ONE BOWL AFGHAN MEAT STEW - DO PIAZA

By Humaira

Katie (co-founder of this blog) and I had a lot of fun applying recognizable food terms to Afghan dishes: aushak became Afghan dumpling, falooda became Afghan sundae and sabzi became braised spinach. 

Wanting to lose nothing in translation, we fretted over qorma and kebabs since there is no easy way to classify these dishes for a westerner.  Most people know kebabs as meat on skewers, but in Afghanistan kebabs take many shapes and forms. Do piazza is one of these hard to classify dishes.  It is considered a kebab in Afghan cuisine, but I am calling Do piazza a stew since it is served with its broth after being slow cooked until the meat is tender.  The broth brings the key flavors as it adds an extra dimension to the meal when poured over the meat, the lentils and the bread.  Do piazza (which mean two onions) is one of my favorite Afghan dishes because it is healthy, hearty and easy to serve as a meal.  No side dishes needed.  I recently acquired the recipe from Jeja (my mom) fulfilling a reader’s request for this recipe.  Do piazza will become a go-to recipe for my parties and busy days of running around since it is also perfect for the slow cooker. 

I used beef here but you may substitute lamb.  Give this one-bowl dish a try; it will be a hit with the kids.  Even my daughter Aria liked the dish.

IMG_3672

Stew meat cleaned and cut into 2 1/2-3 inches so it can hold up during the slow cooking

One-Bowl Afghan Meat Stew

Do Piazza

3 pounds bone-in beef stew cut in 3-inch squares

2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, diced

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons salt, divided

4 cups water

1 medium red onion, cut into thin rings

2 cups white distilled vinegar

1 cup yellow lentils

Lavash bread

Wash the beef thoroughly and let the water drip or pat dry with paper towel. 

In a heavy bottom-stewing pan add olive oil and heat on medium-high. Add the yellow onions and fry until golden brown, around 15 minutes.  Add the garlic, mix well and cook for another 3 minutes while stirring.  Add the meat, one tablespoon of salt, turmeric and black pepper to the pan. Mix well by stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the water, cover and bring to a boil, around 10 minutes.  Turn down the heat to low, cover and let it simmer until the meat is tender and easy to cut with a fork.  Depending on the quality and size of your meat, this could take 1 ½ to 2 hours.  Keep an eye on the stew so the broth doesn’t dry up.  If the water reduces too much, add water, half a cup at a time. When the stew is cooked, there should be around 2-3 cups of broth left.

While the meat is cooking, mix the vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt in a bowl, add the red onion and let it marinate until the meat is done.  Make sure that the vinegar covers the onions, if not add more vinegar. You can do this ahead of time, the flavors of the onions will develop better the longer it marinates. The onions will be used as garnish.

Onions marinating in vinegar

In a small saucepan, add the lentils, 3-4 cups of water and ½ tablespoon of salt, cover and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat until the lentils are soft, around 20 minutes. Drains and return to the saucepan. Add the 1 1/2 cups of the beef broth. Simmer for another five minutes.

Large yellow lentils works best

Blanket a large serving platter with one or two lavash bread.  Place the meat, the lentils and the onions in piles next to each other on the lavash bread, pour one cup of the broth over the meat, lentils and bread. Cut the rest of the lavash bread in pieces to be served on the side of the dish. Do piazza is mostly served by itself. It is a lot of fun to use your hands to eat this dish.

Serves 6

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

ROASTED SALMON WITH DILL AND CILANTRO - ALMOST AFGHAN

By Humaira

I am not a fan of seafood. I can handle tilapia and some milder fish if seasoned properly, but despite all the goodness of salmon I usually abstain. We rarely had fish in land-locked Afghanistan and once we moved to the U.S. seafood was too expensive for a refugee family. It is funny how our childhood experiences influence our choices as adults. 

For special occasions in Afghanistan my family did buy fried fish from the kebabee (kebab maker). We ate the fried fish with Afghan nan and salad at picnics. Oddly, for dessert we had jilabee, a fried dessert believed to counterbalance the fish. Jilabee is made by frying thick sugar and flour syrup slowly poured through a funnel into hot oil to form circular coils. 

Nowadays I learn about seafood in the oddest places. For instance, I practice Qigong with a group of elderly Chinese women near San Francisco’s China Town. To pass time we talk about food, bargains at Walgreens and gardening. Their food talk revolves around seafood delicacies, and their disdain for lamb. They’ve taught me quite a lot about how to catch crabs in the Bay without being fined, where to find the best fish and the health benefits of seafood.

