Afghani Pulao as the name suggests is a rice dish from Afghanistan. It’s also a popular dish in Northwest of Pakistan and central Asian States. This traditional dish consist of rice cooked in slow cooked Lamb broth with some spices and are topped with carrots, raisins and sometimes nuts.
Jump to RecipeHow to Make Afghani Pulao
Afghani pulao is fairly easy dish to make. The spice list may seem daunting but its nothing to fret. The ingredients used for the recipe are below:
- Lamb shanks – traditionally shanks are used for this dish as they don’t fall apart after long cooking. And also the bone gives out deep, rich flavour. Alternative to lamb shanks is leg meat or shoulder cut with bones. The meat should be cut in larger chunks.
- Rice – basmati rice or jasmine rice are best option.
- Spices – its uses spices like coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. All these add amazing flavour and aroma to the pulao.
- Tomatoe Paste – adds rich colour to the rice.
To begin with sear the shanks in a pot with some oil, to get even colour on all sides. In the same pot fry onions and add tomatoes and spices. Put the shanks back and let them cook for around 2 hrs, so that they are tender and fall apart easily. Making Afghani pulao does take slightly longer then other pulao especially if you are using shanks. The idea is to slow cook them untill they are tender. You can use pressure cooker too but i believe the taste is better with slow cooking of lamb. It is definitely worth the time it takes too cook .
This recipe requires rice to be parboiled i.e. slightly more than half done, so they are cooked on outside but bit undone in the center. You can tell by breaking a grain of rice. The reason for this method is that we want rice to be still able to absorb the flavoursome stock.
Garnish for Afghani Pulao
Afghani pulao is incomplete without garnish. Once the rice are ready to serve add carrots and raisins (Slightly fried and toasted) over them. Use ghee or butter for this. It gives a beautiful flavour and aroma to the pulao.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Other Rice to try
Afghani Pulao
Ingredients
- 3 cups Basmati Rice
- 2 Lamb Shanks
- 1 Medium Onion
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp. Coriander Seeds
- 1 tbsp Tomatoes Paste
- 3 Tsp Cumin Seeds
- 3 Green Cardamoms
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- 5 whole Cloves
- 3 Medium Carrots Grated thinly
- 1/4 cup Raisins
- 1/2 tsp Yellow Food Colour Saffron if available.
- ¼ cup Oil
- 1 Tbsp Butter or Ghee
Instructions
- Heat Oil in a pan and add the lamb shanks, Sear them on all sides untill lightly brown. Take them out and set aside.
- In the same oil fry onions until they are soft and add tomatoe taste and garlic. Fry for a minute.
- Add all the spices and mix. Return the lamb shanks back to the pot.
- Add 5 cups of water. Cover and cook on slow heat for around 2 hrs, untill meat is tender. Check the meat with help of knife. The meat should be tender and knife will easily go through it.
- Take Lamb Shanks out and strain the stock using sieve. Run your spoon through remains in the sieve to squeeze all the onions, garlic etc to the stock.
Preparing the Rice
- Soak Rice for around 15-20mins.
- Add water in the pot and add 1 tbsp of salt to it. Cover and boil the water.
- Drain the rice and add to the boiling water. The rice need to be parboiled only cooked around 60%.
- In a pot layer the rice and pour stalk over them. Cover and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
- After around 15-20 mins mix the rice. If they seem to be still undercooked cover them for another couple of minutes.
Assembly
- In a frying pan heat butter and add grated carrots. Fry untill soft and then add raisins.
- Dish out the rice, put lamb shanks on top of the rice and spread carrots all over.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. Afghan, not Afghani; Afghani is the currency .