The house fills with tantalising aromas from the kitchen where many pots bubble over on a hot stove.
Zohra has been up since seven in the morning, cooking an assortment of dishes for the day. She is tired but brimming with excitement at the chance to cook traditional Afghan fare for the guests she is having over later.
She explains that she doesn’t get many opportunities to prepare food for guests. “It is only my husband and I here, no one else.”
Born in Kabul where she lived most of her life, Zohra recalls life there before the war and the Taliban. Life was good and women were free to go out without covering themselves.
There were tourists visiting and girls attended school. She would get together with her friends at each other’s houses to cook, sew, drink tea, sing, talk and laugh.
“It all seems a distant memory now”.
Considered the national dish of Afghanistan, Kabuli Pulao is essentially saffron-steamed rice mixed with slow-cooked lamb, caramelised carrots and sultanas. This makes for a comforting meal to be shared at large gatherings.
Kabuli Pulao (Lamb Pilaf): Serves 6
Ingredients : Meat
• 100ml olive oil
• 3 large onions, coarsely chopped
• 1–1.5kg lamb, leg or shoulder, on the bone, cut into 6 large pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp salt
• 500ml water
Carrots and sultanas
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg carrots, peeled, thickly shredded (julienne style)
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 200g sultanas
• 1 kg basmati rice, soaked in water overnight
Method: Meat
• In a large cooking pot heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the onions for five to seven minutes, until golden and soft.
• Add garlic and pieces of lamb and cook until meat is well browned on all sides. Add salt and water, stir everything well.
• Cover and cook over low heat for one hour 30 minutes, until the meat is soft and easily falls apart and there is a thick sauce.
Method: Carrots and sultanas
• Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and cook carrots for five minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly caramelised.
• Add sugar and stir well so sugar melts evenly. Remove from pan into a bowl to allow to cool. Add sultanas in the same pan and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously for five minutes until plumped-up and slightly caramelised. Remove from heat and add to the carrots.
• Drain rice. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook rice for five to seven minutes, until almost cooked; you still want the grains to have a slight bite. Drain, return to the pot and set aside.
• Transfer pieces of lamb onto a plate. Pour the sauce from the meat onto the rice and mix until rice is evenly coated.
• Place lamb pieces on top of the rice and cover with the carrots and sultans. Cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes over low heat. This steams the rice and infuses all flavours together. Turn off heat and rest for 10 minutes.
• To serve, cover the base of the serving plate with half the carrots and sultanas and put some of the rice on top. Place the lamb pieces on the rice and cover with the rest of the rice and top with the rest of the sweet carrots and sultanas.
• Covering the meat with the rice gives the element of surprise when serving the Kabuli Pulao.
This article was written by Haris Coussidis and originally published by UNHCR Malaysia in “A Taste from Home: Recipes and stories from refugees living in Malaysia”. It was re-published in uppre.com