A simple traditional Afghan dish that is made with long-grain white basmati rice. Afghan rice is a favorite side dish of those from Afghanistan 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 pasta bowl, 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 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".
Basmati Rice is:
~ Delicious
~ Gluten-Free
~ A traditional rice dish from Afghanistan
~ Made with Basmati Rice
~ Easy-To-Make
~ Flavorful
~ A Delicious Side Dish
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 be soaked 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
+ 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.
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.
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15 comments:
This sounds amazing. I really don't care for just plain rice, my husband on the other hand loves just plain rice.
I am sure I'd enjoy this rice. I tend to love things with tons of spices.
What a fun way to make rice! I cant wait to cook this for my family.
I’m a huge fan of rice, looking forward to giving this recipe a try.
Wow! I would love to try this! It look so good, I’m going to enjoy this rice for sure!
My family would definitely going to love this for sure! Can’t wait to prepare this for them!
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.
My kids love rice and this one seems like a great option for dinner. I love mixing things up at dinner time.
With the spices listed I can see why it's called fragrant rice, I'd love to give it a try!
I love finding different ways to try rice. This sounds really good.
I love to try something new. This rice sounds perfect as a side dish for so many main courses!
I am not familiar with this kind of rice. Selefina Spices are so fresh, we love using them as well.
Rice is a staple over here. I have never tried this recipe before, though. Looks good! -LYNNDEE
Ooo, this is a new recipe for me and it sounds so good. Those spices are making me hungry!
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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