Kabuli Pilau (attempt 1)

My mum and I came across this tutorial video on youtube for one of our favourite dishes. Instantly I was inspired to give it a go.

We all adore this rice dish which comes out of Afghanistan and it's a must whenever we're ordering from an Afghani restaurant.  Mum has always been fascinated with this dish, I guess when she lived in Pakistan she knew Afghanis who used to serve this speciality.

There seem to be several ways to make this pilau but one thing my mother always remembered was that sugar was used to achieve that distinct shade of colour that Kabuli Pilau is known for.

I recall doing a search a few years ago for cooking instructions on youtube with very few results, but today there seem to be so many tutorials!  We combed through them and my mother showed me this one specifically. I decided to half the recipe (we don't have enough people to enjoy 4 cups of rice! :))
Two cups of rice is the norm in our house, so it was easy to just half all the other ingredients.

I wrote it down in my notes which I'm sharing with you all below as well as my step by step photos, and you can also watch the original video for more detailed instructions. The video is made by a nice young lady who explains to us her mother's method for making this dish.


Soak rice 3-5 hours in advance.

I believe you're supposed to use Parboiled basmati rice which can be found in an Afghani grocer, or even a Pakistani one, it goes by the names of "Golden basmati" or "sila basmati"  It looks more beige than your typical white "tilda" style basmati rice.



Kabuli Pilau

1 cup carrots, julienned

1/3 cup red raisins

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/2 cup oil for frying (not olive oil! Use a plain vegetable oil that is suitable for frying)

Heat oil, add shredded carrots and cook until tender, add raisins and continue to cook.  Strain from the oil mixture and add to a foil pouch pocket and close, setting aside for later.


For the rice!

2 cups rice

Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil
Add strained soaked rice cook until done half way through (like an al dante pasta?)   Add the strained rice into a large pot and set aside.



Mix ingredients blow in a saucepan, heat:

1/2 cup oil
1/3 cups sugar

takes 5-8 minutes on medium high until sugar is dark and melted, bubbles will begin to rise to the surface.  Remove immediately at this point and pour over strained rice in the pot.  Create a sort of "dome" with the rice in the pot (maybe this helps with steaming?)

******** WARNING: Be VERY careful with the sugar/oil mixture, it can be extremely dangerous.  Keep children and pets out of the kitchen and pour it over the rice away from the stove area as little drops can pop out and onto the stove/elements causing small grease/sugar flareups.

Have your kitchen sink empty and set the empty hot pot in the sink, allow it to cool there safely.  When its cooled you can add hot or warm water and let the extra remaining sugar residue dissolve before you safely wash it with soap.

Add foil (or parchment!) pouch with carrot/raisin mixture over the rice and to the side, just lay it in the pot.

Drizzle:

1/3 cups water (for steaming)


Place pot of rice on high heat for less than 5 mins, reduce to medium cook for 20-25 mins.

** There is cumin added in the video recipe but I omitted it and it's not listed in my notes

Results, I'm not sure... it needs to be steamed on a much lower heat as mine nearly burned at the bottom.  I also feel like the rice was a bit chewy (maybe from being coated in the hot oil/sugar)  The ones at the restaurant are more "fluffy"

Perhaps since I halved the recipe I should have used a smaller pot, the big  pot has too much surface area over the heat.

I'm going to work on it with my mother a bit more and see if we can do an attempt 2.  For now if you have success yourself then let me know how it goes, I think I just haven't perfected the steaming process well (ran into the same issue with a Persian recipe two years ago)

Beef Korma (Afghan Style)

This recipe is FANTASTIC! I mean it!

Usually the beef korma is something we order from an Afghan restaurant and we just love it but this recipe came so close in flavour that I would just make it all the time from now on!

If you've got a pressure cooker by all means use it, or even a slow cooker because the meat is going to need some cooking to tenderize. I cooked mine in a pot on the stove for about 5 hours.
Also it sat in the fridge for two days or so and developed even more flavour.

No caramelizing onions required so the recipe whips up in minutes!

Beef Korma

2 tbsp Oil (and 1 tbsp butter to brown meat)

1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
1 tbsp fresh ginger

1 finely Chopped onions

Stewing beef (I used half a pound, which is everything in that plate - but you could use a whole pound to feed more people!)

4 tbsp yogurt (I added 6)

2 tsp fresh corriander (I added more!)

1 green chili chopped

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 whole tomatoes (from can or fresh with skin removed by quick blanching in hot water)

Cut the tomatoes finely with a knife.

1. First I started with a pot and butter, heat the butter and add a drop of oil and once it's hot adding all the stewing beef to brown on all sides. Don't be afraid just let it brown until you see brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

2. Remove the beef onto a plate.

3. Add some more oil if necessary to the pot and then onions and sautee until they look clear on medium (keep an eye on it, I burnt the first batch!)

4. Next to go in is the spices and they toast for a few seconds, then the fresh garlic and ginger (lots of!)

5. Meat gets added back in and finally the yogurt gets fried in the pot a bit until things look a little brown.

6. Add the chopped tomato and some liquid to cook. Simmer and let cook until meat is tender.

Cover the meat with water to cook, as it dries up keep adding more water until the meat is cooked... once it flakes apart if you touch it with a fork it means it's done.

If using a pressure cooker it will cook faster and then if there is extra liquid just let it cook and evaporate off. This should be on the dry size but not too dry. If you see the oils as you see in the plate and the meat is tender then you're on the right track)

I didn't have tomato paste but it turned out just great, also I used a little extra yogurt (double!) and added chopped cilantro 30 mins towards the end of the cooking time because I like my herbs to be "fresher" but not sure how the cilantro in the beginning affects the curry so maybe next time I'll add some in the beginning and end.

Served with little homemade naan breads.

A little yeast, a tbsp of yogurt, flour, salt, water and melted butter. Then they're garnished with sesame seeds and black seeds (Nigella seeds/kalonji/onion seed) before baking on 500 F for a few seconds.

This recipe for the bread was made up, it's not precise so I didn't list the amounts, if you're into bread making like me you'll just throw something together and know how to go by feel, what I would do next time is add more butter to make it flakey.

1 3/4 - 2 cups flour (start with less and use more after adding the water)

1/2 tsp instant yeast

little sugar to feed the yeast

1 tbsp yogurt
1/2 tsp salt

Melted butter - about 3 tbsp

Water to form a dough, just add a few tbsp at a time and knead

Get the yeast going by proofing with a bit of water and the sugar, then add:

Yogurt
The flour

Salt

Add in the butter and stir until it is all absorbed by the flour and distributed. Then add enough water to form a dough.

Let it rise for 4 hours. Make small balls and let them rise a bit more. Flatten out using knuckles and spread with some melted butter and the seed (or a bit of egg and melted butter)

Bake for seconds. (keep an eye on it!) Flip it over if necessary.

So if you're in the neighbourhood come by and share this pot of curry or for more curry recipes and info on the 'Cook & share a pot of curry' event click here

Eid Al Adha!

As usual when it comes to our family Eid traditions having starbucks after the Eid prayer, two frappachinos here
And a hot mocha espresso with whip for my second youngest sister


Headed over to pick up grandma and to a new Afghani restaurant we tried out this year:

Mango Yogurt drink (lassi, dough) my youngest sister orders every single time!

Delicious beef afghan curry !
Grilled meat platter
More meat!

Salad, and bread, we had rice too of course!

At the very top is a quail south african style biryani we whipped up last weekend after Eid, thanks to my youngest sister Munch n' Crunch for all the great photos covering the holiday.