Khilal-e-Narenj (sour orange peel)

Oranges are in season and sour oranges are one of the most fragrant. During this time of the year, in most Afghan households this sour orange is used instead of lemons to flavor food, salads and water. But once the juices are used, you can take the peel and make it a topping for narenj palaw. Recipe for the palaw to follow at a later time.
Cut the orange peel in strips. Clean out the white parts. Julien into small strips. Air dry thee orange peel and store in an air tight container.

To Die for Sheer Berej (milk rice or keer)
Sheer berenj is one of my favorite desserts to cook. It's easy to cook because doesn't need a lot of attention, and simply delicious.  You need only 4 ingredients to make this recipe. I usually make a huge pot because I know that I will be packing left overs for my extended family who enjoy this dessert very much. The recipe below gives you enough for 25-30 people, so adjust accordingly.

Ingredients
1 gallon whole milk
4 cups (use a measuring cup) bastmati rice
3.5 cups granulated sugar
Two teaspoons ground cardamom

Wash and soak the rice at least 6 hours in advance.

In a big aluminum or steel pot (I don't like using non-stick), bring the milk to a boil. Add cardamon. Wet the bottom of the pot before pouring the milk and it will not stick. Drain the rice and crush it with your fingers. Add the rice to the milk. Cook on low temperature (2-3 on your stove dial) with the lid on for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once the rice softens and you can see the sheer berenj thickening, add the sugar. Cook with the lid off for about another hour. Be sure to stir constantly so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

Pour into a large bowl and let it cool before serving. You may top it off with crushed nuts or enjoy it as it is.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Goodness gracious! Early pregnancy killed my love affair with food and I have not been able to post any exciting recipes lately. But I have entered my second trimester and although shakey, I am finding my love for food all over again. That means, I am cooking again! Recipes to follow soon! Share your comments and if you are looking for a specific recipe.

Cheers!

Lola Kabob (Rolled Kabob)

Have you ever felt that you know how to cook something, but never actually cooked it? Well, that is what I thought about Lola Kabob. I had seen people cook it and knew the ingredients but never really cooked it until recently when my mother inlaw was cooking it and  I helped her.  On my first try, they came out good but the texture was a little like cheese puffs because I grinded the meat too much. This recipe is tested and I guarantee you will not have to explain the cheese puff texture to anyone!

Ingredients

1/2 pound of lean beef/lamb or veal
1 large onion, whole
1 large potato. whole
1 serrano pepper, whole
1 cup chick peas, cooked
1/2 cup chick pea flour
3 Eggs
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
1 teaspoon red pepper powder
Salt to taste
Oil as needed

In a pressure cooker, put a cup of water with the chunks of meat, onion, potato and serrano pepper, and let it cook for 12-15 minutes or until the meat is tender. Let the pressure out, open the top and let it cook on medium heat for about 5-8 minutes until all the water is soaked.

Put the cooked meat in a food processor and grind it for 1-2 minutes or until the meat is ground up with no big chunks. You can also use a meat grinder but I like how it comes out even in the food processor. Take the meat out in bowl, add the cooked onion, potato, serrano pepper in the food processor and grind until smooth. Add the mixture to the meat along with eggs,chick pea flour, spices and salt, and mix well with your hands so that you can crush any big chunks. It is very important that there are no big chunks . Also, every ingredient besides the eggs, flour and spices must be cooked before it goes inside the mixture. If you mixture is too watery just add some more flour. As long as you can make little rocket shapes kabobs and add it to the oil you will be fine. The kabob will take shape once it is added to hot oil.

Fill a deep frying pan or deep fryer with oil and heat on high heat. There should be enough oil to deep fry these. Wet your hands with water and take about 1 table spoon of the mixture in the palm of your hand, roll it with both hands until you get a long rocket shape (it should be about 1 and half inch long and 1/4 inch thick) and add to the oil. Cook on meduim-high heat for 6-8 minutes or until brown.

Serve with fresh bread, french fries, a salad of onion, tomatoes and lime, and a side of chutney.

Nooshe' Jan!

