I have been a bit frustrated with the everyday food here in Afghanistan, it seems to be an ongoing problem in many of the countries I have worked in (most notably Moldova [eastern Europe in general] and Kenya). I have been accused of being a bit finicky about the food I eat (if you call not wanting Rice garnished with Potatoes and a side of bread, or pressure cooker cooked cauliflower [mush] with oil and bread being finicky). Where I work/live (a normal setup for NGO life in Afghanistan) has a *very* basic kitchen (with questionable sanitation) and our breakfast/dinner cook is also the guard and the lunch cook doesn’t appear to be much more imaginative than the guard when preparing food.
As a result I have been trying to cook for myself and sometimes for the others staying here which has been quite a bit of a challenge between the rudimentary kitchen, limited ingredients, and many of the staff’s aversion to variety and vegtables. I thought I’d post on a cooking forum to see if anyone knew of a website that could give suggestions on recipes based on a list of ingredients. It turns out that there were some sites but one person also suggested I post available ingredients and they would brainstorm about it. I got a bit carried away with my response to them and thought it might make a good post on my blog so here it is:
Different foods are in season at different times but here is a run down of some of the foods available. It should be noted that an oven is not an option here and refrigeration is iffy so preparing large portions or baking (unless there is a trick I don’t know about, quite possible) are not really options here.
Cooking utensils are also sparse. Fortunately I am a (steel) wok kinda guy which is not hard to find here, I brought my own cutting board and “French chef” and paring knives which are the “must haves” for me. We have very large pots, some very large bowls, and that’s about it asides from a few plates, tons of soup bowls, forks and spoons. While I am sure they can be found at one of the expat stores where I am. Even at the expats stores finding things like thermometers, copper plated pans, whisk (usually use a fork), and even measuring things (cups, spoons) is usually difficult.
* Potatoes (lots of em)
* Okra
* Cauliflower
* Flatbread (ok, its not an ingredient but I found it makes a reasonable pseudo pizza crust)
* Something like cream cheese (not quite but close)
* Feta cheese (Iranian but quite cheap here)
* Rice, lots of rice (they are really big on starches here, its not uncommon to get a meal that consists of potatoes, rice, and bread).
* Pomegranates
* Mini-lemons. Tiny lemons, I thought they were funny at first but half of one of these lemons is perfect for sweet iced tea (which doesn’t happen here [strictly hot black or green tea] so I usually make it myself).
* Carrots
* Cabbage
* Beef (chunks and ground, they don’t really make a distinction between different cuts of meat here)
* Sheep
* Goat
* Chicken (kinda expensive here)
* Tomatoes (lots)
* Onion (lots)
* Eggs
* Black Pepper
* Red Pepper
* Curry
* Cumin (they only use it for rice here but I use it in chili)
* Beans (usually red)
* Chickpeas (I’ve been tempted to try hummus though I’ve never made it w/o a food processor before)
* Cucumbers
* Pasta
* A nut that is similar to pine nuts (but isn’t)(I’ve thought about trying to make pesto but haven’t tried yet)
* Dill
* Vegetable oil (usually sunflower)
* Sheep fat (just thought I’d throw that in. I like sheep and back home people occasionally cook with fat back [and I occasionally eat it when my heart/waistline are feeling up to it, can be quite tasty] so since pork is taboo here and they have a breed of sheep that has big fat deposits I thought I’d try cooking something with sheep fat… every time so far has been a mistake)
* Yogurt, not like Dannon brand yogurt you find in stores in the US, usually not as sour.
I can find lots of other ingredients here but usually that requires paying a ridiculous price, going to the stores for foreigners, or both: Things like mushrooms (always canned), bean sprouts, salami, green peppers, lettuce, and lots of other things I can’t think of at the moment.
The kind of things I have made that my (afghan) colleagues will eat (which really narrows it down) and I am not ashamed of making are:
* Omelets (kinda a pain for crowds but tolerable for 2-3 people)
* Quasi Italian/American Spaghetti
* Chili
* Beef stroganoff
* Semi-Spicy French fries (or chips depending on where you are coming from)
I have made some chef salads and quasi Greek/Russian salads as well but those didn’t go over very well here. I have also made various stir-frys which I thought wasn’t half bad but also was not well received. Another thing i attempted was a semi pizza but that didn't seem to work too well as i had to make it kind of like a grilled cheese in a pan (since i don't have an oven). I have also made grilled cheese (mixed in with some onion, wee bit of feta and mozzarella and sliced bread [the last two being very expensive here]. I just got my hands on some corn meal and it is okra season now so I will probably try fried okra which I think will go over well.
Things I have learned that Afghans don’t like (there are always exceptions) are lots of vegetables and spices. A few veggies and a smattering of spice is ok but if you start going Thai/Indian spicy/vegan on them they won’t touch it.
Ok, that’s about all I can think of at the moment any thoughts suggestions would really be appreciated!
Cheers
-Gaiko
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