KABUL A CITY AT WORK

By Humaira

One of my goals for this blog, and the work I do with my nonprofit organization Afghan Friends Network, is to show the world the human side of Afghanistan.  All we hear about is the Taliban, war, corruption, and misery.  Our media doesn't cover the people who send their children to school, cook three meals a day, celebrate new babies and enjoy family picnics, despite the turmoil surrounding them.  More than 30 million Afghans live lives we don't hear about.

I recently came across an amazing blog, Kabul: A City At Work.  It  showcases Afghans living and working in Kabul through video interviews and photo portraits.  It captures Afghans at work telling their own stories.  

These small vignettes of Kabul life provide a glimpse into the soul of  this misrepresented country. As stated on their blog the goals of this project are to:

1. Give Afghan people an international voice.

2. Attract a global audience for cultural issues in Kabul.

3. Provide a sustainable template for further creative projects.

4. Dispel negative perceptions of Afghanistan.

So,  sit back and enjoy over 60 episodes about fascinating Afghans:

#12- Who is the sweet maker?

SweetMaker

#033- Who is the interior designer?

InteriorDesigner

#026- Who is the female entrepenuer?

Femaleentrepeneur

#16- Who is the skateboard teacher?

Skateboarder

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

AFGHAN CULTURE UNVEILED

By Humaira

Over three years ago Katie went to a food writer’s conference and came back armed with ideas on how to promote our idea to write an Afghan cookbook. One of those ideas was to start a blog to share our love for Afghan food and build a reader base. We were both novices in the blogosphere but with the help of great friends with technical savvy (John Witchel and Paul Nakada) we actually achieved our dream of becoming the number one Afghan blog in the world. Ok, so there aren’t many active Afghan food blogs in the world but we are Number One. We found our blog to be a great way to share our recipes, so we abandoned our idea of writing an Afghan cookbook. Our wonderful readers (yup, that is you) constantly inspire us with encouragement, praise and ideas.  

A year ago Katie followed her bliss and started a blog about a subject dearest to her: making healthy, delicious food easy while raising her three wonderful daughters. I am really proud to say that Katie’s immensely popular blog Mom’s Kitchen Handbook should be a bookmark for every mom. Katie is very busy writing a book for Chronicle books, keeping up her fabulous blog, starring in videos for Pottery Barn and being a great mom.  So, with heavy heart I finally accepted that Katie could only contribute occasional guest blogs to Afghan Cooking.

This transition is a difficult one since Katie and I made a great team. Our skills were very complimentary and we were always on the same page with our vision. I have been thinking about how to move the Afghan Cooking blog forward without Katie the food writer. Although I know Afghan food and I get great joy from our recipes, my real passion is sharing Afghan culture with you. When I first approached a friend (an Afghanistan expert) about the idea of promoting Afghan food he said, “Food is associated with comfort and joy. When it comes to Afghanistan all people will think about is what do those barbarians eat before they kill each other.” When I read your wonderful comments about how you love Afghan food, I feel vindicated since my friend was SO wrong.

I am really excited about 2012 and the opportunity to not only share Afghan recipes with you but to also write about Afghan culture, Afghan heritage and current events. In the past ten years I have dedicated my passions to sharing Afghanistan’s history, culture and of course food. And to emphasize my desire to share this wealth of culture with you, I have renamed this blog: Afghan Culture Unveiled.

Thank you for reading Afghan Culture Unveiled.  

In honor of my friendship with Katie, once again I share our favorite Afghan dish aush, the soup that initiated our friendship over seven years ago.  Katie and I love eating and making aush, our family's favorite Afghan dish.  In fact, I am making aush tonight.  Nosh e jan, bon apetite.

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 Aush

Afghan Noodle Soup

We sometimes add a few handfuls of chopped spinach or swiss chard when the pasta is nearly cooked for extra color and nutrition. 

