AFGHAN BREAKFAST OATMEAL WITH CHICKEN AND CARDAMOM - HALEEM

By Humaira

Haleem is a delicacy mostly enjoyed in the cold winter months of Afghanistan. It’s considered a warming dish, usually made with protein, oats and wheat. In Afghanistan, due to the high price of chicken, Haleem is made with beef. Traditionally it’s served in a bowl with brown sugar and topped with a generous dollop of hot cooking oil.  Haleem lovers in the Afghan diaspora, mostly use chicken and they substitute butter for oil.  

I didn’t grow up eating Haleem, since Jeja, my mom, can't stand the idea of protein in her oatmeal. Truthfully, I only learned about the dish a few months ago at an Afghan dinner party. I was immediately obsessed with finding the right recipe. My sister Nabila reached out to her network of accomplished Afghan cooks.  We found many variations in people’s techniques. Some people use whole chicken, others use short grain rice instead of oatmeal. In many cases people added milk before baking the dish in a dutch oven overnight

After much testing and tasting, we came up with an easy recipe which makes having a hot bowl of Haleem very easy. You can wake up to the scent of cardamom.

Oats

Aghan Breakfast Oatmeal with Chicken and Cardamom

Haleem

One skinless, boneless chicken breast, around ½ lb

cinnamon stick

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 rolled oats

¾ cup Cream of Wheat

1 tsp ground cardamom

Crock pot

Place chicken breast in a heavy pot, add five cups of water, a cinnamon stick and salt, bring to boil. Cover top, reduce heat to low, simmer for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and soft.  Remove pot from heat, let it cool for half hour.

Discard cinnamon stick. Add chicken breast and two cups of broth to a food processor. Save the rest of the broth if there is any. Pulse the chicken and broth five to eight times until it becomes a thick mixture.

In a large crockpot, add oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, chicken mixture, left over chicken broth, cardamom and 5 cups of water.  Stir well. Set crockpot on low for eight hour.

Serve in a large bowl with a generous spoonful of powdered sugar and a knob of butter. Stir well and enjoy.  I usually add almonds milk, chopped dates and walnuts to my bowl of Haleem.

Serves 8

POTATO WRAP - QORMA E KACHALOO

By Humaira

This fall family dinners have become challenging with our busy schedule of soccer carpools, music lessons and various evening work commitments. I have had to become innovative by creating meals that are prepared at 3pm and eaten at seven. My go to dishes are stews, wraps and soups.

Qorma e kachaloo is a slow cooked potato stew, traditionally made with meat and eaten with challaw, the Afghan white rice. I have taken a modern approach to making a healthy, nourishing and vegetarian Qorma e kachaloo by adding kale instead of meat. If you don’t like kale you can substitute frozen peas, green beans or spinach.

Instead of serving this dish with rice I opted for whole wheat Lavash bread, which is lower in calories and fat than your run of the mill Middle Eastern flat bread. Fresh Lavash is soft and rolls easily but they can dry quickly. To remedy stiff Lavash, rub a tiny bit of water on the bread and heat in a toaster oven for around 10 seconds. It will be as good as new.  The wraps may be made several hours ahead of a meal, which makes them convenient for late dinners, lunches or entertaining.

VeggiesforQormaKachaloo

 Qorma e Kachaloo Wraps

Potato, Kale Stew in a Wrap

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 medium red potatoes cut

in 2-inch cubes with skin on

2 cups densely packed,

chopped kale

4 Roma tomatoes, quartered

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium onion peeled and

quartered

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground paprika

½ tsp. black ground pepper

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

and roughly chopped

1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Yogurt sauce:

1 cup Greek yogurt

½ cup diced mint leaves

1/3 cup peeled and diced

cucumber

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 cups arugula or lettuce

5 whole-wheat Lavash bread

Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and all the spices in a food processor or blender. Process until the ingredients are pureed into a smooth mixture. Heat olive oil in a deep, heavy pot on medium-high. Add potatoes and kale, sauté for around 5 minutes.  Add the content of the food processor to the pot, mix well and bring to boil, around 5-8 minutes. Add jalapeno pepper, cilantro, salt and pepper to the pot, stir well, turn down heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer until the potatoes are soft and the sauce has thickened, around 35-40 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking you may prepare the yogurt sauce. Pour yogurt in a bowl, stir with a fork until creamy. Add all ingredients to the yogurt bowl and stir until mixed well. You may adjust the salt to your taste. Once the potatoes are ready, remove from burner and let it sit for five minutest before roughly mashing the potatoes while still in the pot. 

FixingforKachalooWrap

To assemble the wraps create a work station with the following lined up in order: Lavash, yogurt, mashed Qorma e kachaloo and arugula.

