AFGHAN PASTA WITH KOFTA MEAT SAUCE AND GARLICKY YOGURT - NO BAKING

By Humaira

Last week my whole family gathered at my sister’s house in Los Angeles to celebrate Thanksgiving. On my night to cook, I doubled this recipe to feed everyone. After six years of testing Afghan recipes and writing about Afghan food, I still feel nervous presenting an Afghan dish to Jeja, my mom. She’s not one to mince words when it comes to giving a detailed critique of one’s cooking. To my relief, the picky eaters at the table, Jeja, and my daughters loved the dish and had seconds.

In Afghan cooking, we hardly ever use cheese, butter, and eggs. If one can afford them, they are eaten in small portions at breakfast. However yogurt is a dietary staple. It always has a presence whether poured over, stirred into, or resting atop a cooked dish. Growing up, yogurt sprinkled with a spoonful of sugar, accompanied by a piece of nan, was one of my favorite afternoon snacks.

It should come as no surprise to you that thIS Afghan pasta dish uses yogurt instead of cheese. The pasta is layered with green onions, meat sauce and garlicky yogurt. You will need a spoon, instead of a fork, to scoop up the slippery pasta covered in the flavorful meat sauce and tangy yogurt sauce.

With Jeja’a seal of approval, I share this unique dish with you. It takes less than 30 minutes to make.

Afghan Culture Unveiled

Afghan Pasta with Meat Kofta and Garlicky Yogurt Sauce

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

8 cloves garlic, chopped and divided

1 pound ground beef, or ground turkey can be a fine substitute

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon cumin, ground

2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

¼ cup warm water

2 cups green onions chopped

16 ounce box of Farfalle or Fusilli pasta.

2 cups greek yogurt

2 tablespoons dried or fresh mint

Saute the yellow onion in 2  tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on low heat until tender and golden. Add half of the chopped garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Add ground beef, use a spoon to break it up as it cooks so it is loose and separated (like taco meat). Drain pan of fat. Once the beef is browned add the coriander, cumin, paprika,  one teaspoon salt, pepper, water and tomato sauce. Mix well and continue to cook over low heat for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the pasta according to the package instructions. In a non-stick saute pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the green onions on medium-high until wilted, around 8-9 minutes. Set aside.

Heat a small saute pan on medium heat, add the two teaspoons of olive oil and remaining garlic. Saute until golden. In a medium bowl whisk together yogurt, sauteed garlic, and remaining salt until yogurt is creamy.

Afghan Culture Unveiled - First layer

To assemble, pour half of the pasta into a deep dish serving pan, perhaps a 9x13 lasagna dish or roaster. Evenly spread half of the sauteed green onions, meat and yogurt sauce. Repeat layering in the same order. As a final touch, sprinkle with dried mint evenly before serving. Do not bake, this dish is ready to be served with a side of fresh salad.

Afghan Culture Unveiled - Almost ready to eat

Serves 6

GIVEAWAY WINNERS: AFGHANISTAN PHOTO BOOK

The winners* of the Afghanistan Photo Book by Joe Hoyt are readers Pamela Rupright and Hana Faizi. The best part of the giveaway for me was reading your comments and learning about your favorite Af ghan dishes. Thank you for taking the time to share your love of Afghan food.

I also want to thank my friend Joe Hoyt for sharing his beautiful books with my readers.

Here is what each of the winners said about their interest in Afghan food:

Pam - It's so hard to choose a favorite dish! Probably kadoo or shor nakod, though so many others are delicious too. I started following the blog when you and Katie started its predecessor and have loved every post.

Hana - I fell in love with chapli (kebab) for the first time in Fremont and decided right there and then that if an opportunity ever rises where an Afghan would fall in love with me I would marry him. That opportunity came and I am (now) married with beautiful kids.

I would love to own your book to display and talk about in the parties I regularly hold with your recipes. It will give people an opportunity to view the pre-war era of Afghanistan that my in-laws refer to with love and tears in their eyes.

* I used random.org to select the winners of this giveaway.

GIVEAWAY: AFGHANISTAN PHOTO BOOK

By Humaira

This blog has been in existence for over five years because of you - my readers. Your words of support, encouragement and gratitude has fueled my search for interesting recipes, stories and cultural tidbits that makes Afghanistan so unique.

In an effort to keep fresh, I’ve recently revamped the blog - new site, new photos, new categories (vegetarian and gluten free). I hope the new structure makes it easy to find recipes and engages you further in learning about Afghanistan. During this process, we’ve experienced a few technical difficulties - if you’ve been spammed, please accept my apology.

I would like to give back to you, my readers, a special gift of two copies of Book of Photographs by my photographer friend Joe Hoyt, who traveled in Afghanistan from 1970-1975.

Seven years ago, I met Joe when we were panelists at an event in San Francisco. When I first saw Joe’s photos, I was brought to tears. Through his small lense, he has captured the Afghanistan I once knew, “From an Era of Peace”, so perfectly named.

Praise for Joe’s work:

“For years now, Afghanistan has become synonymous with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and terrorism. But it wasn’t always so. For most of the previous century, Afghanistan lived in peaceful anonymity. It was a magnet for travelers who came to see the rugged beauty of the land, to walk along the old Silk Route, and to meet its kind and hospitable people. Joe Hoyt’s lens gloriously brings back this bygone Afghanistan. In his photos, we get a glimpse of a land that was once a meeting point of cultures, a link between east and west. He captures the raw, ethereal beauty of this land, a taste of its prosperous history, and the unique spirit of its proud and resilient people. What’s more, looking at Hoyt’s photographs of this happier era, the suffering and tumult that the Afghan people have endured since is made more personal. The toll of the tragedy becomes palpable. This is testament to Hoyt’s skills as a photographer as well as his personal affection for this war-scarred land and its people”

— Khaled Hosseini, Author Kite Runner

To enter for the giveaway, write a comment at the bottom of this post saying how you came across this blog and name your favorite Afghan dish. The deadline for entering is Monday December 1st, midnight Pacific Daylight time. All entries must be a subscriber to this blog and a US resident, (apologies, we are not able to ship books outside the US). All entries will be entered into a random drawing and there will be two winner. You will receive one entry for each of the following - leaving a comment here, following me on Twitter and Instagram. You must be a subscriber to this blog and must be 18 years and older to win.