country Essentials · 12 foods
Afghanistan Essentials
A considered first route through Afghanistan: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Afghanistan foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Kabuli Pulao
قابلی پلو
Rice steamed over lamb stock under caramelised carrot, raisin and pistachio — the national plate.
Afghanistan
Mantu
منتو
Thin beef dumplings under garlic yoghurt and a lentil-tomato sauce, finished with dried mint.
Afghanistan
Aushak
آشک
Leek dumplings under the same yoghurt, with a split-pea meat sauce poured over the top.
Afghanistan
Chopan Kabob
کباب چوپان
Lamb chops with tail fat between the pieces, grilled over coals and dusted with sumac.
Afghanistan
Bolani
بولانی
Thin bread folded round potato or leek and griddled until blistered, dipped in garlic yoghurt.
Afghanistan
Afghan Naan
نان افغانی
Long ridged tandoor bread bought hot by the sheet and folded over for the walk home.
Afghanistan
Quroot
قروت
Yoghurt dried into rock-hard salted balls, soaked and pounded back into a sour sauce months later.
Afghanistan
Borani Banjan
بورانی بادنجان
Fried aubergine under cold garlic yoghurt, so both temperatures land in the same mouthful.
Afghanistan
Gosh-e Fil
گوش فیل
Elephant-ear pastry fried to flakes and buried under icing sugar and ground pistachio.
Herat, Afghanistan
Sumalak
Naturally sweet sprouted wheat pudding anchors Afghan spring celebrations.
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Kandahar Pomegranate
انار قندهار
Arghandab valley fruit with near-black arils, the Kandahar crop the region trades on.
Herat, Afghanistan
Herat Saffron
زعفران هرات
Herat threads picked at dawn in autumn and repeatedly rated among the best grown anywhere.