Afghanistan - Menu and Overview

This menu was much easier to pick.  I love dumplings.  They have dumplings.  I love flat bread.  They have flat bread.  It's very cold here
in Chicago right now and Afgans make a mean lamb stew.  I did want a couple of pre-dinner snacks since we were having people over.  So a dip for the bread and some roasted chickpeas for snacking.  Done!

Noni Afghani (Flat bread)
Nakhot e Shor (Roasted Chickpeas)
Sabse Borani (Spinach Yogurt Dip)
Aushak (Scallion Dumpling)

Lamb Korma (Lamb Stew)

To be honest, I could have done with the stew or the dumplings.  Either were totally sufficient to be the main part of the meal by themselves, but I'm not sure which I would have cut because they were both awesome!  My friend and I discussed this at the end of the meal and we agreed that it would have been very tough to pick something to cut out.

I bought the The Honey Thief on my kindle and read it while I was simmering the stew.  I enjoyed
learning more about Afghanistan thought that these stories were beautiful.  It's nice to hear about the culture and people of the land that I hear so much sadness about.  The people must be strong to have survived all that they have.  And they've done a darn good job of perfecting their food!

We had people over and I didn't think to take a picture of everything together.

Noni Afghani (Flat bread)
Who doesn't love flat bread?

Nakhot e Shor (Roasted Chickpeas)
These were super tasty and crunchy.

Sabse Borani (Spinach Yogurt Dip)
Another win.  I will definitely make this again in the future.  It was pretty easy and very healthy.  Greek yogurt has a high level of calcium and protein and the spinach is healthy too.  I love things that taste good and are also good for you.

Aushak (Scallion Dumpling)
This took a ton of work.  In addition to making the dumpling I also had to make a meat sauce to go on top and a yougurt garlic sauce for on top of that.  They were very good and worth the effort.

Lamb Korma (Lamb Stew)
The flavors were amazing.  I let Z try some of the lamb and a bit of the sauce.  He loved the sauce.  It was a little spicy so I only let him try a very little bit.  He was very unhappy when I stopped giving him more.

Overall, I liked the Afghan food better than the Abkhazia food from last week.  It's really hard to say what my favorite part was because it was all so amazing.

More links:
About
Recipes

Recipe - Aushak (Scallion Dumpling)

Traditionally, aushak and other dumplings are made as a community or family.  Everyone helps to assemble and everyone gets to enjoy it.  Because of this, I had everything ready and my guests got to assemble.  The four year old was a bit too young to help, but she did enjoy mashing the dough.

I didn't realize until the day that I started to cook that this is traditionally made with something called gandana which is in the onion family.  But that's why you'll find recipes that call for scallions and others that call for leeks.  They are both substitutions.  Had I realized early enough, I may have tried to find some gandana.  It's gotta be somewhere in the Chicago area.  But alas, I used scallions and leeks combined to hope that the flavor was similar.

Aushak

Dumplings:

Ingredients:

• 20 scallions white parts removed and saved for another use
• 2 leeks
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 t minced garlic
• 2 T corn, peanut or vegetable oil
• 25-30 wonton or goyza wrappers or dough recipe, below

Directions:

1. Combine scallions, salt, pepper, garlic and oil.  Blend well.
2. Get out a bowl of water and plates of the wonton wrappers.
3. Dip your finger in water and run around the outside edge of the wrappers.
4. Put a spoonful of scallion mixture into half of the wrapper.  Fold and seal.
5. Boil the dumplings for 5 or 6 minutes in salted water.  I made the next set while the prior set was boiling.
6. Strain and serve with meat sauce and yogurt.

Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• salt to taste

Directions:

Mix together and roll flat.  I used a pastry roller set to thickness number 4.

Meat sauce:

Ingredients:

• 3 T vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground lamb (or just a full pound of the beef)
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1 t ginger
• 1 cup water
• 4 T tomato paste
• 4 T minced garlic

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and saute the onion until the onion is golden, about 15 minutes.
2. Add in the beef, garlic, coriander and ginger.  Cook until meat is well browned, about 8 minutes.
3. Add water and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and cook 5 more minutes.  Stir constantly.
5. Set aside the sauce until ready to use.

