By Humaira
When I was growing up in Afghanistan, for after school snacks we got fresh or dried fruit. There were no warm chocolate chip cookies or potato chips waiting on the kitchen counter for me. And that is a good thing because I still snack on pomegranates, cherries, and grapes with a handful of nuts.
In our house, there would always be large bowls filled with freshly harvested fruit from various family members’ orchards. My favorite was pomegranate season when I would be offered a bowl of the crunchy, juicy seeds which came with a warning ‘Don’t stain your clothes’. Despite my best efforts, the jewel-like little seeds, full of nutrients and antioxidants, stained my lips red and dotted the front of my shirt.
You see, Afghanistan has 79 varieties of pomegranates grown in dry hot provinces but the Qandahari variety is of the most famous. They’re plump, sweet and juicy, ripened for export to neighboring countries throughout Asia. It is serendipitous that I live in California, where most of the pomegranates in the US are grown. However, when we first moved to the US, we found pomegranates expensive and there was a dry period of 15-20 when we barely any.
Now that pomegranate has become famous in the United States, thanks to POM brand pouring millions of dollars of advertising behind their brand, pomegranate has found its way into salads, main courses, and drinks in fancy restaurants but people still shy away from the odd-looking fruit with thick leathery skin and instead buy the seeds which come in a cup in the refrigerated section of the vegetable section which usually contains a handful of rotting seeds, lurking in the bottom. But, don’t worry, you will not have to deal with those pesky, slimy seeds anymore because I’m going to teach you how to seed your own pomegranate in 30 seconds.
It wasn’t’ until recently when a friend saw me deseed a pomegranate and marveled at the speed and encouraged me to share it on my blog. So, I created this quick Youtube video with my genius director and video maker, Brandon Chaves, to show you how to deseed a pomegranate in 30 seconds. Now, you can impress your family and friends by making some of my recipes with pomegranate in them — Quince Pomegranate & Apple Juice, Pom Pear Pudding, and Lamb with Pomegranate and Saffron.
Please enjoy this video, share it with friends, and comment. I love to hear from you.
Coming soon…
In two weeks I’ll put out my next demonstration video for BOLANI, Afghan flatbread stuffed with potato, spinach, and leeks. I’ll also make a tangy chutney sauce with creamy yogurt.
If you missed it, I started a Youtube Cooking Channel where I'm posting video demonstrations of my most popular recipes. I'm grateful to my director, Brandon Chaves, for the beautiful videos he has created.
Would you help me get more visibility for these videos by watching, commenting, sharing and subscribing to my Youtube channel? My motivation for all this work is not money since all the content I create is free but to teach the world a different narrative about Afghanistan. I hope you will be part of my army of game-changers by teaching the world a different side of Afghanistan than what is portrayed in the media.