Shor Nakhod
Shor nakhod, the Afghan street-stall snack: warm chickpeas and potato tossed in a sharp coriander, garlic and vinegar sauce. Ready in ten minutes.
Silk Road Table
Recipes from Afghanistan and the mountainous northwest frontiers of Pakistan. Meat-forward cooking centred on the tandoor – lamb slow-cooked in tallow, dried fruit in savoury dishes, flatbread as the primary carbohydrate.
Chapli Kebab
Chapli kebab from a Peshawar family: flat patties of beef, wheat flour, tomato, coriander seed and dried pomegranate, fried crisp in fat. UK and US notes.
Bolani
Bolani from Ghazni’s Hazara highlands: thin dough folded around leek, garlic chives, green chilli and potato, fried golden. Gandana swaps for UK and US kitchens.
Aay Khanum
Aay khanum: thin egg dough rolled around spiced beef, peppers and coriander, steamed and served with garlic-mint yoghurt and a tomato chickpea sauce.
Kebab-e-Sikhi
Kebab-e-sikhi, the Afghan lamb skewers of Eid al-Adha: lamb marinated overnight in strained onion, chilli and garlic juice with coriander seed, grilled over charcoal.
Narenj Palau
Narenj palau, the Afghan wedding rice: candied orange peel with saffron, pistachios, almonds and cardamom, steamed over basmati. UK and US notes.
Mantu
Afghan mantu: raw lamb and onion dumplings steamed in hand-rolled dough, laid on lemon and garlic yoghurt under a sharp tomato sauce. UK and US swaps.
Kabuli Pulao
Kabuli pulao, Afghanistan’s national rice: lamb stock, sella basmati, cumin and cardamom, finished with fried carrot, raisins and pistachio. UK and US swaps.
Kichiri Quroot
Kichiri quroot: short-grain rice and mung beans cooked soft and sticky, mounded around a well of garlic yoghurt with dried mint, served with Afghan meatballs.