AFGHANISTAN'S CLASSIC DISH - PALAU

By Humaira & Katie

Nothing is more important at the Afghan table than the rice. An Afghan woman’s reputation as a good cook can hinge solely on how well she prepares her rice. Indeed, the number of rice dishes served at a particular wedding and the skill with which the hostess executes her palau can be fodder for gossip amongst a group of Afghans.

Palau is serious business in Afghanistan and nobody does it better than Humaira’s mom, who is fondly known by her grandchildren as “Jeja.” No matter how well our palau may be, it’s never quite up to Jeja’s standards. Most important is not to overcook the rice. Each grain should be distinct from the next. Sticky rice just will not do in a good Afghan kitchen.

Afghan cuisine uses short grain and long grain rice.  It's very important to buy the best and least processed Basmati rice.  Jeja only shops in the Afghan store where she buys rice for her palau. She always has her finger on the pulse of what the latest, best rice in the market is.  When I'm shopping for rice I always call her from the store to get her recommendation for the best brand name. If you don't have access to an Afghan, Indian or Iranian store,you can still make a fine pilau.  We do find that many brands in American supermarkets are overprocesses and tend to break in the cooking process.  This would probably horrify Jeja, but in our test we found even the broken rice quite delicious.

The recipe for Palau may look daunting but it's not difficult.  We have tested it many times to simplify it and retain the flavors.  There are two methods to cooking long grain rice. 

Afghan Rice with Chicken

Palau e Murgh

3 cups basmati rice

5 skinless chicken legs

5 skinless chicken thighs

2 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered

½ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

5 tsp. salt

1 cup chicken broth

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 ½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ tsp. ground black pepper

12 cups water

2 tsp. browning sauce such at Kitchen Bouquet (optional)*

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Immerse rice in a bowl of water and drain in a colander.Repeat this step 3 times. 

Wash and dry the chicken.  Set aside.

Chop the onions in a food processor using the pulse button. Don't puree the onions.Choose a sauté pan that is at least a couple inches deep and large enough to fit all chicken.Pour the oil in the pan and saute the onions over high heat, stirring quickly, until brown (5-10 minutes). Don't burn the onion.   

Add the chicken to the pan and sprinkle with 3 tsp. of the salt. Cook the chicken over medium-high or high heat for 6 minutes, turning from time to time so all sides turn golden brown. The onion will start to caramelize and turn into a thick sauce. Add 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, and continue stirring to keep the chicken from burning.  Once that liquid dries add another 1/4 cup of broth and cook until all the broth is used. This process will take around 20 minutes. Once a thick sauce has formed, bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover with a lid or aluminum foil and simmer for 10 minutes.Remove the chicken pieces from the broth and set aside. Stir the cumin, cardamom and black pepper into the broth. Continue to cook on low for 5 minutes to allow it to thicken.

Meanwhile, measure 12 cups of water and the remaining 2 tsp. of salt into a large dutch oven or pot with a fitted lid. Bring it to a boil. Add the rice to the water and boil until it is nearly cooked, though still slightly crunchy. This will take just a few minutes depending on the rice you use. You will have to taste it to check for doneness. Do not overcook it. Immediately strain the rice through a colander. Put the rice back into its cooking pot and add the broth. Mix well. Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the rice. Cover the pot with foil and then with a lid.

Bake the rice for 15 minutes at 500  and drop the temperature down to 250 degrees.Cook for another 20 minutes.

Arrange the chicken pieces on a large platter and cover with the rice.Serve with a simple salad and plain yogurt.

Chicken just as it was added to the browned onions in the saute pan

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Chicken after 30 minutes of cooking with the caramalized onions, the brown color is achieved by browning the onions to the right color

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This pan is ready to go in the oven to bake or in Dari it would be "Dam kadan"

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Humaira's rice pot.  You will find one of these in every Afghan's home in the United States.

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TOMATO, CUMIN AND PAPRIKA EGGS - AFGHAN INSPIRED OPEN SANDWICH

By Humaira

I am a cereal girl when it comes to breakfast food. Eggs are my lunch or dinner go to food for a quick delicious meal. In Afghanistan people have boiled eggs or sunny side up for breakfast, but this is rare since eggs are expensive.  Most people in the villages keep a couple of chickens around for their coveted eggs.  

When I was a little girl we lived in a modern two-story house in Kabul with a big yard. My father, a diplomat, loved gardening, growing his own fruit and keeping chickens so we had a chicken coupe in the corner of the yard with around 10 chickens and a rooster. In the mornings I loved to retrieve the freshly laid eggs for breakfast.

