Enjoy amazing pashtun food.

Pashtun/Afghan food Recipes

 Enjoy amazing pashtun food.

 I thought I should share a few recipe's that I follow so that everyone gets to try these out.

Chapli Kabab | the home-made style
Ingredients
I use the following method to get
 my quantities right at home.
A kilo of mince lamb
Very finely chopped onions,
 half the amount of mince
 when chopped
Very finely chopped fresh
coriander, quarter the amount
 of onions
5 green chillies, very finely
chopped
About 2 heaped tablespoons of
 pomegranate seeds, chopped/pasted
or use the powder form
About 2 heaped tablespoons
of coriander seeds in powder form,
 or semi-powdered form as
 traditionally they have a rough
 texture to the powder
2 tablespoons of cumin powder
Salt to taste (you can always add
more later so be careful)
1 ½ tablespoons of Cornmeal
(not cornflour) which is a substitute
 of “juwaar” flour, not easily found
abroad. If you can’t find cornmeal
 then normal flour is fine.
Now don’t panic, and you don’t
 have to do this but it would make
 a difference to taste if you do.
 When you’re getting your mince
from the butcher, ask for “charbi”
 (fat) that they take off the meat,
 this will give it lots of flavour!
 Grind/chop the clean white bits
 of charbi and put in about half
 a handful of it in the mixture.
 You can alternatively put the
 chopped fat in the frying oil
 so it gets some of the flavour.
Method
Now add all the ingredients together
 and mix it really really well by hand.
 Unless you're really really careful,
 do NOT put it in a blender like I
 once did, it made a paste of the mince
 and it’s not nice!). You will know
when the mince is mixed well enough
 as you won’t get any redness in the
 meat, every part would be covered
and will look brown’ish.
Now make a ball (baseball size)
 and flatten it as round as you can,
 make it as thin as a usual burger.
Fry it and love it :P Oh and you can
 also put a thin slice of tomatoe
pushed in the centre of the kebab
before frying.
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Karhai Ghwakha | meat cooked in
 a wok-like frying pan
There are 2-3 methods of making
 this and it varies from one area to
another, but the two most commonly
 used methods in my family are as follows:
Ingredients
1 kilo of lamb meat
1 large or 2 small/medium onions
3 tablespoons of oil
3 large tomatoes
Salt to taste
Ginger (a chunk about 2 inches)
Green chillies (3-4 depending on how
 spicy you prefer)
Method 1
Finely chop the onions and fry in
 oil till light brown. Add the meat
 directly to the fried onions and
let this fry till (keep stirring) till
all the meat is coated and changes
 colour. The meat will release its
 own water, so do not add any to it.
 Lower the flame if you think it’s
drying out too quick.
When the meat looks semi-fried
 then add salt to taste, and let it
 cook till the meat is soft (again,
 no adding of water, you can put
a lid on the meat and this will
moisture it again).
Chop the tomatoes in big chunks
 (the size of a large cherry tomato)
 and add these to the meat when
 the meat is cooked. Stir this in
well and cook till the tomatoes
have softened (no more than 2 minutes).
Slice the ginger in very thin strips
 (you can add it as paste but the
fresh ginger strips give it the
right taste) and add this to meat,
 also adding to it at the same time
 the green chillies (either slice
through them or add them whole).
Give this no more than 5 more
minutes to infuse the flavours,
 and karhai ghwakha is done!
Note: When adding the salt,
some people add a bit of cumin
powder to the meat as well.
This is entirely optional; I think
 it tastes just as great without it.
Method 2
Exactly as above but without the
 onions! Fry the meat directly in
very little oil just to get it going.
______________________________
Kabuli Pulao | there are many types
 of Afghan rice but this is the most
 common type of pulao
Ingredients
2 Onions
5 cloves of garlic and equal amount
 in ginger
1 kilo of lamb (big chunks and
preferably leg pieces on the bone
 - you can opt for more or less
meat depending on how much
 you like it!)
2 tablespoons garam masala
Salt to taste
3 cups of rice (with the quantities
 I'm using you can also use 4
cups of rice - sela basmati rice
 most commonly used and preferred,
 but standard basmati is fine if
 you don't have sela)
1 cup of raisins
2-3 carrots (thinly sliced)
1 cup of sugar
1 and a half cups of Oil or Ghee
Method
Soak the rice for at least 2 hours.
Add meat, chopped garlic and
ginger, and garam masala and
salt to a large cooker. Add
enough water so that the meat
 is drowned (water lever covers
 the meat) and bring it all to boil
 till the meat is soft. If the flame
 is high the water will dry out
quicker, you can always add
 boiling water and keep it cooking
 till the meat has softened.
In the meantime, add a bit of oil
and sugar to a pan and fry the
 carrots till they have softened.
 Remove the carrots and fry the
 raisins till they change colour
 (just a couple of minutes is
 enough for these). Cover the
 carrots and raisins in foil
 and keep aside.
When the meat is cooked,
remove the chunks of meat
on a plate and cover with foil.
Drain the stock to remove any
 particles of ground masala or
 tiny shards of bone. Keep the
clear stock to use for the rice.
At this point you can turn the
 oven on full heat (or gas mark 8-9)
 as the next steps won't take very long.
Heat the oil/ghee and add finely
 chopped onions. Fry till the onions
l-pouch which has the carrots and
 raisins. This will keep it steamed
 and warm.
Seal the lid on (cover it with foil
so no steam is let out) and put
 it in the preheated oven but
bring down the gas mark between
 1-2. Leave it in the oven for
about an hour.
To serve: remove the foil-pouch.
 Mix/fluff the rice while adding
 to serving dish. sprinkle the
 carrots and raisins on the top. Enjoy.
Note: some recipe's for Afghani
 Pulao do not use garam masala.
The meat is cooked by adding
 salt only! You may try either style.
thanks.