KABUL QUINCE AND YOGURT TRIFLE

Helen Saberi has written one of the most popular Afghan cookbooks, Afghan Food and Cookery, which I discoved when I became interested in Afghan cooking. Helen married an Afghan man in 1972 and lived in Afghanistan for eight years until she had to leave due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Helen, originally English, spent her eight years in Afghanistan learning about Afghan culture; food, people and the Dari language.  I was really honoured when I received an email from Helen praising my blog. Naturally, I asked Helen if she would share one of her wonderful recipes with us.  Below we get best of two worlds, an Afghan inspired trifle recipe.  I think my European readers will finally enjoy a recipe with measurements in grams.

HelenSaberi

By Helen Saberi

The name of Afghanistan’s capital city would not normally conjure up thoughts or visions of trifles.  However, this recipe was inspired by my husband Nasir Saberi who asked me to devise a trifle recipe with an eastern flavour for my Trifle book; and to name it after the city in which he was born and brought up.  An alternative to the yoghurt topping could be firni. 

Kabul Quince and Yoghurt Trifle

HelenTriflePhoto

2 medium quinces

110 g sugar ( 4 oz.)

juice of ½ lemon

pinch of ground cardamom

18-24 amaretti biscuits

500 g Greek strained yoghurt (17 oz.)

¼ tsp saffron

1 tbsp. rose water

110 g caster sugar (4 oz.)

½ tsp ground cardamom

toasted flaked almonds

slivered or ground pistachio

crystallized rose petals

Peel, core and slice the quinces thinly. Put into a pan and add water; which should well cover the quinces. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, turn down the heat and simmer until they are just soft.  (You may have to add more water if it reduces too much.) Remove the quinces with a slotted spoon from the pan and set to one side.

Quince

Now add the sugar to the water in which the quinces were cooked and stir to dissolve. Add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the cardamom and return the quinces to the pan. Leave to cool in the syrup.

Place the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of a glass bowl and cover with the quinces. Add just enough of the syrup to lightly soak the amoretti.

Now make the yoghurt cream. Dissolve the saffron in the rosewater and beat into the yoghurt. Mix in the sugar, more or less according to taste, and add the cardamom. Mix well. Spread the yoghurt cream evenly over the quinces and decorate with the almonds, pistachios and rose petals, according to your fancy.

Note:  If quinces are not available, which is highly likely, pears softly poached can be substituted or even tinned pears can be used. Not quite the same but still good. 

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

ROSEWATER CARDAMOM FLAVORED CARROT PUDDING - HALWA-E-ZARDAK

Photo by Aria Morris

By Humaira

Of all the American holidays Thanksgiving is the one I feel most connected to. My father played a big role in making this quintessential American celebration a special family gathering. You see he arrived in United States as a political refugee on Thanksgiving Day in 1979 after the Russians invaded Afghanistan. An unemployed diplomat, he embraced his new home and worked hard in various blue-collar jobs to make a new life for his family.

My father cooked up all the traditional fixings:turkey, stuffing, canned cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. He did his best to create what he thought was a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but somehow an Afghan dish would always sneak onto the menu. To me, this is what makes living in the United States so amazing:the ability to create your own traditions.

This year my friend Kate invited me and my family over for an early Thanksgiving dinner and asked if I could bring two Afghan side-dishes:Kadoo (braised pumpkin) and Sabzi (slow-cooked spinach). Kate is from Texas, what I consider to be the quintessential American state. I figure if my Afghan dishes are good enough for her Thanksgiving meal then perhaps others might consider making Kadoo or the Sabzi as well. You can find the recipes for both listed under Vegetables in the Categories section of the blog.

It is only fitting to throw in an Afghan dessert option for you to try out as well. Below is a recipe for a sweet and flavorful carrot pudding called Halwa e Zardak. Last year despite the fact that my Thanksgiving table was overflowing with traditional desserts, carrot pudding was a major hit. The carrots are slow cooked in milk, cream, sugar, cardamom and rosewater with a final addition of pistachios and almonds. It can be served hot or cold.

