SLC23-W2 // "Afghan Cuisine"

Welcome to Steemit Learning Challenge Season 23/Week#2. In this course we will explore the different country cuisines every week, their spices, their cooking style, and a food recipe that is the most popular. In second week we will learn about Afghanistan's cuisine.

Afghan Cuisine

Afghani food is a delicious blend of central Asian , Middle Eastern and south Asian. Afghani cuisine mainly focused on fresh ingredients, herbs and spices. Their food has less spices but rich taste. Those who don't like spices will definitely love Afghan Cuisine.

Afghan cuisine is a rich and diverse reflection of the country's history, geography, and cultural heritage.

Here are some interesting information about their cuisine.

Influences and Regional Variations

Central Asian influence :Afghan cuisine dishes like kebabs and mantu reflecting Central Asian traditions.
Indian and Pakistani influence :Afghan cuisine has also been influenced by Pakistani cuisine and Indian cuisine , introducing spices and cooking techniques like tandoori cooking is the common thing in Pakistan's and Indian cooking.
Regional variations : North of afghan cusine is influenced by Uzbek and Tajik cuisine, the south influenced by Pakistani cuisine, and the west influenced by Iranian cuisine. So Afghan Cuisine varies with in country across different regions.

Popular Dishes :

1. Kebabs: Afghan Kabab are marinated meat (usually lamb or chicken) grilled over an open flame.
2. Qabili palaw: It is their national food. It is flavorful rice dish made with meat (usually lamb or beef), raisins, carrots, and spices.
3. Mantu: This is dumplings filled with meat and onions, cooked in steam ,served with yogurt and sauce.
4. Ashak: Ravioli filled with herbs and meat, it's usually served with yogurt and sauce.
5. Gosh-e-feel: It is a beef stew made with potatoes, onions, and spices.

Staples and Ingredients :

1. Rice: Afghan cuisine has rice used as staple food, it often served with kebabs, stews, and other dishes.
2. Naan bread: It is type of leavened flatbread in which yeast is used, often served with meals or used with sauces.
3. Meat: They use fats with meat. Lamb, beef, and chicken are popular meats .
4. Herbs and spices: Some fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, and dill add freshness and flavor to their food. Cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom are commonly used spices in their food.

Desserts and Drinks :

1. Shirazi salad: It is a salad made with yogurt, cucumbers, raisins, and honey. It has sweet and tangy taste.
2. Firni: It is made with milk, rice ,sugar, and rose water, garnished with pistachios and almond. It is their traditional sweet. A dessert that similar to Pakistan's kheer or rice pudding.
3. Doogh: It is a drink, that made with yougart and is flavored with mint or cucumber.
4. Chai: Strong, sweet black tea is an integral part of Afghan culture and hospitality.

Afghan Polaw or Qabili polaw

Qabili polaw is a delicious, rich traditional Afghan dish that originated from kabul. It is national food of Afghanistan. It is made with rice and meat usually beef and lamb.Those who don't like spices this recipe will be perfect for them.Here I'm sharing its recipe in detail;

Ingredients :

Beef 500g
Onion 3 medium sliced
Salt 1 tbsp
Cuminseeds 1tbsp
Oil 4tbsp
Carrots 2tbsp
Black raisins 2tbsp
Sugar 1tsp

Making :

• Take oil in a pan and translucent sliced onion then add washed beef in it and cook them together until it brown.

• Add salt, Cuminseeds and fry it for 1-2 minutes then add boiling water in it. Cover the lid and cook it for 1-2 hrs or until it meat tender.

• Soaked rice in water after washing it 3-4 time with water. Saila rice is used for Qabili polaw it takes 2-3 hrs for soaking before time.

• Soaked raisins in water.Sliced carrots and caramelised them in oil and add sugar to it.fry for 1-2 minutes then add soaked raisins and fry it. Keep it a side it will be used at the end.

• caramelised 1tsp of sugar with oil and keep it aside too.

• When meat get tender ,rmove meat from stock and add soaked rice in it cook it on medium flame for 8-10 minutes then add the meat over rice and caramelised carrots and raisins on it.

• Add caramelised sugar over rice and mixed all with soft hands.Cover the lid of pan and cook it on very low flame until rice cooked completely. (15-20min approximately)

Afghan Polaw is ready to serve you can check how rich and yummy rice are prepared.

^{Final presentation}

Students task :

1-What is new for you from the course, any spice or cooking technique or anything that you want to share?(2points)

2- Is your local cousin has any food that resembles with the shared recipe?(1point)

3- Make the afghani polaw by using the recipe given in course or which you like?Include your name tag with date in final presentationof recipe. (4 points)

4-Share the cooking expenses of the recipe in steem and in your local currency(2points)

Presentation of food matter , 1 mark for good presentation of food.

Rules and criteria:

✓ The post can be written on your blog or any community.

✓ The title of your post must be: SLC23-W2 // "Afghan Cuisine"

✓ Use your own images, plagiarism and use of AI are prohibited, the publication must contain a minimum of 300 words.

✓ Make sure to use the tags #globalcuisine-s23w2 , #learnwhitsteem #steemexclusive #food and your country tag. (example, #pakistan)

✓ Include a handwritten identification sign next to your food, containing the user name and date .

✓ Invite at least three friends to participate: @drhira , @dasudi, @zulay7059.

✓ Leave the link to your post in the comments section.

✓ Any language is accepted.

✓ Promote on social networks like X.

✓ This contest will be open for 7 days starting at 00:00 UTC on Monday, February 24, 2025, 00:00 UTC to Sunday, March 2, 2025, 23:59 UTC.

Rewards:

SC01/SC02 will evaluate posts across all participating teaching teams. Upvotes are not guaranteed for all articles.

At the end of the week, top 4 users will be nominated based on content quality and presentation not on comment count.

Best regards
@suboohi