Nowruz, meaning "new day," marks the start of spring and the new year for Iranians, Afghans, Kurds, Tajiks and many communities across Central Asia. It falls on the spring equinox, usually March 20 or 21, and the celebrations continue for days with family visits, big meals and plenty of sweets. Here is a practical shopping list covering the table setting, traditional dishes and the treats guests expect.
The haft-seen table (Persian tradition)
In Iranian homes, families set a haft-seen table with seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with the letter "s." Common items include:
- Sabzeh: sprouted wheat, lentils or mung beans, grown in a dish for about two weeks before Nowruz. Start early.
- Samanu: a sweet wheat pudding.
- Senjed: dried oleaster fruit.
- Seer: garlic.
- Seeb: apples.
- Somaq: sumac.
- Serkeh: vinegar.
Many families add a mirror, candles, painted eggs, goldfish, coins, hyacinth flowers and a book of poetry or a holy book.
Haft mewa (Afghan tradition)
In Afghanistan the signature Nowruz dish is haft mewa, "seven fruits." A mix of dried fruits and nuts is soaked in water for a few days until the water becomes a sweet syrup, then served chilled. Recipes vary by family, but typical ingredients include:
- Dark and golden raisins
- Dried apricots
- Dried red berries (sinjid, oleaster)
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Pistachios
- Dried cherries or other dried fruit
Buy the ingredients about a week ahead, since the mix needs several days to soak. Our black raisins and in-shell Afghan almonds are popular for gatherings, and you will find more in dried fruits and nuts.
Afghan families also prepare samanak, a wheat-sprout pudding cooked slowly, often overnight, by women who gather to stir and sing.
Nowruz customs worth knowing
Before the new year, many families do a thorough spring cleaning of the home, often called khaneh tekani ("shaking the house"), and buy new clothes. On the last Wednesday evening before Nowruz, Iranian families celebrate Chaharshanbe Suri by jumping over small bonfires. The holiday ends on the thirteenth day, Sizdah Bedar, when families spend the day outdoors with picnics and toss the sabzeh into running water. In Afghanistan, Nowruz is also a time for picnics, fairs and visits to relatives, and in Mazar-i-Sharif the raising of the Janda banner draws large crowds.
All of this means a lot of cooking, a lot of guests and a lot of tea, so it pays to shop early and stock up on items that keep well. If you are hosting a picnic for Sizdah Bedar, packaged cakes, cookies, snacks and drinks are easy to carry.
Main dishes
Sabzi polo mahi
The traditional Iranian Nowruz meal is herbed rice (sabzi polo) with fish. You will need:
- Long-grain basmati rice. See rice and grains.
- Large bunches of fresh herbs: parsley, cilantro, dill, chives or green garlic, and fenugreek. Dried fenugreek leaves, such as Malka qasuri methi, can round out the herb mix.
- Fish, usually white fish, either fried or smoked.
- Butter or oil, and saffron if you have it.
For crispy rice at the bottom of the pot, see our Persian chelow with tahdig recipe.
Other favorites
- Kuku sabzi: a baked herb frittata.
- Reshteh polo: rice with toasted noodles, said to help "take hold" of good fortune in the new year.
- Afghan sabzi challow: spinach cooked with herbs and served with white rice.
- Kabuli palaw for guests. See our Kabuli palaw recipe.
Sweets and snacks for visitors
During the Nowruz holidays, families visit relatives and neighbors, and every home keeps something sweet ready.
- Cookies: Afghan cookies such as khataee and Amber almond cookies, or Persian-style rice and chickpea cookies.
- Cakes: round cakes and sliced cakes to serve with tea. Browse bakery.
- Nuts and dried fruit in serving bowls.
- Sugar-coated almonds (noql) and other candies.
- Tea, lots of it. Green tea with cardamom is traditional in Afghan homes, black tea in Iranian homes. See tea.
Nowruz shopping timeline
- Two to three weeks before: buy wheat or lentils for sabzeh and start sprouting.
- One week before: buy dried fruit and nuts; start soaking haft mewa four or five days before.
- A few days before: buy rice, spices, tea, cookies and cakes.
- The day before: buy fresh herbs and fish.
For stores
Nowruz is a strong selling season for stores serving Iranian, Afghan and Central Asian communities. Consider building a Nowruz display with dried fruit and nuts, cookies, cakes, tea and rice in the weeks before the equinox, and keep fresh herbs well stocked in the final days. Since Nowruz often falls close to Ramadan or Eid in some years, check the calendar and plan one combined seasonal order where the dates overlap. Wholesale buyers can apply here for case pricing.
FAQ
When is Nowruz?
Nowruz begins at the spring equinox, usually on March 20 or 21. The exact moment changes slightly each year.
What is haft mewa?
Haft mewa is an Afghan Nowruz dish of seven dried fruits and nuts, such as raisins, apricots, oleaster, walnuts, almonds and pistachios, soaked for several days until the liquid turns into a sweet syrup.
What is eaten on Nowruz?
Iranian families traditionally eat sabzi polo mahi (herbed rice with fish), kuku sabzi and reshteh polo. Afghan families serve haft mewa, samanak, sabzi challow and palaw, along with plenty of sweets and tea.
Celebrate the new year: shop our Nowruz collection for dried fruit, nuts, cookies, cakes and tea, with local delivery around Sacramento and the SF Bay Area and pallet freight beyond.