Dinner from Afghanistan!

Yum, yum, yum! We made a terrific Afghan dinner last night.
The menu:
Palao (national dish, rice with carrots and raisins)
cauliflower in tomato sauce
naan (purchased in the bakery section of our local SuperTarget)
cookies

The rice and cauliflower were the favorites of the adults. I thought that the cookies were a little dry but M thought they were still very good.

We finally found a country for which www.Crayola.com did not a flag coloring page. We improvised using the Wikipedia entry for Afghanistan. M missed the "Did you know..." section of Crayola's flag coloring page, until I made him a "Did you know..." fact. His fact was "Did you know...

M's interruption
This was the first time i remember eating cauliflower.It was not my favorite vegetable but kinda okay.I liked the cookies.

Back to Anne...
... that people have lived in the land that is now Afghanistan for 50,000 years and farming communities there are among the first in the world."

The Recipes:
Qabali - Afghani Rice (this is for 16 servings, I cut it by four and we finished it off!)
INGREDIENTS

* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 5 carrot, julienned
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1/2 cup sultana raisins
* 4 cups uncooked basmati rice
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 cup water
* 1 pinch saffron (optional)
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rice in a large bowl, rinse, and then soak in cold water for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add carrots and 1 teaspoon sugar; cook, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in raisins, and continue cooking until the raisins are soft and plump. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Strain rice, and then add to boiling water. Cook for about 5 minutes, then strain with a mesh strainer.
4. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup oil and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cook until sugar dissolves completely, making a syrup. Remove from heat , and cool. Once cool, add 1 cup water, and return to a boil.
5. Return the rice to pan. Stir in carrots and raisins, and then mix in oil and sugar syrup. Season with saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, and cumin. Poke some holes with a spoon all over the rice. Cover, and cook over high heat until you hear crackling noises. Remove from heat.
6. Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and toss rice with a fork.

Afghan Cauliflower

Ingredients

* 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
* 1 onion, sliced into half rounds
* 1/4 cup oil
* 2 cups water, divided
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 8 ounces tomato sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste

Directions

1. In a large frying pan put the oil and onion and saute it until the onion is golden brown.
2. Drain the oil.
3. Add 1 cup water, the garlic and salt and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl put the remaining water, tomato sauce, curry powder, black pepper, ground coriander and ginger paste.
5. Blend well.
6. After the 10 minutes are up, add the cauliflower and tomato sauce mixture to the onions, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Note: The original recipe said cook for 30 minutes or until tender; I only needed to cook for 20 minutes for it to be very tender.

Afghan Cookies
Ingredients

* 1/3 cup pitted dates, chopped fine
* 1/2 cup boiling water, more to cover dates
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups corn flakes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the chopped dates in a small cup and cover with the boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Drain and discard the liquid.
4. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking powder.
5. In a large bowl, cream the vegetable shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Stir in the dates.
7. Beat in the vanilla extract.
8. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
9. Fold in the cornflakes.
10. Break off walnut size pieces of the # dough and roll into balls.
11. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
12. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until firm to the touch.
13. Transfer to wire racks to cool.