ridged pod-like shape of the fried fingers; the sweet has no relation to the vegetable. Made and sold paired with zoolbia through Ramadan, bamieh became a fixture on the iftar table across Iranian cities, the choux finger answering the lattice swirl.
A thin crisp shell crackles, then gives to a soft, almost custardy hollow inside, all of it heavy with cool saffron-rose syrup. Sweet and floral, the rosewater forward and saffron lending a honeyed bitterness at the edge. The ridges crunch a touch more than the smooth faces. Sticky-fingered and glossy, richer and more tender than the lattice zoolbia beside it. Eaten warm or at room temperature the day they are fried, with bitter tea to cut the sugar.
Bamieh is fried choux. Water, butter and flour are cooked into a paste that dries on the heat, then eggs are beaten in to build a smooth, pipeable batter whose moisture turns to steam in the oil and blows each finger hollow. Frying at a moderate temperature lets the inside cook through before the shell over-browns. The star tip is not decorative alone: its grooves increase surface area, so the ridges crisp harder and the channels carry more syrup. Dropped hot into cool syrup, the porous interior soaks it up; too-hot syrup would dissolve the shell.
Variations
Bamieh is most often piped as short fingers a few centimeters long, though some shape it into small balls or longer sticks. Syrups vary the saffron, rosewater and sometimes orange-blossom water; some cooks add a little cardamom. It is sold paired with zoolbia for Ramadan, and increasingly year-round in confectioners. Color deepens with more saffron and a longer fry. Lesser versions skimp on egg, giving a denser, less hollow finger that drinks up less syrup.
On the Palate
Where Bamieh sits in the Persian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 112 min
Boil sugar and water into a syrup, stir in saffron and rosewater, and cool it.
- 28 min
Cook water, butter and flour into a smooth paste that dries on the heat.
- 36 min
Beat eggs into the paste a little at a time until glossy and pipeable.
Watch outBeat the eggs into the paste a little at a time until it turns glossy and just pipeable — too loose and the fingers spread flat, too stiff and they won't puff hollow.
- 44 min
Fit a piping bag with a star tip and pipe short ridged fingers.
- 56 min
Deep-fry at a moderate temperature until puffed, hollow and golden.
- 62 min
Lift and drain the fingers briefly.
- 73 min
Steep the hot fingers in the cooled syrup until soaked through.
Watch outSteep the hot fried fingers in cooled syrup — the porous insides drink it up; if the syrup is still hot it dissolves the crisp shell instead of soaking in.
- 82 min
Drain on a rack and serve the day they are made.
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