Kabuli Pallau - Qabuli Palao

Kabuli Pallau - Qabuli Palao

Kabuli Pallau
Qabully Polau

This rice dish is typical of the region in and around Afghanistan. It is served on its own or with a dish of yoghurt on the side. The flavour of this dish comes from the bone broth made from your lamb shanks, which is subtle. The richer and deeper the flavour of the broth, the bolder the rice. Left over rice can be eaten with fried fish or kebabs. 

I have often eaten this in London, where one gets the most authentic restaurants from every region of the world. This is a recreation—my version of what we have been enjoying for the past decade in restaurants.

A rice and meat dish with lots of subtle flavour.

Serves 6

4 lamb shanks

4 small to medium onions

12 each of cloves, pepper corn, cracked cardamom pods 
1 stick of cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 whole pods of garlic

12 cups water

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp garam masalo

1 tsp salt or to taste

2 cups rice -washed and rinsed 

A simple syrup of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water

Juice of 1 large lemon

1 tbsp candied orange peel

2 peeled and ribboned or julliened carrots

Optional to decorate: a handful of raisins and almonds You can also add a few dried apricots (jardaloo) to this dish.

In a pan, heat a knob of butter and oil. Brown the lamb shanks all over until completely caramelised. Add the onions and allow them to sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the spices and then the water. Bring it to a boil and cover. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook this for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender.

Remove and strain the broth. Keep aside.

Make a syrup with the sugar and water, and add to this the juice of one lemon, orange peel, and carrots.

In the larger pot (now empty), sauté the tomato paste, cumin, garam masalo salt, and the cooked lamb. Use a little of the 4 cups of broth to bring it all together.

Place the raw, washed rice in the pot. On high heat, pour the broth over it and bring it to a boil. Let it cook until the broth has almost evaporated, allowing you to see the rice surface to the top. This will take 10 minutes. Pour the syrup with all the other vegetables and fruit in it. Cover this with a damp piece of parchment and place it all the way down to touch the rice. Cover the pot with a tight lid to prevent the steam from escaping.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow it to cook for another 30 minutes.

Turn the stove off and let it rest for another ten minutes. Serve it sprinkled with raisins and almonds that have been lightly toasted.

Tips

Wash the rice at least ten times until the water runs clear.

 

 

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

Lamb Stew on Pilaf Rice

 

 

Rice and meat stew 

A hybrid of Iraqi Biryani, A Persian Pallau, a Turkish Pilaf, a Syrian Pilaf, let's be inclusive of the Middle Eastern world that calls this rice cooked in broth a Pilaf.  It is full of flavours that are subtle, not spicy, yet simply flavourful and not bland; it is a lamb stew served on a bed of pilaf rice.

A bed of rice pilaf topped with a lamb stew, with green peppers and onions sprinkles with nuts

The Meat Stew

2 kg/4.4 Lamb pcs half without bone in small squares and half with bone slightly larger
2 flat tsp salt
2 onions roughly chopped

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp brown sugar
2 large onions chopped into squares
1 tsp garam masala
4 finely chopped green chillies
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
2 onions in squares
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 stick of cinnamon
4 green cardamoms

1 tbsp ghee
small pieces of aubergine and zucchini
sprinkle of salt
pinch of sugar
add
1 tsp all-spice or advieh
1 tsp dried mint or dried oregano

Step 1. 
Boil them together until soft and tender. 
1 kg/ 2.2 lb lamb in small square pieces + 1 kg/ 2.2 lb boned lamb in medium pieces 
8 cups of fresh water, salt, and onions. 

Strain and separate the meat, remove and discard the onion and spices; keep the broth aside. 

Step 2:

Melt 1 tbsp ghee in a pan and add 3 large onions, cut into square chunks, to the pan to sauté until caramelized.

Add a tsp of brown sugar to help it along. Now add all the dry spices, give it a good stir, add the tomato paste and the garlic and ginger pastes, give it a stir. 
Add the cooked meat and allow it to caramelise on a high flame. 
Add the broth a spoonful at a time to keep it moist when necessary. 

In another pan, add 1 tbsp of ghee and add the aubergine and zuchinni in small chunks to saute. Sprinkle lightly with salt and a pinch of sugar. Keep it caramelised and cooked through, but it should not be over cooked. Sprinkle with allspice or advieh and then with dried mint or oregano. 

Toss all of this into the pan with the meat. Gently give it a good ''folding in,'' allowing it to get incorporated. It should not break down or turn into mush. Add a spoon of broth if needed.

Rice

1 tsp ghee/butter or oil
2 cups  washed rice
The broth
1 stick cinnamon
8 cloves
2 green cardamoms
1 tsp salt
add  1 cup peas and 1/2 cup diced carrots
Sumac to sprinkle

In a large pot, prepare the rice. 
Heat a pan with 1 tsp of ghee, oil or butter, and add the rice to it. 
Add 4 cups of liquid, using up all the broth you may have saved on the side. The balance of the liquid used can be water if you run short. 
Also add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, salt, and lastly, add the peas and diced carrots. 
Bring the water to a boil, allowing the water to evaporate until the top of the rice is visible. Cover tightly, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through. 

To serve, remove the rice from a large platter, sprinkle all over with Sumac and serve it with the lamb meat stew. 

Optionally sprinkle with toasted almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc., and raisins. 

Tips

The flavours of the lamb, mutton, and goat meat are the best for this recipe. However, if you wish to use veal or beef, the broth is most important to flavour the rice. 
If you need to make the broth, if you buy a good cut of boneless beef, you can buy extra bones. 

Aubergine, eggplant, or brinjal are a creamy, sweet addition to this dish. Large green peppers like cubanelle, red capsicum, or yellow zucchini are great substitutions. Prepare the vegetables in an order that will cook through the ones like aubergine. That may take the longest, as the others  like peppers, should have a slight crispness to the bite. 
If you do not like the particular flavour of a spice or vegetable, omit it. 
Roasted or toasted nuts are also optional. Both taste perfect.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on Amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.