Watch a short video on how to make Kabuli pulao recipe
kabuli pulao recipe is one of the things Afghans cannot live without. It is Afghanistan’s national dish as it takes its name from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. There is never any celebration or family get together without this delicious dish. It is not difficult to make, however it does require several steps to cook. First you prepare the char masala; a spice mix specifically made for Afghani rice recipes from black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom, green cardamom and cumin.
Second step is to prepare the meat stock, with your choice of meat (Veal, lamb, Chicken). Meat is cooked with a lot of care to make sure it is soft and tender for kabuli pulao recipe. Third step is to fry carrots sticks and raisins. Carrot sticks are found ready made in some grocery stores or you can do it yourself at home. When chopping them, we have must sure they are not too thin, or they will burn during frying process. It is fried until it gets a deep orange color. Raisins are fried until it is plumed.
The fourth step is to caramelize sugar; to give kabuli pulao recipe a beautiful color sugar is caramelized. The last step is to boil and cook(dum) kabuli pulao and assemble it all together. Basmati rice is washed and soaked before boiling it. The longer you let it soak in water before boiling, the better it is. Some people soak it the night before and leave in the fridge or first thing in the morning and leave it aside till it is time to cook. It is served in layers; with meat stuffed in the middle; raisins, carrots, (silvered almond, pistachio: optional) on top. kabuli pulao recipe is usually served with some fresh and delicious salad, meatballs (Kofta afghani recipe) and spinach stew.
What you need to make this delicious recipe
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Ingredients for Char Masala: Spice Mix for kabuli pulao recipe
Black pepper
Cloves
Green Cardamom
Cumin
Cinnamon
Black Cardamom
Ingredients for Meat stock
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 kg Veal
And for the species, you will need:
1 tsp black pepper (grounded)
1/2 tsp cardamom (ground)
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp char masala
Ingredients to Fry raisins and carrots
4 carrots
Raisins, 1 cup
Ingredients to Caramelize Sugar
Sugar, 1/2 cup
Ingredients needed to Boil and cook (DUM) kabuli pulao recipe
3 cups washed and soaked rice
Caramelized sugar
cooked meat
fried carrots
fried raisins
1 cup silvered almonds
1 cup pistachios
1/2 tsp char masala on cooked veal
1/2 tsp sugar on carrots
1/2 tsp cardamom(ground) on carrots
1 tsp black pepper (ground) on rice
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Spice grinder
Non-stick Pan
Pot
Pot with strainer
kabuli pulao recipe
Course: MainCuisine: AfghanDifficulty: None8
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutes2
hourskabuli pulao recipe is one of the things Afghans cannot live without. It is Afghanistan’s national dish as it takes its name from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. There is never any celebration or family get together without this delicious dish.
Ingredients
- Char Masala: Spice Mix for kabuli pulao recipe
Black pepper
Cloves
Green Cardamom
Cumin
Cinnamon
Black Cardamom
- Meat Stock
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 kg Veal
1 tsp black pepper (grounded)
1 tsp char masala
1/2 tsp cardamom (ground)
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
- Frying raisins and carrots
Raisins, 1 cup
Carrots, 4 medium size
- Caramelize sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
- Boiling and cooking (DUM)
3 cups washed and soaked rice
Caramelized sugar
cooked meat
fried carrots
fried raisins
1 cup almonds
1 cup pistachios
1/2 tsp char masala on cooked veal
1/2 tsp sugar on carrots
1/2 tsp cardamom on carrots
1 tsp black pepper on rice
Directions
- How you make Char Masala
- In a coffee grinder, in equal amounts add: Cinnamon, Cloves, Black Cardamom, Green Cardamom, Cumin
- Grind coarsely
- Pour it in a jar and use it whenever you make kabuli pulao recipe
- How you make the meat stock
- Heat the vegetable oil and add chopped onions.
- Fry till dark brown to give a nice color to rice
- Add meat and fry until it changes the color
- After (7-10 minutes), Add water and black pepper (grounded), char masala, cardamom (ground) and salt
- Cover the pot wit a lit and let it cook on high for few minutes and on low flame until meat is done (soft and tender)
- Take out the cooked meat from the stock pot and keep it aside in a bowl
- Frying raisins and carrots
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
- Add raisins and fry it until it is plumped.
- You can use the same oil to fry carrot sticks. The carrot sticks are found ready made in some grocery shops or you can do it yourself at home. When chopping them, make sure they are not too thin, or they will burn during frying.
- Fry it until it gets a deep orange colour.
- Caramelized Sugar
- To caramelize, take a pot and put it on medium flame
- Add sugar and wait till it is caramelized and then add water (keep air vents on during this step)
- Pour it in a bowl and keep it aside
- Boiling and cooking (DUM)
- Boil water and add pre-washed basmati rice. (The longer you let basmati rice soak in water before boiling, the better it is. Some people soak it the night before and leave in the fridge or first thing in the morning and leave it aside till it is time to cook)
- Boil rice until it has soft and long grains and then drain water from rice.
- Heat a Pan on High heat and add vegetable oil, boiled rice, caramelized sugar for coloring and mix well.
- Continue by adding the cooked veal on top of the rice.
- Add some char masala on the veal and cover it with a bit of rice.
- Add fried carrots and fried raisins on top of the rice.
- Add some sugar and cardamom on the carrots. Cardamom is always used for a good smell and aroma.
- Wrap almonds and pistachios in a clear and thin plastic bag and put it on top of the rice. This will just make it easier to retrieve it later.
- Add grounded black pepper on top of the rice.
- 10.tTo finish, make holes in the rice with the back of a spatula. This is always done while cooking any kind of Afghani rice. It makes it easier for the water to evaporate from the rice and makes it tender and delicious.
- 11.tCover the lid with a kitchen towel and place it on the pot.
- 12.tCook on high for 5 minutes. (Once you see steams coming out of the towel you bring the temperature down right away. You can also listen for “rice popping sound” before bringing the temperature down.)
- 13.tThen lower the flame and let it cook (DUM) on low for at least 25 minutes.
- 14.t Pick a flat dish and serve it in layers: rice, carrots, raisins and finally almonds and pistachios (meat in between layers)