Mantoo (Dumplings)

Mantoo , an Afghan dish of Uzbek origins is dumpling filled with ground beef and onions steamed and served with a topping of yogurt and usually a vegetable or split pea stew. It is one of dishes that is wildly popular and can be found on many Afghan restaurants menus as an appetizer or main entrée. Unlike other Afghan foods that are heavy and oily, mantoo is rather light! The flavor of mantoo is driven by the amount of onions in the filling. My mother always says that the ratio of meat to onions should be 1 to 3, so if you use on pound of ground beef, use three pounds of onions. But again, depending on who cooks it, mantoo can have a lot of onions or fewer onions. While I am no judge of who cooks it the more authentic way, I just like to cook it the way I think tastes the best. Now, I had promised that I will present the traditional Afghan dishes, but with creative twists. The idea for today’s mantoo is inspired by my husband’s memory of mantoo he ate while he lived in Hairatan, a city in the province of Balkh in Afghanistan. The mantoo he praised day and night until I tried it myself has a surprising ingredient, Kadoo (pumpkin or butternut squash). I had some left over shredded kadoo at home from a previous dish that I made, so I am using that for today's mantoo. (if you just want regular mantoo, then add more onions).

Ingredients

Dumpling
1/2 pound ground beef
2 Large Onion, chopped
3 Cups shredded butternut squash (it’s about half of a whole squash)
A bunch of cilantro, chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
1 Serrano pepper finely chopped
2 Pack wonton wrappers (small squares)
½ Cup of oil
Salt to taste

Sauce1 Cup dry yellow split peas
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 serrano pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup of oil
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
A pinch of black pepper
4 cups of water
Salt to taste

Garnish
Fresh plain yogurt
Fresh or dry mint
Red chili powder

To make the filling, add the ground beef and garlic in a pan with a ½ cup of water, cover and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. Leave the top of the pan open and let all the juices dry. With the end of your wooden spatula, break the meet up into small pieces. Remove the meat from heat and set it aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, onions, butternut squash, spices, salt and incorporate it together really well. Use your hands and crush any big chunks of ground beef.

Spread 4-6 wonton wrappers each time and wet the corners with the tip of your fingers. Then put a spoonful of the filling on the bottom half and wrap the other half over it to make a triangle. Then take the to opposite ends of the triangle and pinch them together. Coat the bottom of your steaming dish with some oil, arrange the dumplings and it coat it with some more oil. Bring the water in the steamer pan to a boil and place the steamer dishes on it. Let it cook for 40 minutes.

For the stew, heat the oil on a deep pan on medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Sautee until you see a slight golden color(make sure your heat is medium to medium-low otherwise the onions will crip really fast and not cook well). Add the tomato, tomato sauce, peppers, spices and salt and let it cook for 8-10 minutes constantly stirring so the bottom does not stick to the pan. Once you see the oils separating on top, add water and the split peas. Cover the top and let it cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. You can also boil your split peas separately in water and add it with the water to your sauce. Check to see if the split peas are cooked, if not let is cook for more. The sauce should not be too watery, but also not to thick.

To serve, coat the bottom of a plate with yogurt (add a clove of minced garlic and a pinch of salt to the yogurt), arrange the dumplings, add more yogurt on top. Top it off with the split pea stew, garnish with some dry or fresh mint and a little bit of red chili powder.

Serves about 6-8.

Shol-e-Ghorbandi or Shola wa Qorma(Sticky Rice and Moong Beans with Stew)

Shol-e-Ghorbandi is not a typical Afghan dish you will find in a restuarant mainly because not everyone likes it. Shola itself means sticky rice and it can be cooked many different ways. There are many different ways shola is served. Some serve it with quroot (rewetted salty dry yogurt curds) and hot oil or a stew of meat balls, while others make shola in a broth of meat and add different vegetables. Either way, it a dish with a very distinct taste, flavor and texture, and you will only find a handful people who will appreciate this sticky, gooey, spicy and very very flavorful dish.

