Kabuli Palau – Afghan Rice

Recently I was asked to cook something delicious with rice again. Now I could have cooked fried rice or something similar, but that was too banal for me. I remembered that a while ago I had eaten a very tasty dish with rice and raisins and so I did some research. That’s how I came across Kabuli Palau.

Kabuli Palau is an Afghan rice dish with lamb, raisins and carrots. The spice combination of cardamom, garam masala and ground coriander gives it a unique taste. As with other dishes of the Levant cuisine, I can imagine that we will find Kabuli Palau more often in Germany in the future.

In my Afghan recipe, I have added some poultry to the lamb.

Preparation of the Kabuli Palau

1. Rinse the rice until the draining water is clear. Afterward, let the rice swell in the water for about 2 hours.

2. Cut the onions into small cubes. The meat can be freed from sinews and fat and then cut into bite-sized pieces. Sweat the onions in a hot pan in a little oil. Then add the meat and fry it until brown.

3. In the meantime you can mix the spices with about 500ml of warm water to a spice broth. With this, you extinguish the meat in the pan. Let everything come to the boil and cook the meat for about 1 hour with a closed lid and low heat.

4. While waiting for the meat, you can first cut or grate the carrots into small, very thin sticks.

5. Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the raisins briefly until they swell. Take them out and then fry the carrot sticks in the same oil together with 1 tablespoon of twitch for about 3-4 minutes. Remove the carrot sticks and roast the chopped almonds briefly.

6. As soon as the meat is cooked, take it out of the pan and put it in the oven while it is still warm. Pour the remaining meat stock into a large pot and add the rice. Now let the rice simmer on low heat until all the liquid is absorbed.

7. When the liquid has been absorbed, you can first use a wooden spoon to pierce small chimneys in the rice so that the steam can escape. Now place the warm meat on top and cover it with the carrots, raisins and almonds. Leave everything to simmer for another 30 minutes at very low heat with the lid closed (wrap a clean kitchen towel around it to absorb the steam).

8. To serve, first put the meat on a plate and then layer the rice on top. Finally, add the carrots, almonds and raisins to the rice and serve hot.

Kabuli Palau – My conclusion

In retrospect, the preparation for this Afghan recipe was easier than initially thought. Compared to German cuisine, these are a little bit untypical steps but what you really need is patience. After about 2 hours you will get an extraordinary and super delicious dish, which will bring a touch of Afghanistan into your kitchen.

More matching articles and recipes:

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• Organ dessert from Morocco
• Israeli Shakshuka – A National Breakfast
• Mercimek Corbasi – The Turkish lentil soup
• Balila – Chickpeas from Lebanon
• Indian food and cooking – From spices to food culture

What do you think of the Kabuli Palau? Would this be a recipe that would bring a welcome change to your kitchen? And what are your favorite international dishes? Feel free to write me a comment.