Recipe - Nakhot-e-Shor (Roasted Chickpeas)

Most of the instructions I found for this was the same video with dubbed English.  This came together super quickly and tasted great.  It reminded me of hummus, which is not surprising seeing as how it's chickpeas with cumin and turmeric.  I usually don't use much if any salt, but these did need some.  I'm not quite sure how much I put on, but probably around a teaspoon.  Use more or less depending upon your tastes.

Nakhot-e-Shor

Ingredients:

• 38 oz chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 4 T olive oil
• 1 t cumin (optional)
• 1 t turmeric (optional)
• 2 T garlic
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, saute the garlic, cumin and turmeric in the oil for about 5-10 minutes
2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
3. Put a paper towel down on a cookie sheet and dump the chickpeas onto the sheet.  Put another sheet over the top and rub dry.
4. Remove the paper towel and toss the chickpeas in the olive oil
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until the chickpeas look nice and browned.  During this time I stired a couple times to help them get evenly browned.  Be careful though, the oil can spit!
6. Season with a little salt, if desired.

References:

• http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/roasted-chickpeas-garbanzos-for-a-healthy-snack/
• http://www.muzikkitabi.com/Video/VIDEOIDqREr3tLNQpE/Roasted-Chickpeas-recipe---Afghan-Snack-Nakhot-e-Shor-Afghan-Cuisine
• http://steamykitchen.com/10725-crispy-roasted-chickpeas-garbanzo-beans.html

Recipe - Sabse Borani (Spinach Yogurt Dip)

This recipe needs liquid to be removed from the yogurt either by using a cheese cloth or a coffee filter. Surprisingly, I've never used a cheese cloth in my cooking, but I had a cheese cloth hanging around, which was great.  I'm sure the coffee filter method would have been sufficient, but the yogurt strained with the cheese cloth had a great consistency.

This was awesome with the Noni Afgani but would be good with chips or anything.  I made it early in the day and was prepared when my guest arrived.  It does need to set for awhile so take that into account when preparing

I will definitely make this again.

Total time: 2 hours
Active time: 30 to 40 minutes (divided within the 2 hours)

Sabse Borani

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups full fat Greek yogurt
• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T minced garlic

Directions:

1. Drain the yogurt by placing in a cheese cloth or coffee filter over a colander for 1 hour.  Meanwhile, continue with the next steps
2. Saute onion and garlic until the onion is browned, about 10 minutes
3. Rinse and chop the spinach.
4. Saute until spinach is wilted.  Immediately remove from the heat
5. Let the spinach mixture cool in the fridge.  Once cool, combine with the yogurt and let set in the fridge at least a half hour before serving with Noni Afgani or pita chips.

References:

• http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/2013/11/afghan-spinach-yogurt-dip-sabse-borani.html
• http://www.tarasmulticulturaltable.com/noni-afghani-afghan-flat-bread-with-sabse-borani-spinach-yogurt-dip/

Recipe - Noni Afghani (Flatbread)

Who doesn't love homemade flat bread?  Our au pair from France calls Naan "Indian Crepes", which cracks me up.  I guess these Noni are Afghan Crepes. :)

This was amazing.  I served this with the Sabse Borani

and Lamb Korma.

Noni Afghani

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 t yeast
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 4 T butter or, better yet, ghee, melted
• 1 T sugar

Directions

Combine flours, yeast, sugar, salt, water, yogurt, and olive oil and pour into your stand mixer.
Mix for about 10 minutes with the dough hook.  The dough should be moist but not too overly sticky. Add extra flour if necessary.
Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a clean, oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Usually what I do when I want dough to rise is I take a wet towel and microwave it for about a minute.  Then I put the dough into the microwave.  Now it's nice and warm and moist.
Divide into 18 portions and roll into balls. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Place on a well floured surface and roll into 1/3″ thick oblong discs.
Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Add ghee (or butter) and cook one disk at a time.
Cook about 1 minute on first side. Flip and cook until the second side is brown and aromatic. This will take about 2 minutes.
Serve immediately.