Yogurt sauce

• 1 1/2 cups full fat greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 T minced garlic

Combine and set aside

References:

• http://diningwithdusty.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-layered-flavors-of-afghan-dumplings.html
• http://food52.com/recipes/10940-afghan-dumplings-with-lamb-kofta-and-yogurt-sauce
• http://avocadobravado.net/aushak-afghan-dumplings/
• http://zibakitchen.com/ashak/

Recipe - Noni Afghani (Flatbread)

Who doesn't love homemade flat bread?  Our au pair from France calls Naan "Indian Crepes", which cracks me up.  I guess these Noni are Afghan Crepes. :)

This was amazing.  I served this with the Sabse Borani

and Lamb Korma.

Noni Afghani

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 t yeast
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 4 T butter or, better yet, ghee, melted
• 1 T sugar

Directions

Combine flours, yeast, sugar, salt, water, yogurt, and olive oil and pour into your stand mixer.
Mix for about 10 minutes with the dough hook.  The dough should be moist but not too overly sticky. Add extra flour if necessary.
Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a clean, oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Usually what I do when I want dough to rise is I take a wet towel and microwave it for about a minute.  Then I put the dough into the microwave.  Now it's nice and warm and moist.
Divide into 18 portions and roll into balls. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Place on a well floured surface and roll into 1/3″ thick oblong discs.
Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Add ghee (or butter) and cook one disk at a time.
Cook about 1 minute on first side. Flip and cook until the second side is brown and aromatic. This will take about 2 minutes.
Serve immediately.

References:

• http://globaltableadventure.com/2010/02/07/recipe-noni-afghani-afghan-flatbreadnaan/

Recipe - Sabse Borani (Spinach Yogurt Dip)

This recipe needs liquid to be removed from the yogurt either by using a cheese cloth or a coffee filter. Surprisingly, I've never used a cheese cloth in my cooking, but I had a cheese cloth hanging around, which was great.  I'm sure the coffee filter method would have been sufficient, but the yogurt strained with the cheese cloth had a great consistency.

This was awesome with the Noni Afgani but would be good with chips or anything.  I made it early in the day and was prepared when my guest arrived.  It does need to set for awhile so take that into account when preparing

I will definitely make this again.

Total time: 2 hours
Active time: 30 to 40 minutes (divided within the 2 hours)

Sabse Borani

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups full fat Greek yogurt
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T minced garlic

Directions:

1. Drain the yogurt by placing in a cheese cloth or coffee filter over a colander for 1 hour.  Meanwhile, continue with the next steps
2. Saute onion and garlic until the onion is browned, about 10 minutes
3. Rinse and chop the spinach.
4. Saute until spinach is wilted.  Immediately remove from the heat
5. Let the spinach mixture cool in the fridge.  Once cool, combine with the yogurt and let set in the fridge at least a half hour before serving with Noni Afgani or pita chips.

References:

• http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/2013/11/afghan-spinach-yogurt-dip-sabse-borani.html
• http://www.tarasmulticulturaltable.com/noni-afghani-afghan-flat-bread-with-sabse-borani-spinach-yogurt-dip/

Recipe - Lamb Korma (Lamb Stew)

Stew!  Who doesn't love a nice stew?  And I'm a sucker for lamb.  Nam nam nam.  And I used goat yogurt in this, which was pretty exciting to me as I've never cooked with goat yogurt.

This was really good.  I'd never heard of a yogurt based soup before.  It reminded me a little of Indian cuisine, but that's probably due to the spices.

Unfortunately I did not snap a picture of this.  Which is really too bad because it turned out amazing.  The color was an orangey shade.

Lamb Korma

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat
1/3 cup olive oil
3 onions, diced
3 T chopped garlic
2 t turmeric
1 t garam masala (optional)
1/2 t cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
32 oz canned tomatoes, chopped
2 cup beef stock
3 T tomato paste
1 cup Greek or goat yogurt
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Brown the onions in the oil (about 15 minutes)
2. Add the spices (garlic, turmeric, masala, cinnamon if using ground) and cook 2 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes, their juices and the tomato paste
4. Add the lamb and cook 4 minutes, until the sides are browned.  This will lock in the flavor of the lamb while it simmers.
5. Add the water, yogurt and cinnamon stick if using.  Stir every 15 minutes for about two hours.  I prepared the Noni Afgahni and read Honey Thief because I was lucky that it coincided with one of the baby's naps!
6. Serve with rice and Noni Afghani.

References:

• http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/meats/afg_lamb_spin.html
• http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lamb_korma/
• http://www.adventuressheart.com/2011/08/beef-korma-afghan-style.html

Recipe - Nakhot-e-Shor (Roasted Chickpeas)

Most of the instructions I found for this was the same video with dubbed English.  This came together super quickly and tasted great.  It reminded me of hummus, which is not surprising seeing as how it's chickpeas with cumin and turmeric.  I usually don't use much if any salt, but these did need some.  I'm not quite sure how much I put on, but probably around a teaspoon.  Use more or less depending upon your tastes.

