Jenis2 kurma sorted by moisture, not by name
Most lists of Jenis2 Kurma go name by name: Ajwa, Mariami, Medjool, Deglet Noor. If you are buying online, a more useful way to sort them is by how much water the fruit holds. That one property decides how a date has to be stored, how it can be shipped and what you do with it when the parcel arrives.
Dry dates sit at one end. Zahedi, a light brown date grown in Khuzestan, Bushehr and Fars, is one of Iran’s main export dates, largely because it keeps well. Semi-dry dates are in the middle: Piarom from Iran, Stamaran (also sold as Sayer) from Khuzestan, and Deglet Noor from Tunisia and Algeria. Wet dates are at the far end, and Mazafati is the best known of them.
Where Rotab Mazafati Bam fits
Mazafati, also called Kimia, is a dark, soft date grown around Bam, Saravan and Iranshahr in south-east Iran. Its moisture content runs from about 15% to 35%, depending on when and where it was picked. Sold as rotab it is soft, sticky and very sweet, which is why Malaysian shops often call it kurma madu.
Among the numerous types of dates to choose from, this is the one where storage matters most. A box of Deglet Noor can sit in a kitchen cupboard. A pack of rotab goes in the fridge, or in the freezer if you want it to last longer.
Why rotab is on sale in every month
Mazafati is normally held frozen after harvest, so suppliers can sell it all year rather than only around the picking season. Seeing rotab listed in October is normal. The useful question is not when it was listed but how the seller keeps it: in a chiller or freezer before dispatch, and how it stays cold on the way to you.
What to check before you order rotab online
When purchasing dates online, the usual checks apply to every variety: name, grade, net weight and season year. Rotab needs a few more.
Start with the pack format. Rotab is commonly sold in cartons of 12 packets, 600g each, so confirm whether the price on the listing covers one packet or the whole carton. Then the grade. Many listings say AAA, but sellers don’t all use the same grade labels, so ask what it means for that particular shop.
Ask about delivery next. A seller who stores rotab cold should be able to tell you how many days the parcel will be in transit and whether it ships chilled. If they can’t answer, buy one carton first and judge the condition yourself before ordering more.
At home, put the packets straight into the fridge, and move whatever you won’t finish soon into the freezer. Plenty of people eat rotab cold, straight from the fridge.
Buying here versus importing it yourself
The rotab sold in Malaysia is imported from Iran. A local supplier handles the import, the cold storage and the delivery within the country, which takes the hardest part off your hands. For most households and small shops, ordering fresh and high-quality dates from a seller here is far simpler than arranging a chilled shipment from overseas.
Reading further
If you buy for resale, our guide to rotab wholesale pricing for traders covers carton buying. For more on the rutab stage itself, read this guide to ruthob and fresh Mozafati Bam, or set rotab beside the boxed kind in our fresh vs dried dates comparison.