WAS THE AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION A FAILURE?

by Humaira

I say the verdict is still out. Living in San Francisco, like many Afghans in the diaspora, I play the role of cheerleader rather than a player.

As all cheerleaders do, they watch the game and cheer at the right time but I feel like something has been missing in this game and the reporting of it. In talking to my friend Mark Mullen over coffee, the light bulb finally went on.

Just to qualify things, Mark is one of the foremost experts on elections in developing countries. Mark is the chair of Transparency International in the country of Georgia. He headed the Georgia office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a Washington based NGO that promotes democracy worldwide, from 1997 until Shevardnadze left office. So, I thought he would be a good person to talk to.

According to Mark, there are three and only three requirements for a successful election:

1. Peaceful voting.

2. Losing candidate accepts results.

3. The person elected is whom most people voted for.

How many election rules are broken doesn't matter -- it's the will of the people and their ownership of the results that counts. We've dumped the Kool Aid on the coach before the game has ended.

Don't get me wrong. I am very proud of how the elections were executed and proud of the Afghans who voted -- let's do things right and not lose site of the crucial next steps.

As we wait for the votes to be counted and possibly a run off election, I want to pass on a few words of wisdom my friend Mark bestowed upon me.

If there is a run off, the country will be divided and how that division is handled will make or break the election's success. 

Once a candidate is declared a winner, the losing candidate should not contest the election results. In return, the winner must be civil to his opponents and have a delicately crafted inauguration speech declaring himself as the President for all the Afghan people, whether they voted for him or not.  How the winner handles the win determines how the country will the people will support and trust their new leader.

Afghan-presidential-candidates

So, Mr. Ghani, Mr. Abdullah and Mr. Rassoul. I hope you take on Mark's years of experience and good advice to heart and move Afghanistan to the next phase of its fledgling democracy with a united front.

FRESH AFGHAN CHEESE - KIMISH PANARE

by Humaira

Ever since leaving Afghanistan 34 years ago, I would think back to the summer days in Paghman where my family would go for Friday outings to escape the Kabul heat. Paghman is only a short drive from Kabul but has very mild weather. Wealthy Kabulis would spend their summer days in their lush villas, have picnics in their beautiful gardens and swim in the rivers of Paghman. 

Our summer holidays were filled with great food but my favorite was the afternoon snack of fresh cheese with raisins (kishmish paneer). A local Kochi-nomad woman would deliver the fresh panare which would be wrapped in a cloth. It would be served on a platter with black raisins, nuts and fresh fruit. My mouth is watering just writing about it. 

My family never found an equivalent to Afghan panare in American, so we created our own recipe. The cheese is very mild in flavor and has a chewy mozzarella like consistency. The key to bringing the flavors out is the raisins. They are heavenly together.  You can also have it on a cracker with a dribble of cherry preserve or honey. Many Americans who have tasted it feel that it needs more salt but traditionally this cheese has unrecognizable amount of salt.  You can adjust the recipe to your own taste.

I hope you love this as much as I do.

Fresh Afghan Cheese

Kimish Panare

1/2 gallon of one percent milk

1/2 gallon of buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp. of salt

Cheese cloth (Whole foods, Bed Bath & Beyond)

Round deep colander

Raisins

This recipe can be doubled.

In a large heavy pan heat the milk on medium heat.  While waiting, cut the cheese cloth to fit the colander and have some of it drape off the side of the colander.  If the mesh on the cheese cloth is not very fine, lay 2-3 layers. 

Just when the milk starts to boil (don't burn the bottom) remove it from heat. Add the buttermilk and salt.  Stir for 1 minute. Set the colander in the sink and slowly pour the contents of the pot into the colander.  Make sure that the cheese cloth doesn't slide off the sides of the colander.  The milk will curdle and the liquid will drip out of the colander.  Scrape the side of the cheese cloth to speed up the drainage of the liquid. 

The contents will reduce slowly.  Grab the side of the cheese cloth and tie with with a clip or a rubber band.  Continue squeezing the cheese cloth until there is barely any water squeezing out but it should still feel moist otherwise the cheese will be too dry. By now the cheese should be the size of a large softball.

Put the cheese in the cheese cloth with a bowl lined with two layers of paper towel.  Leave it in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until it is solid.

Take the cheese out of the cheese cloth, cut in 1/4 inch thick slice, serve with black raisins.

Mixtured poured into the cheese cloth in the collander

Cheese is ready to be unwrapped

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

AFGHAN BREAKFAST OATMEAL WITH CHICKEN AND CARDAMOM - HALEEM

By Humaira

Haleem is a delicacy mostly enjoyed in the cold winter months of Afghanistan. It’s considered a warming dish, usually made with protein, oats and wheat. In Afghanistan, due to the high price of chicken, Haleem is made with beef. Traditionally it’s served in a bowl with brown sugar and topped with a generous dollop of hot cooking oil.  Haleem lovers in the Afghan diaspora, mostly use chicken and they substitute butter for oil.  

I didn’t grow up eating Haleem, since Jeja, my mom, can't stand the idea of protein in her oatmeal. Truthfully, I only learned about the dish a few months ago at an Afghan dinner party. I was immediately obsessed with finding the right recipe. My sister Nabila reached out to her network of accomplished Afghan cooks.  We found many variations in people’s techniques. Some people use whole chicken, others use short grain rice instead of oatmeal. In many cases people added milk before baking the dish in a dutch oven overnight

After much testing and tasting, we came up with an easy recipe which makes having a hot bowl of Haleem very easy. You can wake up to the scent of cardamom.

Oats

Aghan Breakfast Oatmeal with Chicken and Cardamom

Haleem

One skinless, boneless chicken breast, around ½ lb

cinnamon stick

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 rolled oats

¾ cup Cream of Wheat

1 tsp ground cardamom

Crock pot

Place chicken breast in a heavy pot, add five cups of water, a cinnamon stick and salt, bring to boil. Cover top, reduce heat to low, simmer for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and soft.  Remove pot from heat, let it cool for half hour.

Discard cinnamon stick. Add chicken breast and two cups of broth to a food processor. Save the rest of the broth if there is any. Pulse the chicken and broth five to eight times until it becomes a thick mixture.

In a large crockpot, add oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, chicken mixture, left over chicken broth, cardamom and 5 cups of water.  Stir well. Set crockpot on low for eight hour.

Serve in a large bowl with a generous spoonful of powdered sugar and a knob of butter. Stir well and enjoy.  I usually add almonds milk, chopped dates and walnuts to my bowl of Haleem.

Serves 8