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Afghan Culture Unveiled

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PLANNING AN AFGHAN DINNER PARTY

December 22, 2010

By Katie

With the season of celebrations officially in full swing, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about dinner parties.  Putting out a delicious spread of food isn’t just about cooking, it’s also about the tricky job of knowing what combination of dishes makes sense.  You must consider the flavors, textures, colors, richness and seasonality of all the various food in order to achieve balance on the plate.  I find it helpful to settle on a theme when it comes to pulling together a menu.  It can be a loose concept, say, “casual comfort food” or “Mediterranean appetizers”, or as is often true in my case, “Afghan”. 

A few months back, Humaira and I hosted an Afghan dinner party for 10 that was part of a fundraising effort for our childrens’ school.  Pulling together the menu took some forethought and more than a few emails back and forth to nail down just the right meal for the crowd, the season and the amount of time we wanted commit.   Here is what we ultimately came up with:

Appetizers

Spiced Cashews

Spicy Afghan Chickpeas

Luscious Layered Eggplant with Pita Toasts

Dinner

Tomato, Cucumber and Cilantro Salad

Braised Spinach with Lemon and Dill

Tender Lamb Kebab with Cinnamon

Chicken and Caramelized Carrot Palau

Fresh Nan

Dessert

Afghan Sundae

Coffee

Cardamom Almond Brittle

We divvied up the various dishes, each taking on a handful of responsibilities, and the meal went off without a hitch.  Plus, it was fun to do together.   You can access recipes for most of the menu by clicking on the dish.  Humaira will post the recipe for Chicken Palau next week.  It’s the perfect sort of thing to serve to a crowd for end-of-year celebrations.  Afghan-themed New Year’s Eve, anyone?   

Happy Holidays.

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license. 

In Menu Tags Afghan Dinner Party, Afghan Food Menu
← AFGHANISTAN'S NATIONAL DISH - KABULI PALAUAFGHAN FLAVORS AT YOUR THANKSGIVING TABLE →

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      Humaira opens the world to Afghan culture and cuisine through this blog. She shares the wonders of Afghanistan through stories of rich culture, delicious food and her family’s traditions. Learn more about    Humaira’s work .

 

Humaira opens the world to Afghan culture and cuisine through this blog. She shares the wonders of Afghanistan through stories of rich culture, delicious food and her family’s traditions. Learn more about Humaira’s work.


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My Recipes Appear In

 

FOOD52

Mom’s Kitchen Handbook ~ Blog

San Francisco Chronicle

“The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul” ~ A Novel

"Turmeric - The Wonder Spice" ~ A Cookbook"

Foreign Policy Magazine

Veggie Belly ~ Blog

"Giving - Student" ~ A Cookbook

Ingredient Matcher ~ Blog

Afghana ~ Blog 

Book Club Cheerleader ~ Blog 

Cornish Pasty ~ Blog 

Rhubarbarian ~ Blog 

Dietician Without Borders ~ Blog 

"Yogurt Culture" ~ A Global Look at How to Make, Bake, Sip and Chill the World's Creamiest, Healthiest Food

 

PLEASE MAKE PRESS AND SPEAKING INQUIRIES AT:

humairaghilzai@gmail.com or by phone 415-269-5252

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