Rosewater and Cardamom Flavored Carrot Pudding

Halwa e Zardak

Halwa e Zardak

2 lbs. carrots, peeled and grated 

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 cups whole milk

½ cup whipping cream

¾ cup sugar

1/4 cup chopped pistachios, roasted

1/4 cup chopped almonds, roasted

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. rosewater (adjust to your taste)

In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter. Add the carrots and cook over medium high heat for  5-8 minutes until the carrots are tender and no liquid remains. Stir regularly to make sure the carrots don’t burn.

Add the milk, cream and sugar, stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring from time to time, until all the liquid is absorbed. This could take 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Once it's done, add the rosewater and cardamom and stir well.

If the nuts are not roasted, distribute them on a cookie sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes. They should be lightly brown and crunchy. Roughly chop them after roasting.  

Serve the pudding warm or room temperature with the nuts sprinkled over the top. 

Serves 6-8

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

YOGURT THE CROWNING TOUCH OF AFGHAN RECIPES

A cross-cultural burger: An Afghan-spiced beef and bulgur kebab served on pita with yogurt

Afghan dumplings topped with ground lamb and garlic yogurt

By Katie

A while back I had a vegetable tagine at Nopa, a restaurant here in San Francisco. The tagine itself was lovely. Best of all, it was crowned with a spoonful of rich, tart yogurt gently perfumed with lemon. Although tagine is distinctly Moroccan, the slow-cooked quality of the vegetables, and the fact that the dish was served with yogurt, reminded me of Afghan food. The next day I tinkered in the kitchen with a container of yogurt, a Meyer lemon and a zester. A dollop over a dish of dal was the perfect lunch

If you are familiar at all with Afghan cuisine you know that yogurt is a dietary staple. It always has a presence at the table whether poured over, stirred into, or resting atop a cooked dish, or served plain, usually spiked with dried garlic and a touch of salt.

The Afghans were way ahead of their time where yogurt is concerned. Back in the 1970s when Americans still considered yogurt to be “hippie food”, Afghans had been eating it for centuries. It’s as much a part of the cuisine there as basmati rice and nan bread.

Afghans were on to something. Yogurt plays an important role in their diet from both a nutritional standpoint and a culinary one. Not only is it a fine source of calcium, it is loaded with “good” bacteria, which is what actually turns ordinary milk into yogurt. Plus, the cooling yogurt balances the warming spices and long-cooked flavors so central to Afghan cuisine.

Most of the yogurt we eat here in the U.S. comes in fruity flavored eight-ounce tubs.In Afghanistan they’ve drummed up far more interesting preparations.

Mast

Mast is the Afghan word for yogurt. It is traditionally thicker and richer than what we are accustomed to eating. Humaira and I approximate the consistency by using equal parts Greek-style and American-style yogurt.

Chaka

This is a very dense yogurt made by straining full-fat yogurt through cheese cloth for several hours. It turns thick and tangy. You can easily substitute Greek yogurt for chaka.

Quoroot

The Afghans have a very clever way of preserving yogurt, since refrigeration is non-existent throughout much of the country. They strain, salt and dry it into hard balls called quoroot. The quoroot is then reconstituted in water and used in cooking. This was particularly useful for nomads who preserved their precious milk and tucked it into bags to be pulled out when they set up camp. Quoroot is still commonly used in a savory bread pudding called quorooti. You can find a recipe for it here on Afghan Cooking Unveiled listed under Main Dishes. 

Dough

Afghans also drink their yogurt in the form of something called dough. It is a mixture of plain yogurt, water, cucumber, fresh mint and salt. Served cold, it is considered quite a treat in the hot summer months. I haven’t yet developed a taste for salty, minty yogurt drinks, but then again, I’ve never experienced a hot Afghan summer. Until I do, I’ll stick with my old Afghan standards --topped, of course, with yogurt.

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