Afghan cuisine

Afghan cuisine (Dari: آشپزی افغانستان‎, Pashto: افغان پخلی‎) is largely based upon the nation's main crops: wheat, maize, barley and rice. Accompanying these staples are native fruits, vegetables, and dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and whey. The nation's culinary specialties reflect its ethnic and geographic diversity. Afghanistan is known for its high-quality pomegranates, grapes, and sweet rugby-football-shaped melons. Afghanistan's national dish is Kabuli palaw.

Some of the popular Afghan dishes, clockwise from top left:

1. Lamb grilled kebab (seekh kabab) 

2. Kabuli palaw and Salad 

3. Mantu (dumplings)

Major Foods

Non (bread) from a local baker, the most widely consumed bread in Afghanistan

Afghan men eating lunch in Kunar Weleyat

Rice with kofta (meatballs) and corn

Types of rice dishes

Challow is served mainly with qormas (korma; stews or casseroles).

Palaw

Afghan Qabeli palaw

Palaw is cooked similarly to challow, but a combination of meat, stock, qorma, and herbs are blended in before the baking process. This creates elaborate colors, flavors, and aromas from which some rice is named. Caramelized sugar is also sometimes used to give the rice a rich brown color. Examples of Palaw include:

• Kabuli Palaw – a national dish. Meat and stock are added, and topped with the fried raisins, slivered carrots, and pistachios.
• Yakhni Palaw – meat and stock are added. Creates brown rice.
• Zamarod Palaw – spinach qorma mixed in before the baking process, hence 'Camaro' or emerald.
• Bore Palaw – former Lawand added. It creates yellow rice.
• Landi Palaw – Rice with livestock that has been salted and rested in the sun is a tradition in Afghanistan, among many.
• Bojan-e-Roomi Palaw – formerly Bonjan-e-Roomi (tomato qorma) added during baking. It creates red rice.
• Serkah Palaw – similar to yakhni pulao, but with vinegar and other spices.
• Shibet Palaw – fresh dill, raisins are also added during baking.
• Narenj Palaw – a sweet, elaborate rice dish made with saffron, orange peel, pistachios, almonds, and chicken.
• Maash Palaw – a sweet and sour pulao baked with mung beans, apricots, and bulgur wheat. Exclusively vegetarian.
• Alou Balou Palaw- a sweet rice dish with plums and chicken

Qormah

Qormah/Korma is a stew or casserole, usually served with chateau rice. It is always onion- and tomato-based. The onion is caramelized, creating a richly colored stew. Then the tomato is added, as well as a variety of fruits, spices, and vegetables depending on the recipe. The main ingredient is added last, which can be meat or other vegetables. There are hundreds of different types of qormahs, some examples include:

• Qormah e Gosht – translates to meat qormah, it usually is the main qormah served with Palaw at the gatherings.
• Qormah e Alou-Bokhara wa Dalnakhod – onion-based, with sour plums, lentils, and cardamom. It uses veal or chicken.
• Qormah e Nadroo – onion-based, with yogurt, lotus roots, cilantro, and coriander. It uses lamb meat or veal.
• Qormah e Lawand – onion-based, with yogurt, turmeric, and cilantro. It uses chicken, lamb or beef.
• Qormah e Sabzi – sautéed spinach and other greens. It uses lamb.
• Qormah e Shalgham – onion-based, with turnips and sugar; sweet and sour taste. It uses lamb.

MantuEdit

Mantu in a steamer before cooking

Known as khameerbob and often eaten in the form of dumplings, these native dishes are popular. Due to the lengthy time required to make dough for the dumplings, they are rarely served at large gatherings like weddings, but are more for special occasions at home:

• Mantu – Dumplings filled with onion and ground beef or lamb. Mantu is steamed and usually topped with a tomato-based sauce and yogurt- or qoroot-based sauce. The yogurt-based topping is usually a mixture of yogurt, garlic, and split chickpeas. The qoroot-based sauce is made of goat's cheese and is also mixed with garlic; a qoroot and yogurt mixture will sometimes be used. The dish is then topped with dried mint and coriander.
• Ashak – Dumplings filled with a mixture largely of leeks. Ashak is topped with garlic-mint qoroot or a garlic yogurt sauce, sautéed tomatoes, red kidney beans, and a well-seasoned ground meat mixture. It is a dish associated with Kabul.
  

  Afghan Ashak

Each family or village has its own version of mantu and ashak, which creates a wide variety of dumplings. A local plant called gandana is cut and used as dumplings; it is boiled and fried in ghee with pudina powder added over the soup, with vinegar.

Kebab

Kofta Kebab with non

Afghan kebab is most often found in restaurants and outdoor street vendor stalls. The most widely used meat is lamb, however, recipes differ between every restaurant. Afghan kebab is served with naan, but rarely rice. Customers have the option to sprinkle sumac or ghora (dried ground sour grapes) on their kebab. The quality of the kebab solely depends on the quality of the meat used. Pieces of fat from the sheep's tail (jijeq) are usually added with the lamb skewers to add extra flavor.

Chopan Kebab being prepared

Other popular kebabs include the lamb chop, ribs, kofta (ground beef) and chicken, all of which are found in more formal restaurants.

Chapli kebab, a specialty of Eastern Afghanistan, is a patty of beef mince. It is a popular barbecue meal in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The word Chapli comes from the Pashto word Chaprikh, which means flat. It is prepared flat and round and served with naan. The original recipe of chapli kebab dictates a half meat, half flour mixture, which renders it lighter in taste and is less expensive.

Chicken

Afghani Chicken or Murgh Afghani is a classic example of one of the most famous dishes of Afghanistan. Chicken dishes are usually found in restaurants and outdoor street vendor stalls. Unlike the Indian cooking style, chicken in Afghan cuisine is often used in order to be Halal (religiously acceptable according to Muslim law). Cream, butter, and curd are customary ingredients in all chicken recipes, whether served as an appetizer or as a main course.

Quroot

Quroot (or Qoroot) is a reconstituted dairy product, traditionally a by-product of butter made from sheep or goat milk. The residual buttermilk remaining after butter churning is soured further by keeping it at room temperature for a few days, treated with salt, and then boiling it. The precipitated casein is filtered through cheesecloth, pressed to remove liquid, and shaped into balls. The product is thus a very sour cottage cheese. Quroot is hard and can also be eaten raw. It is typically served with cooked Afghan dishes such as Ashak, Mantu, and Kichri Qoroot.