This recipe is an amalgamation of various styles of egg recipes I have seen over the years. The sautéing of the tomatoes until caramelized I learned from my daughter’s Turkish babysitter. Adding cumin for extra flavor came from my aunt and the hollowed hard-crusted bread I took from a scene in the movie Moonstruck when Olympia Dukakis cooks eggs for Cher.  

In this recipe I use tomatoes, but since tomato season is over you may substitute canned or homemade tomato sauce. The eggs are even more flavorful and richer in flavor with tomato sauce.

EggsFinal

Ready to eat!

Afghan Inspired Open-Face Sandwich Tomatoes, Cumin and Paprika Flavored Eggs

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tomato diced or 1/4-cup tomato sauce

A pinch of cumin and paprika

2 one inch thick slices of hard crusted Italian bread 

2 eggs

Heat oil in a frying pan on high heat.

 Add the diced tomatoes to the pan and stir for around 2 minutes until

caramelized. If using tomato sauce you can cook the sauce for a couple of

minutes to brings out its flavors.  Add the cumin and paprika to the

tomatoes and stir until mixed well.  Move the caramelized tomatoes to the

edge of the pan.  Remove the inside of the bread; place the hollowed bread

in the pan.  Gently place each egg inside the bread crust.  

Reduce temperature to medium, place a lid on the pan and cook for around 5-7 minutes

until the whites of the eggs are fully cooked through. It is important to keep

the temperature low so the bottom of the bread doesn’t burn.

Gently remove the open-faced sandwiches, place

on a plate, put a dollop of tomatoes sauce on top of the eggs and place the

rest around the eggs.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste and enjoy

with a glass of your favorite drink.

EggsPartlyCooked

Eggs party cooked before placing the lid.

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YOGURT THE CROWNING TOUCH OF AFGHAN RECIPES

A cross-cultural burger: An Afghan-spiced beef and bulgur kebab served on pita with yogurt

Afghan dumplings topped with ground lamb and garlic yogurt

By Katie

A while back I had a vegetable tagine at Nopa, a restaurant here in San Francisco. The tagine itself was lovely. Best of all, it was crowned with a spoonful of rich, tart yogurt gently perfumed with lemon. Although tagine is distinctly Moroccan, the slow-cooked quality of the vegetables, and the fact that the dish was served with yogurt, reminded me of Afghan food. The next day I tinkered in the kitchen with a container of yogurt, a Meyer lemon and a zester. A dollop over a dish of dal was the perfect lunch

If you are familiar at all with Afghan cuisine you know that yogurt is a dietary staple. It always has a presence at the table whether poured over, stirred into, or resting atop a cooked dish, or served plain, usually spiked with dried garlic and a touch of salt.

The Afghans were way ahead of their time where yogurt is concerned. Back in the 1970s when Americans still considered yogurt to be “hippie food”, Afghans had been eating it for centuries. It’s as much a part of the cuisine there as basmati rice and nan bread.

Afghans were on to something. Yogurt plays an important role in their diet from both a nutritional standpoint and a culinary one. Not only is it a fine source of calcium, it is loaded with “good” bacteria, which is what actually turns ordinary milk into yogurt. Plus, the cooling yogurt balances the warming spices and long-cooked flavors so central to Afghan cuisine.

Most of the yogurt we eat here in the U.S. comes in fruity flavored eight-ounce tubs.In Afghanistan they’ve drummed up far more interesting preparations.

Mast

Mast is the Afghan word for yogurt. It is traditionally thicker and richer than what we are accustomed to eating. Humaira and I approximate the consistency by using equal parts Greek-style and American-style yogurt.

Chaka

This is a very dense yogurt made by straining full-fat yogurt through cheese cloth for several hours. It turns thick and tangy. You can easily substitute Greek yogurt for chaka.

Quoroot

The Afghans have a very clever way of preserving yogurt, since refrigeration is non-existent throughout much of the country. They strain, salt and dry it into hard balls called quoroot. The quoroot is then reconstituted in water and used in cooking. This was particularly useful for nomads who preserved their precious milk and tucked it into bags to be pulled out when they set up camp. Quoroot is still commonly used in a savory bread pudding called quorooti. You can find a recipe for it here on Afghan Cooking Unveiled listed under Main Dishes. 

Dough

Afghans also drink their yogurt in the form of something called dough. It is a mixture of plain yogurt, water, cucumber, fresh mint and salt. Served cold, it is considered quite a treat in the hot summer months. I haven’t yet developed a taste for salty, minty yogurt drinks, but then again, I’ve never experienced a hot Afghan summer. Until I do, I’ll stick with my old Afghan standards --topped, of course, with yogurt.

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