It is similar to the diet found amongst other nomadic societies, like the Tibetans and the Mongolians. They raise mainly goats, sheep and yaks, as well as Bactrian camels and horses. Because there is no wood, fuel is mainly dried dung. Kyrgyz can drink huge quantities of salty milk tea. I do too. Salt is good for rehydration at that altitude, and unlike sugar, it is a condiment readily available in the form of rock salt.
Yak and goat milk is boiled for hours, down to a paste. It is then sun-dried for a few days on top of the family yurt. The dried curd is called kurut —it is hard as stone you might actually need a real stone to break it! In the Pamir, they slaughter goats with a knife and the blood spills on the ground.
Deep red on the dust. Everything is eaten on the animals. I was offered the eye—a local delicacy—a few times. It tasted a bit chewy, like cartilage. In the yurt, once the meat is consumed, the bones are broken down with a hammer or the back of a knife.
The marrow tastes like meaty butter. Dogs get to pick the meager meaty bits off the skulls, which then slowly bleach in the sun. They fall asleep beside them, keeping an eye out for wolves. The ground around a Kyrgyz camp is full of horns, some are piled up and used as fence. The Kyrgyz eat bread as well. Because no vegetable can grow at that altitude, they barter their animals for flour.
Korma is type of stew with a base of fried onion and garlic, and can include meat, vegetables, chickpeas, tomato, fruit, yogurt and spices. Rice is a specialty and considered the best part of any meal. The treasured national dish called Kabuli or Qabli Pulao consists of slow-cooked meat in a dome of gently seasoned rice with lentils, raisins, carrots, ground cardamom and nuts.
And of course bread naan is eaten with just about everything. Not at all unusual, women do all of the cooking and food preparation for the entire family and their guests.
The country's varied climate means that almost any food can grow here, although Afghanistan's main crops are wheat, maize and rice; these feature heavily in the country's food. Dishes also include plenty of coriander, onions, tomatoes, garlic and fresh yogurt.
A whole range of fruits, particularly pomegranates, grapes and the local melon, are widely consumed, too. Apart from curries, rice dishes and Middle Eastern influences, Afghanistan also has its own kind of pasta in the form of mantu — meat-filled dumplings that are steamed and served with sauce. In Kabul, more refined approaches to traditional Afghan cooking can be found, as well as international influences.
Pulao : Steamed rice with raisins and carrots, usually served with a side dish of meat, vegetables or beans. An Afghan family in Kabul, Afghanistan, eating their evening meal in the traditional style and sitting on cushions and sharing the food communally. Courtesy of Nasir Saberi. Preparation and cooking of many Afghan dishes can be laborious, and for this meal it will take about three hours even though she will be helped by her sister and one of her daughters.
This is the time-honored way young girls learn how to cook from their mothers. Recipes and techniques are learned through practice and experience. Rabia has a small basic kitchen. She, like many Afghans, does not have an oven. She cooks on a couple of burners fueled by bottled gas. Although refrigerators are still rare throughout the country and food is traditionally kept fresh and cool in a range of clay pots and containers, Rabia is lucky enough to have a small refrigerator.
Like most Afghans, she does not have sophisticated equipment such as an electric mixer but does have a range of pans in different sizes, some quite large, for cooking rice and a steamer for making mantu.
She has a pressure cooker that speeds up the cooking of any meat that may be tough. She also has a hand mincer for mincing meat and onions. Families who do not own one get the butcher to perform this task.
All Afghan homes have an awang pestle and mortar , an essential piece of equipment for crushing garlic, onions, and herbs and for grinding spices. Most will also have a large slotted spoon called a kafgeer, used for stirring dishes and dishing up rice. Most families also have at least one colander for washing and draining vegetables and also for draining rice.
They will also have a rolling pin aush gaz to roll out dough for noodle dishes such as mantu. Afghans rarely measure their ingredients, although they usually have a range of pots with handles called malaqa that are used as measuring aids, as are ordinary cups, glasses, and spoons. Rabia starts preparing the meal by making in advance the meatballs to be served with the ketcheree quroot see the recipe below. Meanwhile, her sister makes the yogurt sauce by reconstituting quroot.
Quroot is dried yogurt made by adding salt to strained yogurt called chaka , which is then dried and formed into round balls that harden and resemble grayish-white pebbles. For use in cooking, the quroot is reconstituted with water in a special bowl with a rough bottom surface called a taghora-e-qurooti.
The yogurt is then flavored with plenty of crushed garlic. Next, together with her sister and daughter, Rabia prepares the mantu. First of all she makes the dough with flour, water, and a little salt and kneads it until smooth and shiny. The dough is formed into balls and covered with a damp cloth for about an hour.
The lamb meat is then cut up finely and mixed with finely chopped onions, chopped chilies, black pepper, cumin, and salt and all mixed together thoroughly. Rabia rolls out the dough very thinly on a clean, lightly floured surface. Her sister cuts out four-inch centimeter squares, while her daughter places a spoonful of the chopped meat mixture into the center of the square and then deftly nips together the dough, not sealing completely so that the steam can penetrate and cook the filling.
The shelves of the steamer are thoroughly greased to prevent the mantu from sticking. The mantu are then placed on the shelves, ready to be steamed later. They then prepare the rice and mung beans for the ketcheree quroot and start cooking it. All the while the three of them chat and gossip about all sorts of things, such as marriage the daughter has just gotten engaged and about their dreams and aspirations. The mantu is put on to steam for about an hour before serving.
Meanwhile, one of the sons goes to the local bakery to buy fresh nan, as the family does not have its own tandoor for baking bread. The traditional mode of eating in Afghanistan is on the floor, although in major cities some Afghans sit at a table, Western style. Everyone sits on large colorful cushions called toshak, with large pillows bolesht behind for support. Just before the food is ready to be served, one of the children lays out a large cloth or thin mat called a disterkhan sometimes called a sofreh on the carpet.
Hands are washed before eating. Sometimes especially for guests, a special jug and bowl called haftawa-wa-lagan is brought. Water is poured from the jug over the hands, the bowl being used to catch the water.
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