ROSEWATER CARROT AND CARDAMOM PUDDING - HALWA E ZARDAK

By Katie

When it comes to food, I like a theme. The first time I invited my now husband over to my apartment was foran ice cream social.That was soon followed by a “tacky party” which featured fruity cocktails and “candy kabobs” on miniature colored skewers all of which I served wearing a baby blue terry cloth tube top.

So I had a hard time when Humaira sent this halwa recipe my way with instructions to adapt it to the slow cooker. It didn’t fit any of my notions of dessert. It’s sweet like dessert, but it’s got enough carrots to qualify as a salad. And although we’re calling it pudding, that’s just because we don’t know what else to call it. It’s not creamy like a pudding, but it’s not a cake either. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever eaten before. But it is worth eating:  gently flavored with cardamom and rosewater, warm, rich and satisfying.

Afghan halwa is related to halva, a sweet popular in India, the Near East and other parts of Central Asia. It is most commonly made not with carrots but with rice, wheat or semolina flour similar to this Afghan recipe here. I imagine it could be made with other sweet, hearty vegetables such as butternut squash and beets. Humaira says it’s delicious with apples. Like all desserts in Afghanistan, halwa is strictly a special occasion dish, a luxury for sure.

By conventional method, carrot halwa is prepared by combining grated carrots, milk, cream, butter and sugar (what’s not to like?) in a pot and letting it gently bubble away until the liquid absorbs and the carrot is tender. It’s topped with toasted pistachios or almonds.   The recipe definitely requires some attention so if you have neither the time nor the patience, the slow cooker is a fine substitute. The texture is slightly different, but the flavor is just as good.If you like, feel free to add a ½ cup of dried currants or golden raisins to the halwa when it is done.

After making this recipe a few times, and eating more than my fair share, I’ve found my theme. It’s the perfect sort of thing to share with a friend over a cup of tea in the afternoon. Homey, warm, pleasing, nourishing, wholesome:a heck of a lot better than a candy kabob.

Recipe by Humaira

Rosewater and Cardamom Flavored Carrot Pudding

Halwa e Zardak

½ stick unsalted butter

¾ cup sugar (or ½ cup honey)

1 1/4 cups whole milk

½ cup whipping cream

pinch of salt

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. rosewater or vanilla

2 lbs. carrots, peeled and grated

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pistachios, almonds or walnuts

Melt the butter and sugar (or honey) together in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring from time to time.You can also do this in the microwave.Pour the melted butter/sugar into the slow cooker and add the milk, cream, salt, cardamom and rosewater.Stir well.Add the grated carrots and stir again.Cook on low for 6 hours.

Stir well and serve warm or at room temperature with toasted nuts sprinkled over the top.

Serves 6 - 8

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.

GLUTEN FREE AFGHAN RICE COOKIES - KULCHA-E-BIRINJI

By Humaira

This week I was proud to help my daugther Sofia prepare for her presentation about the Afghan holiday Eid for her Spanish class.  Her teacher had asked each student to choose a holiday important to them and create a presentation in Spanish about it.  Sofia, to my surprise went all out by putting together a powerpoint presenation with spinning pictures and a menu of Afghan food she and I were to make for her classmates.

Having spent the last 10 years of my life educating people about Afghanistan, I was happy that some of what I had shared with my children had sunk in.  So, if you are raising bi-cultural children don't give up if they ignore your cultural insights.  The information is sinking in despite their whining and lack of interest at that moment.

Sofia dug into Afghan Culture Unveiled for recipes and carefully chose dishes that she thought her classmates would enjoy. One day after school I found her in the kitchen with the ingredients for Kulche Birinjee scattered around the.  So, a new blog post idea was born and I ruined the moment by bringing out my camera and snapping photos. 

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After recovering from my excitement, I was surprised by her resourcefulness but it also dawned on me that this recipe is so easy that even a 10 year old can make it.  So, get out the rice flour, sugar, butter, egg whites and cardamom and make some of these cookies for the upcoming Afghan new year with you little one.  Another added bonus, they are gluten free.

In Afghanistan cookies very similar to these are made just for Nowroz, they are called Nowrozee. The recipe is very much the same except that bright food coloring is used to make a plus shape design on top of the cookies for a festive holiday look.

I hope you and your family enjoy these cookies during your Noworz celebration.

Afghan Butter Cookies

Kulche Birinjee

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened to room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 egg whites

2 cups white rice flour

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (you can leave out if you don't like nuts)

1/4 cup shelled whole pistachios

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy.  Add the egg whites and mix until smooth.  Gradually add the rice flour, cardamom and pistachios (if you choose to use them).  Mix well.

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Scoop up a tablespoon of dough and set on a cookie sheet (ungreased is ok). Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand. The cookie will not rise or spread during cooking. Next, press the back of a fork into the dough, making a criss-cross with the tines of the fork (like you would with a peanut butter cookie).  If the fork begins to stick, dip it in a glass of cold water from time to time.  Place a pistachio in the center of the cookie.   

Continue with the remainder of the dough, setting the cookies 1 ½ inches apart. 

Bake for 12-14 mintues.  Let it cool before eating.

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.

KABUL QUINCE AND YOGURT TRIFLE

Helen Saberi has written one of the most popular Afghan cookbooks, Afghan Food and Cookery, which I discoved when I became interested in Afghan cooking. Helen married an Afghan man in 1972 and lived in Afghanistan for eight years until she had to leave due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Helen, originally English, spent her eight years in Afghanistan learning about Afghan culture; food, people and the Dari language.  I was really honoured when I received an email from Helen praising my blog. Naturally, I asked Helen if she would share one of her wonderful recipes with us.  Below we get best of two worlds, an Afghan inspired trifle recipe.  I think my European readers will finally enjoy a recipe with measurements in grams.

HelenSaberi

By Helen Saberi

The name of Afghanistan’s capital city would not normally conjure up thoughts or visions of trifles.  However, this recipe was inspired by my husband Nasir Saberi who asked me to devise a trifle recipe with an eastern flavour for my Trifle book; and to name it after the city in which he was born and brought up.  An alternative to the yoghurt topping could be firni. 

Kabul Quince and Yoghurt Trifle

HelenTriflePhoto

2 medium quinces

110 g sugar ( 4 oz.)

juice of ½ lemon

pinch of ground cardamom

18-24 amaretti biscuits

500 g Greek strained yoghurt (17 oz.)

¼ tsp saffron

1 tbsp. rose water

110 g caster sugar (4 oz.)

½ tsp ground cardamom

toasted flaked almonds

slivered or ground pistachio

crystallized rose petals

Peel, core and slice the quinces thinly. Put into a pan and add water; which should well cover the quinces. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, turn down the heat and simmer until they are just soft.  (You may have to add more water if it reduces too much.) Remove the quinces with a slotted spoon from the pan and set to one side.

Quince

Now add the sugar to the water in which the quinces were cooked and stir to dissolve. Add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the cardamom and return the quinces to the pan. Leave to cool in the syrup.

Place the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of a glass bowl and cover with the quinces. Add just enough of the syrup to lightly soak the amoretti.

Now make the yoghurt cream. Dissolve the saffron in the rosewater and beat into the yoghurt. Mix in the sugar, more or less according to taste, and add the cardamom. Mix well. Spread the yoghurt cream evenly over the quinces and decorate with the almonds, pistachios and rose petals, according to your fancy.

Note:  If quinces are not available, which is highly likely, pears softly poached can be substituted or even tinned pears can be used. Not quite the same but still good. 

Except where otherwise noted, all content on this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.