SLC23-W2 // "Afghan Cuisine"

Greetings and welcome to another exciting week of learning and possibilities. Am glad to partake in this course of exploring world cuisine. And I love it already.

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What is new for you from the course, any spice or cooking technique or anything that you want to share?

Well I’d say a whole lot is new from this course. First is my first time of trying a cuisine from another continent entirely and I loved the fact that I have to practice something new. The second is that some of the ingredients and spices are new to me. For example, I’ve not cooked with cummin seeds which I substituted for coriander seed like the teacher suggested.

I’ve not cooked with sugar before aside baking and the process of caramel using the sugar and all was entirely new. I’ve also not cooked with dried raisins. I couldn’t find it here hence I used dried dates as a substitute for the raisins and it was a beautiful experience.

When I was done with the cooking, I gave some to my friend and she said she liked the food as it was new to her. After she was done eating, she asked me how I prepared it and after I told her it was an afghan cuisine, she was very surprised at the recipe and process but we both enjoyed it. It was a welcomed new experience.

Is your local cousin has any food that resembles with the shared recipe?

Yes, we have the jollof rice and fried rice which have a resemblance but I’ve never used coriander, sugar and raisins for this local dish. They have similarities such as using carrot, oil and meat and also big differences in the technique of cooking and the ingredients.

Make the afghani polaw by using the recipe given in course or which you like?Include your name tag with date in final presentation of recipe.

The ingredients I used in making my Afghan Polaw are:

• Rice
• Oil
• Salt 1tbs
• Sugar 1tbs
• Beef
• 2 Onions bulb
• Coriander seeds 1tbs (instead of cummin seeds)
• Dried dates 1 tbs (instead of dried raisins)
• Carrots

Procedure

I added oil in a pot and added my sliced onions and my washed beef and cooked them together until it’s brown.

I added salt and the coriander seeds and fried them for about a minute. Then I added water to the mixture and allowed it to cook until the meat was tender.

I soaked my rice in water for about two to three hours. I used the long grain rice. It was ready after the soaking. I caramelised sugar in oil and also set it aside for later use.

I soaked the dates in water and removed the seeds afterwards and cuts them into pieces. I caramlised the sliced carrots in oil and added sugar to it and fried for about two minutes and set it aside for later use.

After the meat was tender, I removed it from the stock and I added the soaked rice to the stock and allow it to cook for about ten minutes. Then added the meat and the caramelized carrot and raisins.

I also added the caramelised sugar to it and stired. I allowed it to cook for another ten minutes until the rice was cooked.

My Afghan polaw was ready to be eaten. I shared my new recipe with a friend as we enjoyed the lovely cuisine together. It was a welcomed new experience.

Final presentation

Share the cooking expenses of the recipe in steem and in your local currency.

Items	Price in local currency (#Naira)	Steem price
Rice	1000 Naira	5 Steem
Onions	400 Naira	2 steem
Oil	500 Naira	2.5 Steem
Beef	1000 Naira	5 Steem
Carrot	200 Naira	1 Steem
Coriander seeds	500 Naira	2.5 Steem
Sugar	200 Naira	1 Steem
Salt	200 Naira	1 Steem
Dates	200 Naira	1 Steem
Total	4200 Naira	20 Steem

I didn’t have enough money with me so I had to mange the little I had and bought the ingredients in small quantities so that it would be enough to carry out the learning challenge. It was a worthy experience and I was glad I could partake and learn something new.

Thank you for this wonderful moment of teaching. I look forward to another great recipe for the new week. I do hope the ingredients would be available here in my country.

I ask @pandoradiary, @ngozi99 and @pandora2010 to join the challenge.