The Best of Afghan Cooking

Since ancient times, Afghanistan's location in
the heart of Central Asia has made it a crossroads for multiple cultures and culinary
influences. The ancient city of Kabul was a hub for European, Chinese and
Indian merchants as well as intellectuals and spiritual leaders. In this
context, Afghanistan's rich and multifaceted
culinary identity evolved.

To this day, Afghans retain the tradition of
preparing food with freshly harvested ingredients. In most villages, flour is
still ground in local mills and cows are milked daily, and the milk is then
processed into fresh butter or yogurt. Kabobs, ranging from chicken, beef, lamb
and fish, are seasoned with delicate spices before grilling. A variety of fresh
vegetables, fruits, and herbs, along with lentils and meat, are used to prepare
traditional stews called qurmas. Considered
Afghanistan's national food, rice dishes called palow are cooked with meat, onions, and distinctive
spices such as cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Dough prepared with fresh ingredients is shaped
into bread, cookies, and cakes before being baked in a preheated ground oven
called a tandoor. Aromatic spices and crunchy roasted nuts combined with
fresh milk and wheat create unique desserts that are simple to prepare but
deliver impressive results.

Kabul native Zarghuna Adel brings
a lifetime of cooking experience and years of research into this unique
cookbook, which features authentic Afghan recipes that were lost or forgotten
in the course of four decades of war and displacement. This volume features
over 225 recipes, each with easy-to-follow instructions and a color photograph.
Fifteen chapters cover the range of Afghan culinary offerings, from appetizers,
soups, salads, and main dishes to condiments and desserts, and each chapter includes
a detailed introduction to the history, origins, and cultural traditions that
surround the recipes.

Sample recipes:

• Ashak (leek dumplings with yogurt and ground beef)
• Kabob Teka (marinated lamb and
  vegetable kabobs)


• Badenjan Borani (eggplant appetizer with tomatoes and yogurt)
• Chapli Kabob
  (fried spicy ground beef patties)


• Qabeli Palow (long grain
  rice with onions, spices and tender meat)


• Halwa Ardi (wheat flour halwa with cardamom and nuts)
• Rout (fluffy sweet bread with sesame and nigella
  seeds)
• Chai Chawa (green tea with ginger,
  fennel and walnuts)