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground beef  or ground turkey can be a fine substitute

1 ½ tsp. ground coriander 

1 1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

2 tbsp. tomato paste mixed with 2 tbsp. hot water

7 oz uncooked spaghetti (doesn’t have to be exact)

10 cups chicken broth

1 15 oz. can kidney beans

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans

1 pint plain yogurt

 Dried mint (optional

Instructions:

Saute the onion in olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on low heat until tender and golden.  Add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Add the ground beef and use a spoon to break it up as it cooks so it is loose and separated (like taco meat). Once the beef is browned add the coriander, paprika, salt, pepper and tomato paste. Mix everything well and continue to cook over low heat for about 15 minutes. 

While the meat is cooking, pour the chicken broth into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Add the spaghetti and boil for 5 minutes.   Empty the beans into a colander and rinse with water.  Add the beans to the spaghetti and continue to cook until the pasta is done. 

To assemble, put 2 ladles of noodles and broth and 2 spoonfuls of beef into a deep serving bowl. Finish with 1 or 2 spoonful of yogurt on top and sprinkle some dried mint.  Give it a stir and eat.

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

EASY BRAISED PUMPKIN - COUSIN MADYA'S KADOO

By Humaira

I was in Kabul for a five day trip at the beginning of October. Since I was traveling on my own and setting my own schedule, I felt a great sense of freedom that I had not felt on previous trips.  I chatted with cab drivers, wandered around Kabul’s women’s garden, andhung out with my cousin’s five wonderful, well-behaved children.

All the kids had responsibilities for house work. With ages ranging from9 months to 15 years old, you can imagine that their mum needs some help. What really struck me was the total lack of complaining on the part of the children. Even the three and a half year old has chores and proudly performs them without being asked. 

I returned home inspired by all of this. Over the weekend I asked my own daughters to clean the dishes after Sunday lunch. I divvied up the work evenly between the two of them. First, there were major protests , “Why do WE have to do this?” then, “ I am doing more than her!” I ended up with a headache. 

Of course the kids in Afghanistan do not have after school activities, sports, music lessons, or play dates. These luxuries are neither available nor part of the culture. One thing they are expected to do is do well in is school. All of my cousin’s children are excellent students and very motivated.

Madya Jan, my cousin’s 15-year old daughter, is an excellent cook and makes most of the meals for the family. She made this delicious pumpkin dish while I was there.  It’s a sort of quicker, modified Kadoo recipe which is very flavorful, so I decided to share it with you. I did modify it a little:  rather than frying the pumpkin in oil, I used vegetable broth. I have to admit, the dish tastes better fried, but most of my friends here in the Western part of the world like to avoid cooking heavily in oil. Either way, it’s tasty and will always remind me of my trip to Afghanistan.     

Cousin Madya’s Kadoo

Braised Pumpkin

One 3 pound sugar pie pumpkin or butternut squash

1 ½ cups vegetable broth

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tomatoes roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup full fat or Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

Cut the pumpkin into quarters, remove the seeds, peel and cut in thin strips as shown in the photo. 

Heat the vegetable broth in a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the pumpkin.  Keep a close eye on the pumpkin, stirring every few minutes so all pieces are exposed to heat. Add the turmeric, stir well, cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and allow the liquid to absorb and thicken. This will take around 10 minutes.

In the meantime, in a sauce pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the tomatoes, garlic, and sugar. Stir well, turn the heat to medium-low and let is cook until the flavors infuse the oil and the tomatoes caramelize a bit, 7 to 10 minutes.  Make sure it doesn’t burn.

Pour the tomato mixture evenly over the pumpkin.  Cover the top with a tight lid or aluminum foil and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is fully cooked and a fork can go through it easily.

Mix the yogurt, garlic powder and salt in a bowl and stir for a minute or so until it’s smooth and creamy.   Portion the pumpkin onto serving plates and put a generous dollop of  yogurt to top.  Serve with pita bread or Aghan Nan.

Ingredients ready to go

Pumpkin simmering in chicken broth

Tomatoes still cooking before they are added to the pumpkin

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