Zarghuna S. Adel
The Best of Afghan Cooking
The most comprehensive collection of authentic
Afghan recipes published in English, this cookbook brings the legendary
hospitality and foods of the Afghan table to readers everywhere.
Since
ancient times, Afghanistan’s location in the heart of Central Asia has made it
a crossroads for multiple cultures and culinary influences. The ancient city of
Kabul was a hub for European, Chinese and Indian merchants as well as
intellectuals and spiritual leaders. In this context, Afghanistan’s rich and multifaceted culinary identity
evolved.
To this day, Afghans retain the tradition of preparing food
with freshly harvested ingredients. In most villages, flour is still ground in
local mills and cows are milked daily, and the milk is then processed into
fresh butter or yogurt. Kabobs, ranging from chicken, beef, lamb and fish, are
seasoned with delicate spices before grilling. A variety of fresh vegetables, fruits,
and herbs, along with lentils and meat, are used to prepare traditional stews
called qurmas. Considered Afghanistan’s
national food, rice dishes called palow
are cooked with meat, onions, and distinctive spices such as cumin, cardamom,
cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Dough prepared with fresh
ingredients is shaped into bread, cookies, and cakes before being baked in a
preheated ground oven called a tandoor. Aromatic spices and crunchy roasted
nuts combined with fresh milk and wheat create unique desserts that are simple
to prepare but deliver impressive results
Kabul native Zarghuna Adel brings a lifetime of cooking experience
and years of research into this unique cookbook, which features authentic
Afghan recipes that were lost or forgotten in the course of four decades of war
and displacement. This volume features over 225 recipes, each with easy-to-follow
instructions and a color photograph. Fifteen chapters cover the range of Afghan
culinary offerings, from appetizers, soups, salads, and main dishes to condiments
and desserts, and each chapter includes a detailed introduction to the history,
origins, and cultural traditions that surround the recipes.
Sample recipes:
· Ashak (leek dumplings with yogurt and ground
beef)
· Kabob Teka (marinated lamb and
vegetable kabobs)
· Badenjan Borani (eggplant appetizer
with tomatoes and yogurt)
· Chapli Kabob (fried spicy ground beef patties)
· Qabeli Palow (long grain rice with onions, spices and
tender meat)
· Halwa Ardi (wheat flour halwa
with cardamom and nuts)
· Rout (fluffy sweet bread with sesame and nigella seeds)
· Chai Chawa (green tea with ginger,
fennel and walnuts)
