>U Mom Knows Best: How To Make Afghani Rice With Selefina Spices

Monday, August 29, 2022

How To Make Afghani Rice With Selefina Spices

 A simple traditional Afghan dish that is made with elongated grains of white basmati rice. This rice dish gets its delicious taste from several different spices.

I received samples of spices from Selefina to facilitate this recipe.

 Afghani rice also known as Afghani Chalaw is a traditional Afghan dish usually served as a side dish with different kinds of vegetarian or non-vegetarian curries. This flavorful rice is typically served with most meals. While this rice can take several hours to make, it is simple to make, once you learn. Most of the time spent making this Afghanistan rice dish is in the soaking time of the rice. 

 I have a wonderful friend who loves cooking. The best part of her cooking talent is she always shares food with my family. My husband loves it when my neighbor across the street has leftovers and brings them to us. My friend is from Afghanistan and has a unique cooking style that includes lamb, chicken, and the best rice dish that my family has ever tasted. When my friend brings over leftovers of Afghani Chalaw, my family eats it up quickly and then talks about the Afghan rice for days.

 When I visit my friend to return her dish, I always compliment her on making the best rice. My friend then asks if I would like more and quickly returns with more basmati rice for me to take home. Since this is traditional Afghan rice, she always has a pot of rice cooking on her stove. This is a rice dish from Afghanistan that is served with most meals. At Afghanistan celebrations, there is always a huge platter with the traditional basmati rice and roasted meat like lamb.

How to make Afghani Chalaw ~ Afghani Rice

 A couple weeks ago my friend surprised me with a big bag of long-grain basmati rice, that she purchased from the local Afghanistan grocery store. My friend then shared with me her method of making Afghani rice. While she was sharing the how-tos of the afghani rice recipe, she decided that it would be best to show me how to make the rice and asked me if I had time for her to come over later that day, so she could show me the step-by-step of how to cook Afghani Rice.

What is Basmati Rice?

 Basmati is aromatic long-grain rice and is grown in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. The name Basmati originally comes from Sanskrit “Vasmati” meaning “fragrant". 


How to make Basmati Rice for Afghani Rice

+ Rinse the rice well ~ The secret to making this delicious rice dish is rinsing and soaking the basmati rice. The rice needs to be rinsed several times to clean away the starches of the rice. So keep rinsing the rice until the water is not cloudy.

+ Soak the rice ~ The basmati rice needs to soak in water for several hours. This is the key to making the rice tender and fluffy. Most people soak the rice overnight or first thing in the morning, so it is ready to cook for lunch.

+ Add the rice to boiling water for a few minutes. ~ This helps to soften the rice and make it long. 

+ Drain water and return the rice to the cooking pot ~ Then add water, spices, and oil. Start the cooking of the rice.


Spices needed for Afghani Rice

+ Whole Green Cardamom Pods

Cumin Seeds

+ Fresh Black Pepper

+ Sea Salt

 This rice dish gets its fragrant flavor from a couple of spices. The spices are black pepper, sea salt, green cardamon pods, and cumin seeds. While most people have salt and pepper in their spice cabinet, few people have Whole Green Cardamom Pods and Cumin Seeds. Since these are not traditional spices that are used in American recipes, you will have to purchase these spices from a specialty store.


Selefina is the best place to purchase small samples of spices

If you are looking for an online specialty store to buy unique spices, Selefina is the best spice store. Selefina not only has unique spices that you can't find in grocery stores, but they also have 'try me' samples of their spices and seasonings. So you can try a new spice or a small amount for a recipe without having to spend a fortune on a whole bottle of spices. 

Select spices one at a time as singles, or select them in 6-PACKS. Have a spice adventure without the cost or cabinet commitment of an entire jar. Buy one—or buy handfuls—of these sealed portion-sized pouches and open them as needed for maximum freshness and flavor.

Affordable spice samples encourage culinary exploration ~ Experimenting with novel flavors and new spices can be overwhelming, not to mention expensive. Selefina makes this easy and affordable by providing home cooks with inexpensive samples of its many herbs and spices. 

+ Selefina's wide range of herbs and spices are available in single-use packets for only 75¢ each.  

+ Selefina sources products directly from origin, where it works with local farmers and cooperatives to harvest spices at the peak of freshness.

+ Get FIVE MORE 'try me' samples when you purchase any jars or refill pouches

+ Discover more Plus recipes at Selefina  


This page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

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 So now that you know how to make Afghani rice, you need to make it. Once you try it, you will love the unique flavor of the rice dish and understand why it is a family favorite. I used up that big 10-pound bag of basmati rice that my friend gave me. So I will need to head to the Afghan market to buy more. If you don't have access to an Afgan market, you can buy basmati rice on Amazon. This link shows the exact bag that my friend gave me. I love learning about other food from other cultures. Next up will be learning how to make Nann bread.




15 comments:

Renee said...

This sounds amazing. I really don't care for just plain rice, my husband on the other hand loves just plain rice.

AiringMyLaundry said...

I am sure I'd enjoy this rice. I tend to love things with tons of spices.

Hannah Bures said...

What a fun way to make rice! I cant wait to cook this for my family.

Anonymous said...

I’m a huge fan of rice, looking forward to giving this recipe a try.

Richelle Milar said...

Wow! I would love to try this! It look so good, I’m going to enjoy this rice for sure!

Rose Ann Sales said...

My family would definitely going to love this for sure! Can’t wait to prepare this for them!

Christy G said...

This rice sounds delicious. I'll have to give it a try. I'm not used to making anything but instant rice so I am kinda spoiled there.

Fatima D Torres said...

My kids love rice and this one seems like a great option for dinner. I love mixing things up at dinner time.

Beautiful Touches said...

With the spices listed I can see why it's called fragrant rice, I'd love to give it a try!

mail4rosey said...

I love finding different ways to try rice. This sounds really good.

Gust si Aroma said...

I love to try something new. This rice sounds perfect as a side dish for so many main courses!

Marysa said...

I am not familiar with this kind of rice. Selefina Spices are so fresh, we love using them as well.

Anonymous said...

Rice is a staple over here. I have never tried this recipe before, though. Looks good! -LYNNDEE

Terri Steffes said...

Ooo, this is a new recipe for me and it sounds so good. Those spices are making me hungry!

Laura JL Books said...

this is something that I never heard of before, But I must give it a try. these spicy are making me hungry too.

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