Anjeer is priced by size and condition. The big, pale, soft figs that give a little between the fingers command the most, and small, hard, dark ones the least. Count per kilo, how much moisture is left in them, and the season’s supply set the rate. Today’s figure for every pack we keep is in the panel below.
Why do bigger anjeer cost more?
Because size is the one thing a buyer can see, and because the large figs are the minority of any lot. Dried figs are sorted by diameter and then counted, so a pack of large anjeer holds fewer pieces than the same weight of small ones. The large sorting also takes the gentlest handling, arrives flatter and rounder, and is what goes into boxes people give away. All of that ends up in the rate.
Softness pushes the figure up as well. A fig that has kept a little moisture is pleasant to eat straight from the pack, but it is also harder to store and shorter-lived, so a lot that is soft and clean is worth more than one dried down hard. The very hard sorting has its uses, mostly soaking and cooking, and it is priced kindly for that reason.
How should a good anjeer feel?
Press one between your thumb and finger. It should yield, then come back, a little like a soft date. It should not crack, and it should not feel wet. The colour of a good fig runs from pale cream to light brown, the shape is flattened and round rather than shrivelled, and when you tear it open the inside is full of fine seeds that crunch faintly against the sweetness.
A white bloom on the skin puts people off, and it should not. That is the fig’s own sugar coming to the surface as it dries, which is a sign of sweetness rather than of mould. Mould looks and smells quite different, fuzzy and sour. What you do want to avoid is a pack of figs gone hard as stones, or sticky ones that clump into a mass. We go through this in more detail in our note on how to buy anjeer.
| Sorting | Size and look | Feel | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large, hand-sorted | Broad, flat, round, pale cream | Soft, yields and springs back | Gifting, eating from the pack |
| Medium | Smaller and less matched, light brown | Soft to firm | Everyday eating, chopping into kheer |
| Small | Compact, darker, uneven edges | Firm, chewier | Soaking overnight, halwa, barfi |
| Hard or split pieces | Shrunken, sometimes broken open | Dry, needs soaking | Cooking, milkshakes, grinding |
What moves the anjeer rate through the year?
Supply first. Figs are dried and then held, and how a season came in decides whether the large sortings are plentiful or thin by the time the gifting months arrive. Demand second, and it is sharp: anjeer is a favourite in festival and wedding boxes, so the weeks before Diwali pull the large sortings hardest of all. Storage third. Keeping figs soft and clean through a humid stretch costs somebody something, and that cost sits in the rate.
Where we send it
We pack anjeer to order at our counter in Rajasthan so it reaches you as soft as it left us. Indore and Pune are usually 2-4 days, Hyderabad 3-5 and Kolkata 4-6. Across the country, orders start at ₹1,000 and every order ships free. Anjeer also travels well in a mixed box, and the dry fruits shelf has the rest of what we pack alongside it.
Questions people ask
What is the price of 1 kg anjeer?
It moves with the crop and the season, so we leave the figure to the panel above, which shows today’s rate for each sorting and pack size. A kilo works out at roughly the pack rate for whichever sorting you pick.
Why is my anjeer covered in white powder?
That is the fruit’s own sugar crystallising on the skin as it dries. It is normal in good figs and usually means a sweet lot. Mould is fuzzy, patchy and smells sour, and it looks nothing like an even dusting.
Should anjeer be soaked before eating?
Only if you want it soft. The large soft sorting is fine straight from the pack. The smaller, firmer ones are much better after a few hours in water or warm milk, and that is how most homes use them.
How long does anjeer keep at home?
Weeks in an airtight box away from heat, and longer in the fridge, which is worth doing in a humid month. Figs are the one dry fruit that suffer most from a warm kitchen, so buy a pack size you will finish.
Today’s rate for something else: Kaju · Badam · Mamra badam · Akhrot · Khajur · Kishmish · Makhana · Pista · Charoli
