Lavashak (Fruit Leather or Fruit roll ups)

Every summer we would go through the same thing. My mom wanted to eat the plums green off the tree, my dad would say leave them for lavashak. Me and my brother would eat the plums juicy and ripe just because we had them, my dad would say leave them for lavashak. The plums would get heavy and fall to the ground and we would think they're no good and try to throw them away. Of course there was my dad "those are the BEST for lavashak". If I could go to that plum tree every year and take those plums off the ground I would. I've never tasted a plum like that ever again. 

This isn't going to be a very formal tutorial. Only because there's no real recipe. I just have bits and pieces of memories from my childhood. A huge stock pot boiling all day, the tables set out in the back yard to dry out all of the lavashak, and my dad with eyes in the back of his head to make sure none of it went missing. Ill share my story about the missing lavashak at the end of this tutorial. So here is what I did this time around and you can run with it every which way you would like. Oh and just as fair warning for all you non Persian readers this makes for some SOUR lavashak. That's the way we like it but Ill share how you can make it your own :) Oh and to my Persian readers this makes A LOT of lavashak. Enough to give to your immediate family, some co-workers and Hassan Agha across the street. 

Lavashak


10 lbs black plums ( You want the ones that look black and are really ripe but not totally falling apart)
1/4 cup sugar 
1/2 tsp salt
water

Things you'll need:

~A pot large enough to hold all your fruit
~A bowl filled with water to wash your fruit
~Colander with fairly small openings (Fun fact: Took me a few minutes to google "proper name for pasta strainer" I drew a total blank)
~Blender (optional)
~A clean dry bowl

Here we go! I make an assembly line like pictured above. I grab a few plums, drop them in the bowl with the water, pick off stems, stickers and blemishes. I do this instead of giving it a quick rinse just to make sure nothing foreign ends up in the lavashak. I also count the number of plums I'm using. I just want to make sure I get all the pits out at the end, especially if you end up putting it through the blender. You'll see a green post it floating around, I just kept track as I went along. 

Now you have them all in the pot you're going to add your sugar, salt and water. You can add a little at the bottom, pop the top on and steam them and smush em. I like to fill it up all the way and boil them for a good twenty minutes till softened. Then just put on a simmer for a few hours. If you are going to stand there and stir the pot constantly, then by all means boil away and you will be done. But if your not gonna stand there and keep and eye on it, well then I hope you like the color pink because everything will be covered in pink goo. As pictured below :)

Pick whichever method you have time and patience for. Really, You want this to be enjoyable. Even with a pink stove I have a blast! After you've boiled the fruit down your going to have a applesauce consistency. You can see how much the fruit boils down to almost half the pot. 

Let it cool over night or for the day. Your going to have to handle it with your hands or the blender and either way it cant be hot. Set up your colander and bowl like pictured (notice the green post it with my pit count). Your going to press the mixture through the colander to get it smooth and take out all the pits. Just a tip, with plums its the skin that makes it sour. So if you see chunks of skin and you don't want it to be tart then feel free to pull some skin out. 

At this point you can put it through a blender to get an even smooth texture. I usually do it but this year I skipped this step because Ive been so behind schedule. At this point you have to decide what size you want them. I used dinner plates and small plates, doesn't matter what kind. Lay out some saran wrap and spread out the mixture. Id say about 1/4 inch thick.

Find a place in the direct sunlight outside, off the ground and let it dry out for a few days. We in southern California have 95+ degree weather so it takes no more than three or four days for it to dry out. There are a hundred tips and tricks for the drying process. My main one is to put them out at the hottest time of day. That way they get a skin on them to avoid bugs, leaves and debris sticking to the surface. 

Now for tips on making it sweeter. I like the base of plums for the lavashak. It makes for a great consistency and nice tartness. You can add any fruit you like. Of course if you like citrus you can use juice instead of water when you boil the fruits. But be warned I made some mixed fruit lavashak last year and some of them became too sticky. I'd keep it to three fruits per lavashak. You can make the base as above and make different flavors for each roll. Fruits that worked well were apples, pears, and blueberries. Bad fruits were citrus, bananas, and anything with too much liquid. Look up some recipes online and you can find some good flavore combinations

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment or question below :)

I leave you with my epiphany from last year after making lavashak for the first time . . . 

 I spent years upset at my father for no reason. I would help all summer to make lavashak and he would always give me a small one and hide the rest. I now know why my father hid all that lavashak. It just dissapears. "Mom what happened to the lavashak?" ". . . Man nakhordam! Boro as Matthew bepors." ("I didn't eat it. Go ask Matthew") Matthew screams from the other room "I only had one!" Come to find out my brother ate the biggest one in the fridge he could find and yes while my mom didn't eat much of it, she did distribute it to her friends and family within a ten mile radius. Thank you dad for the karma. I now know to hide my damn lavashak.