Sabza - Afghan Spinach

 From Afghan dinner prepared by Mhrangiz

Steam a few bags of fresh spinach for 15 minutes, then ‘smash them’ gently.

In a separate pan, fry one chopped onion with 2 cloves of garlic and a bit of salt in olive oil.

Mix everything until fully combined.  Let rest about 5 minutes before serving. 

Toasted Turmeric Cashews

https://www.afghancultureunveiled.com/humaira-ghilzai/afghancooking/2013/03/toasted-turmeric-cashew-nuts.html 

I prepared these for an Afghan-themed 65th surprise birthday party.  They were VERY turmeric-y, possibly moreso because I added a twist of pepper to increase the absorption of curcumin.  I also skipped the colander step, which might have been more important than I realized.  In any case, they were very easy to make, and I might try again with a different spice mix. 

https://www.afghancultureunveiled.com/humaira-ghilzai/afghancooking/2013/03/toasted-turmeric-cashew-nuts.html

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons ground turmeric

1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt (adjust to your taste)

1 pound unsalted, dry-roasted cashews

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add oil, turmeric and salt; quickly stir to make a paste.  Immediately add the cashews and stir-fry for 1 minute, turning the cashews in the pan to coat with the spices but don’t burn them.  Pour into a colander.  Shake the colander for 1 minute to eliminate extra spices; you may need to brush off extra coating of turmeric.  Let cool and store in a jar with a tight lid.

Note:  Trader Joe’s has well priced and really fresh cashews.

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Borani Kadoo Afghan butternut squash

https://thespicespoon.com/borani-kadoo/ 

I made this for an appetizer for an Afghan-themed dinner for a friend's 65th  surprise birthday party and it was really good.  

For the cumin, I ground it from seeds.  And increased the spices by 50-100%.  I used Siggi's skyr yogurt, which is very thick.  Mhrangiz suggested using water to thin it out so that it could be spread more easily on the bottom of the bowl.  I washed the mint the night before and let it dry overnight, so it was perfect for chopping when I went to add it to the dish.  It's easy to cut the veggies (I used a combo of sweet potatoes and butternut squash) the night before, roast them and let them cool in the fridge day of, and assemble just before serving.  It should be at room temperature.  For vegan, use non-dairy yogurt instead (Greek style Kite Hill would be my preference.)

Be generous with the mint, and add a generous sprinkle of salt. 

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 medium-sized butternut squash halved lengthwise, peeled, de-seeded and and sliced into 1/4 inch slices (they will look like arcs)
• ▢ olive oil for roasting
• (note: would increase the following spices by at least 50%)
• ▢ *1/4 tsp turmeric powder haldi
• ▢ *1/2 tsp coriander powder
• ▢ *1/2 tsp cumin powder (grind seeds)
• ▢ 3/4 cup thick Greek-style yoghurt (dairy or non-dairy)
• ▢ sea salt to taste
• ▢ dried mint + extra for garnish

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 400F
• In a large mixing bowl, combine sliced butternut squash with a good drizzle of olive oil (enough so it coats each piece), turmeric, coriander seed powder and cumin seed powder.
• Transfer to cookie tray, (spread evenly across it) and place in oven for 20 minutes.
• When roasted, sprinkle with sea salt and allow to come to room temperature- around 15 minutes.
• Spoon yoghurt into individual glasses and layer with butternut squash slices. Or you could slather a layer into individual small plates and place butternut squash slices on top.
• Dust with dried mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Serve with pillowy bread like nan-e-barberi from an Irani store. Or you could use pita bread.