Nakhot-e-Shor

Ingredients:

• 38 oz chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 4 T olive oil
• 1 t cumin (optional)
• 1 t turmeric (optional)
• 2 T garlic
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, saute the garlic, cumin and turmeric in the oil for about 5-10 minutes
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
3. Put a paper towel down on a cookie sheet and dump the chickpeas onto the sheet.  Put another sheet over the top and rub dry.
4. Remove the paper towel and toss the chickpeas in the olive oil
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until the chickpeas look nice and browned.  During this time I stired a couple times to help them get evenly browned.  Be careful though, the oil can spit!
6. Season with a little salt, if desired.

References:

• http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/roasted-chickpeas-garbanzos-for-a-healthy-snack/
• http://www.muzikkitabi.com/Video/VIDEOIDqREr3tLNQpE/Roasted-Chickpeas-recipe---Afghan-Snack-Nakhot-e-Shor-Afghan-Cuisine
• http://steamykitchen.com/10725-crispy-roasted-chickpeas-garbanzo-beans.html

Afghanistan - About

Afghanistan has a very long history.  Neanderthal bones were found there.  Blades carbon dated to 34,000 BC were found there.  The oldest known oil painting was found there, dating back to the 5th century, about a millennia before the Europeans would discover oil painting.

Unlike that first place, Abkhazia, pretty much everyone has heard of Afghanistan for obvious reasons.  As Ambrose Pierce once said: "war is God's way of teaching Americans geography."  Which is true.  Most people understood where Abkhazia was when I mentioned the 2008 violence between South Ossetia, Georgia and Russia.

The more recent history is indicative of much of the Afghan past.  They have been a country on the edge, a borderland of sorts throughout history.  The country sits along the ancient silk road and was a gateway to both India and China.  It is land-locked and mountainous with lakes and rivers in many of it's valleys, but can be very dry in other parts.  It's roughly about the size of Texas.

Alexander the Great is attributed to saying that Afghanistan is "easy to march into, hard to march out of."  Which others throughout history have also discovered. Being in the crossroads between many cultures, wars have been fought in this land for thousands of years.  Gengis Kahn fought through this region as did Darius I of Persia.  Empires have risen and fallen here.  To name them all would take far more words than I'm intending to place in this post!  It was a buffer between the Russian Empire and British controlled India in the 19th century, a cold war battle ground in the late 1970s and the 80s  but after Russia left, a huge civil war ripped through the land.  And for over 10 years, the west has been fighting the Taliban through this area.

They consider the new year to start on the first day of Spring, which makes a lot of sense given that the Spring is for renewal and new life.

Poetry is very important.  In the city of Herat, Thursdays are poetry night.  In addition to poetry, Afghans love proverbs.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. 
• A river is made drop by drop.
• You can't clap with one hand.
• May God not make one hand dependent on the other. (I love the irony between this and the prior).
• One who doesn't appreciate the apple, won't appreciate the orchard.
• There is a path to the top of even the highest mountain.
• A good year is determined by its spring.

Their culture is a mixture of others from the area which influences from China, India, Arabia, Persia and roots back to Alexander the great and prior.  Each culture that has crashed into and through this country has left their mark in the music, clothing a foods of Afghanistan.

It's a tribal society with various ethno-linguistic groups.  There are fourteen ethnic groups mentioned in the Afghan national anthem.  Each of these groups have slight differences in the culture, food and music.  The groups have common threads, including Muslim religion and as such, food is always prepared with Halal rules.  Haraam is the rule for non-Halal foods.  Pork is haraam as is blood and alcohol.

Just like India, hey have naan bread, which I think is one of the most tasty things in the whole world.  They also have some other flat breads such as lavash, chapati (which is the same as roti) and  a thicker obi non.  Rice and lentils are both very important in their diet.  Lamb and beef and chicken are popular proteins.  Common spices include turmeric, coriander, cardamom, mint and saffron.

Attan is one of the traditional Afghan dances.  It was done in times of celebrations like weddings or to pump the army up before war.  The following video has some beautiful music with photos of the Afghan people.



Additional Reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
• http://www.afghana.com/SocietyAndCulture/proberbs.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Afghanistan
• http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/07/31/everything-you-need-know-about-afghan-food
• http://www.afghankitchenrecipes.com/
• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12011352