Afghan food or something allegedly like it

This week I tried fixing Afghan* food and it turned out really well! Or at least it was really delicious. Saying it turned out "well" might suggest that what I made was tasty AND authentic, something I can't really confirm. Tasty, yes, authentic ... who knows. The closest I've been to Afghanistan is India, and even though it's only 800 or so miles away, there's a lot of difference (and a lot of Pakistan) between those two places.

 

Why Afghan food? Here's a chart I made to explain:

 

Require further explanation? Fair enough. I made that chart in about 30 seconds and it kind of makes no sense. Here goes. This all started five years ago. I worked in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood at that time and one of my favorite lunchtime haunts was a place called the Patty Pan Grill. This brick & mortar iteration of Seattle's oldest farmer's market concession (long before food trucks were hip, I believe) was the site of many a really good vegetarian or vegan lunch long before I was really trying to eat much vegan food. Their veggie yakisoba noodles and delicious signature spicy red chile sauce were affordable, cooked to order, and really just very fabulous. I get a little nostalgic and quite hungry thinking about their phenomenal root vegetable quesadillas, especially on very gloomy-rainy workdays. Sadly, the PPG (as my coworkers and I called it) no longer has a permanent location in Ballard, but I still get to eat the aforementioned treats from time to time, which is pretty amazing indeed.

 

(I promise I'm getting to the Afghan food part.)

 

General love for the PPG was well-understood by several coworkers and one day someone gave me a copy of PPG owner/founder Devra Gartenstein's book "The Accidental Vegan". This book sat on my shelf through two moves and numerous attempts at feng shui, and finally I took it out and read through it about two months ago (around the time I decided to try eating mostly vegan food). I tried several of the recipes, including one for Afghan Stew. I liked the stew well enough, but didn't think it was amazing. It made me more curious about Afghan food in general, though. (Italicized for emphasis).

 

So, this week, a friend of mine visited Seattle. She was staying in the University District and as I was trying to figure out where we should have dinner I remembered a place called Kabul, an Afghan restaurant in Wallingford (a neighborhood near the U-District) that I'd been wanting to try for some time. We went there on Tuesday night and had really spectacular dinner. I had the Qorma-i-Sabzi, which was a little bit like Indian saag, but a bit lighter/less creamy. My friend had Badenjan Bourani, which was really good, too. I'm not a major eggplant fan (neither am I a hater), but when it's done really well I am always happy to eat a ton of it.

 

Having thus sampled two dishes at an Afghan restaurant (and therefore basically now a world-renowned expert!) I decided to poke around the internet and see what sorts of things I could make at home. I had mint and carrots from my CSA to use up, and also had a butternut squash lying around that I wanted to do something different with.

 

First dish: my take on kaddo bourani, a pumpkin dish (kaddo = pumpkin). As I understand it, kaddo bourani generally involves meat and is finished with a yogurt sauce (bourani or borani refers to the yogurt sauce). I stuck to tomato sauce, adding lots of fresh mint at the beginning and end. It made enough for three big servings and I enjoyed each one. It's a delicious blend of sweet and savory and a fresh take on one of my very favorite winter vegetables.

 

Recipe: Afghan-inspired squash

Serves about 2-3 as main dish; 6 as a side

 

1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 medium onion (I used a sweet yellow one), pureed in food processor

1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

2-4 garlic cloves minced (your preference)

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp dried turmeric

2 tsp dried coriander

1 tsp chili powder (or more if you like)

3-4 tbsp tomato puree

1 cup water

1 tbsp agave nectar (could also use 3 tbsp sugar)

salt

bunch fresh mint

 

Heat oil in large skillet (a wok would work well; I don't have one, though). Add garlic and sautee for a minute or two. Add ginger, turmeric, coriander, chili powder, cook for 1 minute. Stir in onion puree and cook 8-10 minutes or until onion begins to turn golden.

 

Add tomato puree, agave nectar and water. Heat to boiling, stirring as needed.

 

Add a few teaspoons chopped mint and the squash. Stir a bit to incorporate. Reduce to simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until squash is tender. Check occasionally and add more water if needed as sauce reduces. Remove from heat. Garnish with remaining mint leaves and serve with flatbread, rice, quinoa, or equivalent.

 

 

Here's a shot of the squash being added to the pan:

 

 

 

The finished product would be divine over rice or quinoa, or with flatbread. Here's a close-up:

 

Another shot of the finished squash, served here with a bit of poached whitefish (not vegan, obviously):

 

For my second attempt at Afghan-inspired vegan food I fixed soup. I combined a few of the elements I found while googling "Afghan stew" and came up with something filling, simple, and delicious. It also gave me a chance to put this week's rainbow carrots to excellent use and to finish up the mint from this week's CSA as well. Aren't these rainbow carrots beautiful??

 

 

 

 

Recipe: Afghan-inspired stew 

Serves 4-6 and makes great leftovers

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

2 tbsp dried marjoram

2 tbsp dried coriander

2 tsp dried mint - or - 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint if you can

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 large carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 zucchini, chopped into 1-inch pieces

4-6 cups water (use more or less depending on how thick you want this. I used 4.)

3/4 c lentils (any kind is fine; I used red)

28 oz can chopped/diced tomatoes, not drained

1/8 c. low-sodium soy sauce

2 tsp dried dill weed

green onions for garnish (optional)

 

Add vegetable oil to large pot (12 quart or thereabouts) and heat to medium high. Add minced garlic and cook for about a minute. Add onions and dried marjoram, coriander and mint, stirring. Cook for about a minute until fragrant. Add carrots, zucchini and 1/2-1 c. water. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until vegetables soften and begin to brown.

 

Add remaining water, lentils, tomatoes, soy sauce and dried dill weed. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for an hour until lentils are softened, stirring occasionally. Serve with green onions as garnish, or if you like, with a bit of Greek yogurt or sour cream atop.

 

 

Here's a picture of the veg (note the rainbow of carrots!) cooking in 1/2 cup water:

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the finished soup as I'm about to dig into it:

 

*I wondered as I wrote this if I shouldn't call it "Afghani" food. Internet to the rescue. I turned to a 2001 article in Slate magazine from to settle this. It should be Afghan. Says Slate. Good enough for me and my humble blog post, but I'll freely admit that I may be getting it all very wrong. Such is life. Apologies if I'm completely wrong.