KchalooWrapOpen

Smear two spoonful of yogurt on the Lavash within a ½ inch of the ends of the Lavash. Pile on 2-3 large spoonsful of potatoes in the center of the wrap and spread evenly. Place a handful of arugula before rolling the wrap. Fold in one side of the Lavash and then roll from the bottom up. Cut the wraps in half. Makes five large wraps

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.

AFGHANISTAN'S NATIONAL DISH - KABULI PALAU

A delicious plate of Qabili Palau

By Humaira

An Afghan woman's marriage prospects hinges on her ability to make Palau. So, you can imagine how much thought and effort goes into perfecting the Afghan rice dish. To this day my children and husband tell me that my Palau is not as good as my mom's. Thank goodness Jim didn't test my Palau making skills before he proposed to me over 17 years ago.

Jeja, my mom, makes the best Kabuli Palau in our family.  My cousins request this dish when they visit her. Kabuli Palau was created by the upper class families of Kabul who could afford to include caramalized carrots, plump raisins and coveted nuts in their rice.

Over time as people in Afghanistan became wealthier this dish became more common. So, the name was changed from Kabuli Palau to Qabili Palau. The Dari word Qabil - means well accomplished, indicating that only a skilled chef can truely balance the various flavors of this dish. 

The most important part of making Qabili Palaus is to keep the rice from breaking while it develops a deep rich brown color in the multi step cooking process. Most people think we use brown rice, let me tell you folks, I had not seen brown rice until I was well into my 20's when I started cooking for myself. The white, long grain rice takes on a rich brown color from the caramalized onions and chicken sauce.

Using unprocessed, long grain white rice is key in having success with this dish.  I buy rice from the Afghan grocery market which passes muster with Jeja.  I soak the rice in water for at least an hour to plump up the grains but most store bought Basmati rice can't handle the soaking and the two step cooking technique. That is why I left out the soaking in my recipe.

This dish takes me around 1:45 minutes from start to finish. I have integrated short cuts to help save time. I know Jeja would frown upon some of my techniques but I have made sure that the Palau retains the rich flavors of the original recipe.

I hope you too can make the best Kabuli/Qabili Palau from this this updated recipe.

IMG_6175

Uncooked raisins, carrots & almonds 

Kabuli/Qabili Palau - Afghanistan’s National Dish

4 cups basmati rice

5 skinless chicken legs

5 skinless chicken thighs

3 medium  yellow onions, peeled and quartered

½ c plus 2 tbsp.  olive oil or vegetable oil, divided

5 tsp. salt

1 cup chicken broth

3 large carrots, peeled

1 cup black raisins

½ cup slivered almonds

3 tbsp. sugar

¾ cup water

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 ½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ tsp. ground black pepper

12 cups water

2 tbsp. 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.  You can do this by hand if you prefer. 

Choose a sauté pan that is at least a couple inches deep and large enough to fit all the chicken.  Pour ½ cup of the oil in the pan and sauté the onions over high heat, stirring quickly, until brown (5-10 minutes). Don't burn them. 

IMG_6174

The onions take on a deep rich brown color

Add the chicken to the pan and sprinkle with 3 tsp. of the salt.  Cook the chicken over medium-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 the liquid has been absorbed, add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth, bring it to a boil, cover with a lid or aluminum foil, and simmer for 10 minutes.  The sauce should turn a dark brown.  If your sauce does not take on a dark color you can add the Kitchen Bouquet to give it color.

While the chicken is cooking, cut the carrots into long think matchsticks, about 4 inches long and 1/8-inch thick.  Make sure that they are not too thin.  In a large frying pan add ¾ cups of water and bring to a boil, add the carrots and cook until tender and a deep orange hue, 5 to 7 minutes. 

Keep a close eye on this to make sure you do not overcook them.   Once the carrots are done, drain any leftover liquid out of the pan.   Add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil, raisins, almonds and sugar to the carrots.   Stir quickly over medium-high heat and keep stirring for about 3 minutes.  The raisins will look plump; the carrots will take on a nice sweet flavor.  Remove from heat and package the carrots into a sealed aluminum foil pouch about the size of a small paperback novel. 

IMG_6183

Cooked carrot, raisins and almond in a pouch

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 (see our Palau post for photos) with a fitted lid.  Bring it to a boil.  Add the rice to the water and boil until it is al dente (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 the cooking pot and add the sauce from the chicken.  Mix well.  Arrange the chicken pieces on top of the rice.  Set the aluminum package of carrots on top of the rice.  This will keep the carrots warm and deepen the flavors without mixing with the rice yet.

IMG_6185

Qabili Palau pot ready to go into the oven

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

Arrange the chicken pieces on a large platter, cover with the rice.  Sprinkle the carrots, raisins, and almonds on the rice.  Serve with a simple salata.

 Serves 6-8

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.