Ingredients

Shola (sticky rice)

2 cups thick grain basmati rice
1 cup moong beans
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 cup oil
8 cups of water
Salt to taste

Qorma (stew)
1 and 1/2 pound veal or lamb (I like to use a few chunks still attached to the bone)
2 large onions, chopped
1 tomato(optional), chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 Serrano Peppers
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 and 1/2 cup tomato sauce
3/4 Cup oil
2 cups water

Garnish
Dried mint
Red chili powder

Shola

Wash and soak the rice and beans separately. In a medium pressure cooker, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and let is cook until they are brown. Add water and the spices, then bring it to a boil. Add the moong beans, and pressure cook for 5 minutes. Then add the rice and pressure cook on high for 8 minutes, bring the heat down to medium-low, about 3-4 and let it cook for another 8 minutes, the down the heat to low and let is cook for another 15-20 minutes. When you open the pressure cooker, your rice will still have a few bubbles of water on top.

Qorma

In a medium pressure cooker heat oil and add the onions and garlic. Add the chunks of meat and pressure cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker sit for about 10 minutes. Then open the pressure cooker and put on medium heat, add tomato (if using), tomato sauce, spices, serrano peppers (if you like spicy chop one of the peppers, if not add all of them whole) and salt. Sautee until you can see the oil separating on top of the stew. Add water and pressure cook for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker sit until all pressure is out on its own. Cook the stew for on medium heat for another 5-10 minutes or until you see the oil separating on top.

* Different meats cook in different times. If your meat is not tender, cook until it is tender.
* Using the tomato is optional. I like to add atleast one fresh tomato to every stew that I make because of the tangy and sweet flavor.

To serve, take the shola out in a large round platter and add a couple table spoons of the stew on top, along with the whole serrano peppers. Take the rest of the stew out in a serving bowl.

Serves 6 people with Afghan appetites! Enjoy

Chapli Kabob

Chapli Kabob is one of my favorite kabobs to prepare. It is spicy, crispy, meaty and yummy all in on pattie! It is one of the dishes that I prepare when I am texting with my husband at 6:30 in the evening (after having to bust my behind at the gym of course!) and he tells me that he does not want to eat what I already have prepared at home. It is easy to put together and cooks very quickly, and the taste is fit for the kings! Now, in my life time, I have seen Chapli Kabob in many shapes and forms. My mother mixes in whatever vegetables she has at home with the ground beef (she is a healthy freak!), my mother inlaw adds only few, and some other people do not use any vegetables! My recipe was inspired by my husband's memory of Chapli Kabob that he ate at the roadside stalls in Pakistan and his stories made my mouth water even though I had never tasted it. So, one tired and sweaty day, when my husband wanted something different, I thought I should try cooking this Chapli Kabob that he dreams about and trust me it took many tries to get it perfect! (hubby is tough critic!)

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef or veal (twice ground)
1 large onion finely chopped (very finely, you can use your food processor for this step)
2 meduim tomatoes finely chopped (do not use use food processor)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4-6 Thai green chillies finely chopped (they are the thin green ones that are really spicy, if you cannot find it just use serrano peppers)
1 tablespoon of coriander power
2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 large egg
4 table spoons flour
Salt to taste
Oil as necessary

* for the spices, you can also use a packet of Chapli Kabob Masala sold at Indian/Pakistani/Afghan stores.

In a large bowl, mix together ground beef/veal with onions, tomatoes, green chillies and spices. Add the egg and flour, and mix until everything is incorporated. Make sure that everything is incorporated well, otherwise you will find one piece more spiced or salty than the other.

Heat oil in a large and deep skillet on high heat. I like to fill the skillet with oil half way. Turn the heat down to meduim low and start making patties of your mixed beef. Make the patties about 3 inches wide and a quarter inch high. Add slowly to hot oil, if you see the they are browning really fast, turn the heat down more. You want to make sure that they are cooked properly, if you cook it on too high heat, only the outside will cook and the inside will be raw and runny (trust me, I speak from experience). Once one side browns, turn around and cook the other side. You should cook each side about 6-8 minutes or until browned. Serve hot.

Serving Suggestions.

I like to serve my Chapli Kabob with hot flat bread, a salad of red onions, tomatoes, lime and mint (dried or fresh) with a dash salt, and hot sauce (recipe coming soon).