So at a potluck I cautiously tried my friend Mitra Modarressi’s salmon dish. At first I was more attracted to the beautiful fresh dill that blanketed the salmon, but I quickly found that the salmon was deliciously seasoned with cumin, oregano just the right flavors for me.  The cumin subdued the salmon smell which keeps me away from salmon.

Mitra is not sure where the recipe originated but I decided if an Afghan were to invent a salmon dish they would be well served to use this recipe.  I made this dish for Jeja (my mom).  Not only did she like the dish but she gave me thumbs up to post it on the blog.   Naturally I needed her endorsement before I could share this with all of you.

So, for you non-seafood lovers give this “almost Afghan” recipe a try.  You can serve the salmon hot or cold.  I suggest the Afghan potato and chickpea salad, shor nakhod, as a side dish.  The flavors go very well together.

Roasted Salmon with Dill and Cilantro

Almost Afghan

2 ½ lbs. boneless salmon

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh dill

½ cup parsley chopped lemon slices

In a bowl mix olive oil, cumin, oregano, pepper and salt. Rub mixture on skinless side of salmon and marinade as early as the day before or at least for an hour.

 Pre-heat oven, 450 degrees.  

 Line broiling pan with foil.  Bake salmon on foil with skinless side up in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes per inch of thickness at thickest part.  When done you may serve immediately or allow to cool. Serve at room temperature.  Place the salmon on a serving dish long enough for the salmon, garnish with dill and cilantro and serve with slices of lemon.

Serves 6

* I have slightly modified Mitra’s recipe to my taste and for ease of cooking.

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OUR AFGHAN DUMPLING GARNER TOP PRIZE

By Katie

Good news!  The recipe for Aushak we submitted to the Food52 recipe contest a few weeks ago was the winner in the dumplings category last week.  We're thrilled because, well, it's always fun to win.  But also because it's yet another way to broaden awareness about Afghan cooking and how wonderful it is.  Thank you to all of those who voted for us. 

If you are unfamiliar with it, Food52.com, it's a blog started by New York Times food writer Amanda Hesser, which hosts weekly recipe contests.  All winning recipes (including ours) will be featured in a cookbook.  We also walk with a pile of kitchen-related prizes. 

If you have yet to make Aushak, which are Afghan dumplings with Lamb Kofta and Yogurt Sauce, there is a reason the dish won the contest.  It's delicious.  The Food52 site did a great job putting together a step-by-step slide show of how to make it.  You can find it here.

If you want to go it alone, here is the recipe:

Aushak

Afghan Dumplings

4 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground lamb

1 cup tomato sauce

1 ½ tsp. paprika

1 ½ tsp. ground coriander

3 teaspoons Kosher salt, divided

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 lb. green onions, washed, stems removed

½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 package won ton wrappers

1 tsp. vinegar

1 cup plain yogurt

½ teaspoon ground dried garlic

1 tbsp. dried mint

 Saute the onion over medium heat in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until tender and translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté another minute.  Add the lamb and sauté until cooked through, breaking it up like finely minced taco meat.  Add the tomato sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, the paprika, coriander and pepper.  Cook over low heat, stirring regularly for 20 minutes. 

While the meat is cooking, finely chop the green onions (use the entire onion).  A Cuisinart is useful for this step.   Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the green onions, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the crushed red pepper.  Turn heat to low and sauté until tender, 10 minutes. 

To assemble the dumplings, fill a small bowl with water and put it at your work station.  Set a won ton wrapper on your work surface and dip the tip of your finger in the water.  Moisten the edges along two connecting sides of the wrapper.  The water will serve as glue for the dumpling.  Put about a teaspoon of green onions in the center of the wrapper.  Fold the dough in half over the green onion in the shape of a triangle.  Use the tip of your finger to firmly press the edges of the dough together to form a tight seal.  Next, lift the two longest points of the triangle and press them together, creating a little circle over the dumpling.   It will look like a fancy napkin fold.

While you are assembling the dumplings, bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil.  Add the vinegar.   Once all of the dumplings are done, immerse them in the water and boil according to directions on the won ton package (about 4 minutes).   While the dumplings are boiling, quickly stir together the yogurt with the garlic and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.

Gingerly scoop the cooked dumplings out of the water with a slotted spoon, a few at a time, and arrange on a large platter.  Spoon the yogurt over the dumplings and the ground meat on top of that.  Sprinkle with dried mint and serve immediately.

Makes 25 dumplings.   

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