"No Good Men Among The Living" - UNVEILS THE US's FAILURES IN AFGHANISTAN

By Humaira

The book, “No Good Men Among The Living” by Anand Gopal was my, not so light, holiday read. I couldn’t put it down. I loved his precise journalistic writing in recounting US's longest war from three Afghans perspective.

“He follows a Taliban commander, who rises from scrawny teenager to leading insurgent; a US-backed warlord, who uses the American military to gain personal wealth and power and a village housewife trapped between two sides.” Mc Millan Publishers review.

Gopal is a great story teller who helps the reader understand the many facets of Afghan society and empathize with the three Afghans, even the notorious warlord.

As an Afghan who has been working on bettering Afghan women’s lives in the province of Ghazni and, as an American (taxpayer) I found myself very angry at the irresponsible handling of this war on both sides. I am angry at the Afghan leadership who took advantage of the American army naiveté to settle old debts and kill off rivals, while filling their bank accounts with millions of dollars. I am angry at the American leadership, both in Washington and on the ground in Afghanistan, for aligning themselves with criminals - without recognizing the many shades of grey when it comes to meddling in an unfamiliar region.

I invite you to read this book and draw your own conclusions. Next week I'll have a much hopeful and uplifting post about the future of Afghanistan. It'll be about Afghanistan's first lady, Rula Ghani.

LAMB WITH POMEGRANATE AND SAFFRON - A BOOK INSPIRES GREAT COOKING

By Humaira

What happens when an Afghan woman meets an Iranian woman? They exchange recipes?

No. They talk about writing.  

By now you've probably guessed that the Afghan was me and the Iranian, well, she is the very talented Anita Amirrezvani. Despite having two bestselling books, "Equal of The Sun" and "The Blood of Flowers" she was gracious, attentive and a delight to get to know.

I'm really thrilled to share an authentic Iranian recipe from her first book, "Equal of The Sun".

Anita writes, teaches writing, and encourages young Iranians to connect with their heritage. In fact, she has an upcoming writing workshop on "Exploring Iranian Identity", check it out.  

Image from foodess.com

Lamb with Pomegranate and Saffron

2-pound lamb shank (see note below)

1 onion

5 cloves garlic

Salt, pepper, and turmeric

Saffron (optional)

Olive oil

Pure pomegranate juice (unsweetened and fairly tart is best)

Note: This recipe works with a lamb shank as small as two pounds or with a whole leg of lamb. The proportions given below are for a two-pound shank, but you can easily increase the onion, garlic, and spices for a larger cut of meat. A two-pound shank will serve two-three people (much of it is bone).

This is an easy recipe that is very forgiving and that allows you to add or subtract ingredients according to your own tastes. I like to make it “by feel” without exact measurements, as described below. The resulting mix of flavors is savory, tangy, and very Iranian.

Directions:

Get two pounds of American lamb shank (bone in) and remove all the visible, even next to the bone. Your butcher will do this for you, if you prefer. Make holes in the lamb and insert pieces of garlic (cut about five cloves lengthwise so that they are like spikes).

Cut one large onion into thin slices. Rub the lamb with salt, pepper, turmeric and olive oil. Drench the onions in oil and lay them on top of the meat and underneath it until the meat is completely surrounded.

Optional: Take a generous pinch of saffron, grind it in mortar and pestle, put it in a small cup, add an inch of hot water and let it stand for about ten minutes. Then pour the saffron on top of the lamb.

Cover the meat and let it marinate all night in the refrigerator.

The next day, remove the onions, chop them very fine, and set them aside. Brown every side of the leg of the lamb in a Dutch oven (if you don’t have a Dutch oven, use a frying pan). Remove the lamb, put the onions in the pan, and brown them in the meat drippings  until they are golden. Then put the meat back on top of the onions in the Dutch even, or transfer the whole thing, including the juices, to a deep oven-worthy pan.

Add pure pomegranate juice to the pan until the mat is surrounded by about an inch of liquid; then cover the mat (even a tent of foil will work) and put the pan in an oven preheated to 375 degrees. Cook the meat for 1/2 hour, then turn down the oven to 350 degrees and cook your two-pound shank for at least another hour. Periodically spoon the juice over the lamb. Check to make sure that all the liquid doesn’t evaporate, add more if it does.

The best way to determine if the lamb is ready is to test it periodically with your fork, when the meat falls off the bone, it’s done. Let it stand for 15-20 minutes before serving. If you like, sprinkle fresh pomegranate seeds on top. Noosh-e-joon!

AFGHAN MILK FUDGE WITH ROSEWATER - 20 MINUTE SHEER PERA

by Humaira

I was absolutely delighted when Maeve O’Maera of Food Safari, an Australian food show, commented on last week’s post. It’s not often a food celebrity makes a comment on my blog.  

Maeve kindly shared a link to her appearance in a morning show where she made Afghan dessert, sheer pera, which mean sweet milk in Dari. Sheer pera is delicacy served to guests, at Afghan weddings or parties. I think it will make a wonderful holiday sweet that’ll delight your guests with the rich flavors of rosewater, cardamom, walnuts and pistachio.

Maeve uses a simple recipe which makes my sheer pera recipe seem complicated and clunky compared to this mix and match recipe. I tried it and viola! In 20 minutes I had a moist and mouth watering sheer pera. Thank you for sharing this beautiful demonstration with us Maeve. Here is the five minute video of Maeve demonstrating this recipe and below is the transcription of recipe. 

Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas!

Afghan Rosewater Milk Fudge

Sheer Pera

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

4 cups powdered milk

½ cup roasted walnuts or almonds, chopped

1 tablespoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon rosewater

¼ cup finely chopped pistachios

8 inch square pan or another deep dish around the same size

In a saucepan add water and sugar, stir until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil, turn down heat to medium high, simmer until the syrup thickens. You will feel the the syrup thicken as you stir the mixture around, it’ll take around 15 minutes to get to desired thickness. Test by putting a small drop of the syrup on a plate, the syrup should be thick and it should glide very slowly on the plate.

While the syrup is on the stove, mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Once syrup is ready, remove from stove, pour into the bowl with the other ingredients. Stir until creamy and mixed well. Pour into the pan, sprinkle the pistachio on top. Let it cool in room temperature. Cut in 2 inch squares.