Afghanistan

Tonight we cooked food from Afghanistan. We made Lamb with Spinach stew. This was really delicious and we ate it with couscous. Usually you should eat it with some sort of flatbread but we didn't tonight. Here is a picture of our dinner.

I would give this meal an 8 1/2 out of 10 stars

About the country

Afghanistan a relatively small country is in Asia in between Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

and Tajikistan and China. Most of the country is high plateau which is covered in snow when winter comes around. However, in the spring, grass appears too which, in the dry hot summers, falls into desuetude from the dry dust storms that are normal for that region. There is not much precipitation apart from the heavy snow in winter and the occasional monsoon in the east. Agriculture and the raising of sheep and goats are the backbone of the economy. Unfortunately, these things are destroyed by civil wars which Afghanistan has a lot of even though the people aren't proud of it.

Food

Afghan meals almost always include meat. Usually they don't use cutlery. Food is gulped with right hand, using naan (a kind of bread) as scoop. The Afghans treat their guests with great respect and try to serve their guests the best food that they can provide.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb Lamb stew meat -- preferably leg

• 1/3 c Olive oil

• 3/4 lb Onions; diced large

• 4 ts Chopped garlic

• 2 ts Turmeric

• 1/4 ts Nutmeg

• 1/4 ts Ground cardamom

• 1 ts Crushed red pepper -- or to taste

• 1/2 ts Cinnamon

• 32 oz Can tomatoes; drain & chop

• 1 c Rich brown veal stock or

• 1 c Rich beef stock

• 1/3 lb Fresh spinach; wash & drained

• 1/2 c Yogurt

• 1 tb Grated lemon peel

• Salt; to taste

• 1/4 c Pine nuts* *Roasted at 350 F. for about 3 minutes.

Method

Sear lamb in the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven.

Add the onions; saute them for 2 minutes; then add the garlic and saute it for 1 minute.

Put in the turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, crushed red pepper and cinnamon and saute the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes more, being careful not to burn the onions or garlic.

Add the tomatoes and veal stock and stir.

Cover the dish and bake at 350 F. for about 1 hour, until the meat is tender and begins to break up. Remove the dish from the oven and add the spinach, stirring until the spinach is wilted and blended in.

Allow the stew to cool slightly.

Add the yogurt, lemon peel and salt to taste.

Sprinkle with roasted pine nuts.