Afghanistan - Meal 1/197

AFGHANISTAN...when telling people I was cooking an entire meal for 7-8 friends from this country, I got the look of confusion from pretty much everyone. After I told them my spiel, they understood, no more confusion and cheered me on! Followed by..."So what did you make?!"

I made this dish on Dec 12, 2016 to kick off my cooking adventure.

Make sure to click on the original author's recipe to make it yourself and see any changes, edits or ideas at the bottom of my post. Happy reading and hopefully, happy cooking!

Did you know? Afghanistan is a landlocked country and located in Asia.

One of my favorite parts of this adventure is visiting stores I've never been to.

Much more fun than any chain store! I bought one spice that was cheaper in bulk, rice and found the best hummus I've ever tasted.

I had six friends over that coached my Winter Indoor Rugby Program in November and December. They did such a great job coaching throughout this session, I wanted to do something nice and cook them an awesome dinner.  I only told the ladies what I was making so it was a surprise for the guys.

Traditionally Afghani people sit on brightly covered cushions, atop beautiful rugs on the floor when they eat. They also use their hands and bread (nan, noni, naan) to scoop and eat their meals but we opted for a table, chairs and forks.

I found all my recipes on Pinterest and chose recipes that stood out and excited me. Below you'll read about this delicious meal for 7-8 people. I had leftovers too, score!

Here's what I made:

Appetizer: Bolani or Fried Afghan Flatbread filled with potato, cilantro, scallion and spices with a yogurt sauce flavored with garlic, dill and coriander. 

These little pan fried perogi/quesadilla-ish bundles of yumminess turned out so much better than I could have imagined. All I heard were “Oooohs” and “Mmmms” from the dining room as my friends scarfed these down. It was at least 8:45pm so they were pretty hungry anyhow. The dill dip really added something special to all of the flavors and I’ll definitely make these again in a mini size for a party.

I definitely need more beautiful plates for food photos. I really didn't want to do any more dishes. It's my least favorite thing about cooking!

Main Entrée: Lawang or Turmeric Braised Chicken in Yogurt, Basmati Rice and Homemade Naan.

I chose the Lawang because it looked beautiful in the photos and turmeric is all the rage right now for a healthy stomach and beautiful skin. The dark orange creamy color of the turmeric and greek yogurt mixed together and the onion and garlic braised chicken drew me to this recipe almost instantly. I had fun making this and it was the easiest to make out of everything….besides the rice! I made a double batch to feed eight people.

I rarely make rice and am always terrified that I will mess it up. I found an easy recipe called “Perfect Basmati Rice” so I guess it had to be perfect! It turned out very nice and soft. The recipe was very detailed and I learned about the starch that attaches to rice. By soaking the rice in water, it comes off and you'll have much better textured rice! I've also dont this with fresh quinoa. I opted out of the butter and spices because I knew the Lawang had enough flavor.

The Naan….oh the Naan. Traditionally, Afghanis make Noni bread but this recipe was very similar and a little bit easier. As I pointed to the fluffy pre flattened loaf under the damp clothe, I told my friends, “and that’s Naan bread” and Chris asked, “It’s not bread?” I said it’s “Naan bread” and we all had a good giggle. I don’t think they expected me to make all of the dough from scratch….but there I was, with my black bedazzled apron and roller covered in flour… 

Cutting onions in my bedazzled black apron and crying my eyes out.

So beautiful and delicious. Naan shaped like a pizza slice tastes the same as a circular piece of naan.

Dessert: Sheer Payra or Afghani Milk Fudge. #FAIL 

I felt defeated when this dish didn’t turn out. I’ve never made a dessert like it! I read the directions carefully. I made sure the house was vacuumed, Titan was put out and my phone was out of reaching distance and I solely focused on this dish. However, as I read the author’s advice on making the simple syrup, I believe that’s where I messed up. I didn’t allow the simple syrup to thicken enough, which didn’t allow the bars to solidify. The ladies liked it, saying the flavors were complex and they ate it up, even though it was mushy…however, the guys shoved it away quickly and really disliked the floral rose water taste….I’m not sure I liked the floral taste either. It could be because I’ve been using rose water and rose oil for my face to help with dryness. Sidenote – it’s amazing!

The nutty delicious ingredients. I was so hopeful!

Want to pair this meal with beverages? Traditionally Islamic law forbids alcoholic beverages and their national drink is tea but if want an adult bevvy that pairs well, I did some research and flavors in this recipe go well with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon for wine and Ryes or Sahti’s for beer. My friends brought over Cabernet Sauvignon and it tasted divine.

Want to try to make this for family or friends? You may even have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already. If you're missing some, everything can be found at your local grocery store. The flavors are amazing and you won't be mad you tried it!

Want to make it all by hand? This entire 3 course meal took me about 4 hours (with dessert as the first thing I made) so plan ahead! 

Tips to make this entire meal or the individual recipes easier:

1)      Only make the Bolani – two of these, maybe three (I could totally eat three depending on the size) would fill you up.

2)      Make Lawang and Naan, with or without rice. I like bread to soak up sauce better than rice any day. To make it even easier, purchase Minute Rice.

3)      Bolani – purchase pre-made dough if you don’t want to make it from scratch.

4)      Lawang – Try to find bone in, skinless chicken thighs and legs or drumsticks. I could only find bone in, with skin, so I removed the skin by easily ripping it away from the meat the night before, bagged it and sealed it tightly so it was ready the next day. I made a double batch and purchased a 12 qt stew pan. A regular large stew pan would be fine for a single batch.

5)      Naan – Buy Naan in the store but I highly recommend making it from scratch. I left my pieces in pizza slice form because I didn’t want to roll out any more dough after I rolled all the individual Bolani dough. My arms hurt!

6)      Sheer Payra – I probably wouldn’t try this again but make sure the simple syrup is thicker so the fudge sets. 

If you decide to try this meal, please make sure you comment on the author’s original recipe and also let me know what you thought!

Happy cooking everyone!