References:

• http://globaltableadventure.com/2010/02/07/recipe-noni-afghani-afghan-flatbreadnaan/

Recipe - Lamb Korma (Lamb Stew)

Stew!  Who doesn't love a nice stew?  And I'm a sucker for lamb.  Nam nam nam.  And I used goat yogurt in this, which was pretty exciting to me as I've never cooked with goat yogurt.

This was really good.  I'd never heard of a yogurt based soup before.  It reminded me a little of Indian cuisine, but that's probably due to the spices.

Unfortunately I did not snap a picture of this.  Which is really too bad because it turned out amazing.  The color was an orangey shade.

Lamb Korma

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat
1/3 cup olive oil
3 onions, diced
3 T chopped garlic
2 t turmeric
1 t garam masala (optional)
1/2 t cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
32 oz canned tomatoes, chopped
2 cup beef stock
3 T tomato paste
1 cup Greek or goat yogurt
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Brown the onions in the oil (about 15 minutes)
2. Add the spices (garlic, turmeric, masala, cinnamon if using ground) and cook 2 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes, their juices and the tomato paste
4. Add the lamb and cook 4 minutes, until the sides are browned.  This will lock in the flavor of the lamb while it simmers.
5. Add the water, yogurt and cinnamon stick if using.  Stir every 15 minutes for about two hours.  I prepared the Noni Afgahni and read Honey Thief because I was lucky that it coincided with one of the baby's naps!
6. Serve with rice and Noni Afghani.

References:

• http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/RECIPES/RECIPES/meats/afg_lamb_spin.html
• http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/lamb_korma/
• http://www.adventuressheart.com/2011/08/beef-korma-afghan-style.html

Recipe - Aushak (Scallion Dumpling)

Traditionally, aushak and other dumplings are made as a community or family.  Everyone helps to assemble and everyone gets to enjoy it.  Because of this, I had everything ready and my guests got to assemble.  The four year old was a bit too young to help, but she did enjoy mashing the dough.

I didn't realize until the day that I started to cook that this is traditionally made with something called gandana which is in the onion family.  But that's why you'll find recipes that call for scallions and others that call for leeks.  They are both substitutions.  Had I realized early enough, I may have tried to find some gandana.  It's gotta be somewhere in the Chicago area.  But alas, I used scallions and leeks combined to hope that the flavor was similar.

Aushak

Dumplings:

Ingredients:

• 20 scallions white parts removed and saved for another use
• 2 leeks
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 t minced garlic
• 2 T corn, peanut or vegetable oil
• 25-30 wonton or goyza wrappers or dough recipe, below

Directions:

1. Combine scallions, salt, pepper, garlic and oil.  Blend well.
2. Get out a bowl of water and plates of the wonton wrappers.
3. Dip your finger in water and run around the outside edge of the wrappers.
4. Put a spoonful of scallion mixture into half of the wrapper.  Fold and seal.
5. Boil the dumplings for 5 or 6 minutes in salted water.  I made the next set while the prior set was boiling.
6. Strain and serve with meat sauce and yogurt.

Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• salt to taste

Directions:

Mix together and roll flat.  I used a pastry roller set to thickness number 4.

Meat sauce:

Ingredients:

• 3 T vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground lamb (or just a full pound of the beef)
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1 t ginger
• 1 cup water
• 4 T tomato paste
• 4 T minced garlic

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and saute the onion until the onion is golden, about 15 minutes.
2. Add in the beef, garlic, coriander and ginger.  Cook until meat is well browned, about 8 minutes.
3. Add water and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and cook 5 more minutes.  Stir constantly.
5. Set aside the sauce until ready to use.

Yogurt sauce

• 1 1/2 cups full fat greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 T minced garlic

Combine and set aside

References:

• http://diningwithdusty.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-layered-flavors-of-afghan-dumplings.html
• http://food52.com/recipes/10940-afghan-dumplings-with-lamb-kofta-and-yogurt-sauce
• http://avocadobravado.net/aushak-afghan-dumplings/
• http://zibakitchen.com/ashak/