Afghanistan

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Mahi wa Jelabi

ماهی و جلبی

Battered fried river fish eaten with hot jelabi and naan — the Friday lunch of Kabul.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Malida

ملیده

Toasted flour, ghee, sugar, and nuts are worked into a crumbly Afghan sweet called Malida.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Mantu

منتو

Thin dough parcels filled with minced beef and onion, steamed and served under garlic yoghurt, a tomato-lentil sauce and dried mint.

🇹🇷Kayseri, Turkey

Mantı

Мантуу

Tiny dumplings stuffed with spiced minced lamb or beef, boiled and served under a blanket of garlic yogurt. The dish is finished with a pour of sizzling melted butter and a sprinkle of dried mint or red pepper flakes. Kayseri is famous for producing mantı so small that forty fit on a spoon.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Mastawa

ماستاوه

Rice cooked in a lamb broth and finished with qoroot or yoghurt into a thick, sour porridge.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Maushawa

ماشاوه

Mung beans, chickpeas and rice cooked into a thick soup with small meatballs and finished with yoghurt and dried mint.

🇵🇰Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Mumtu

مومتو

Gilgit-Baltistan dumplings of minced meat and onion, steamed and served with yoghurt, black pepper, vinegar and chilli sauce.

🇵🇰Balochistan, Pakistan

Mutton Rosh

مٹن روش

Lamb boiled in salted water alone until it falls off the bone, served with the reduced broth and nothing else.

🇮🇳India

Naan

नान

A leavened, tandoor-baked flatbread with a soft, chewy texture. It is one of India's most recognizable breads abroad, traditionally brushed with butter or ghee and served with curries

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Narenj Pulao

نارنج پلو

Saffron rice with candied bitter-orange peel, pistachio and almond, served with chicken at weddings.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Nuql

نقل

Almonds or pistachios coated in successive layers of hard white sugar and held in the cheek while drinking tea.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Qorma-e Alou Bokhara

قورمه آلوبخارا

Veal or chicken stewed with sour dried plums and yellow split peas until the sauce turns sharp and brown.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Qorma-e Nadroo

قورمه نادرو

Lamb and lotus root cooked in a yoghurt-based sauce with cardamom and ginger.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Qorma-e Sabzi

قورمه سبزی

Spinach and herbs cooked down slowly with lamb until dark green and rich, served over challow.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Qormah Gosht

قورمه گوشت

A slow-braised lamb or beef stew of Afghan home cooking, cooked with onions, tomatoes and spices until the meat is fork-tender.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Quroot

قروت

Strained yoghurt salted, dried into hard white balls and stored for months, then reconstituted into a sour sauce.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Reshteh Palaw

رشته پلو

Rice steamed with fried wheat noodles broken through it, cooked with lamb and often dried fruit.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Saland-e Nakhod

سالن نخود

A Kabul street-food staple: chickpeas simmered with tomato, onion and potato into a thick, spiced stew served in a bowl.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Samaroq

سماروق

Wild mushrooms cooked with onion, tomato and coriander, gathered in spring in the northern provinces.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Seekh Kebab

सीख कबाब

Minced meat molded onto skewers and grilled in a tandoor. It is a popular appetizer across North India.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Shalgham Challow

شلغم چلو

Turnips slow-cooked with lamb and sugar into a sweet-sour stew served over white rice.

🇮🇳India

Shami Kebab

शामी कबाब

A North Indian kebab of minced meat and chana dal, shaped into patties and pan-fried. It has a smooth texture.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Sheer Chai

شیرچای

Green tea whisked with bicarbonate of soda until it turns red, then cut with milk to a pink colour and salted.

🇵🇰Pakistan

Sheer Khurma

شیر خرما

Vermicelli simmered in milk with dates, pistachio, almond and cardamom, cooked in quantity for Eid morning.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Sheer Pira

شیرپیره

Milk cooked down with sugar and cardamom and set with pistachio into a dense fudge cut into squares.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Sheer Yakh

شیریخ

Milk ice churned by hand in a metal drum packed with ice and salt, flavoured with cardamom, rose water and pistachio.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Shola Ghorbandi

شله غوربندی

Short-grain rice and mung beans cooked until sticky with lamb, turmeric and dried dill, served with a chunk of fat on top.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Shor Nakhod

شور نخود

Chickpeas boiled soft and served cold with potato, vinegar, chutney and coriander from a street cart.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Shorwa

شوروا

Lamb on the bone simmered with potato, chickpea and tomato into a plain broth, poured over torn bread.

🇦🇫Herat, Afghanistan

Sumalak

Sprouted wheat is ground with water and flour, then stirred overnight into a dark, naturally sweet Navruz pudding shared from a cauldron.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Zamarod Pulao

زمرد پلو

Rice cooked with a purée of spinach and dill until it turns emerald green, served with lamb.