Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Next Stop: Afghanistan



Afghanistan has a wide varying landscape allowing for many different crops. Afghan food is largely based upon cereals like wheat, maize, barley and rice which are the nation's chief crops. Afghanistan is well known for its grapes as well. Given their common history, Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan share many of the same dishes.

Some Afghan delicacies are:

Afghan kadu bouranee – A pumpkin dish made by frying pumpkin with different spices. It is topped with chaka (sour cream) and dried mint. Kadu bouranee is eaten with bread or rice.

Aush – An Afghan soup dish made with noodles and different vegetables in a tomato-based broth. It is topped with chaka (sour cream) and dried mint.

Bolani – A flat-bread dish which has a very thin crust and can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients, such as potatoes or leeks.

Bonjan – Cooked eggplant with potatoes and tomatoes.

Qabili Palau (or simply Palau) – A rice dish made by cooking basmati or long grained rice in a brothy sauce (which makes the rice brown). This dish may be made with lamb, chicken, or beef. Qabili palau is baked in the oven and topped with fried sliced-carrots and raisins. Chopped nuts like pistachios or almonds may be added as well. The meat is covered by the rice or buried in the middle of the dish.

Gosh feel – A dessert dish made by frying dough in an ear shape (gosh), and cooked in oil. Each gosh is topped with chopped pistachios and powdered sugar. Gosh feel is often consumed with Afghan tea.
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