Afghan food: what to eat in Afghanistan

Come to Afghanistan and one thing is guaranteed: you will be fed, constantly, and far better than you expect. Afghan food sits at the crossroads of Persia, India and Central Asia, mild and aromatic rather than fiery, built on rice, bread, grilled meat and yogurt. Hospitality here runs so deep that turning down a second helping is almost impossible. Here is the full spread, dish by dish, and what it is like to eat it.

Kabuli pulao, the national dish of Afghanistan

Afghan food at a glance

National dish

Kabuli pulao

The staple

Naan bread, with everything

The drink

Green and black tea

How it is eaten

Shared dishes on a dastarkhan

Is it spicy?

Rich and aromatic, but rarely hot

The national dish: Kabuli pulao

Kabuli pulao (or qabili palaw) is the dish every Afghan is proud of. Steamed rice piled over tender lamb, crowned with caramelised carrots, raisins and slivered nuts. It is the centrepiece ofevery wedding and celebration, and the first thing you should order.

Rice plates and slow-cooked stews

Rice is the heart of the table, and it comes in many forms beyond the national dish:

• Qorma, the family of Afghan stews, simmered with onions and tomato and spooned over rice. Qorma-e-sabzi (spinach and lamb) is a classic.

• Mastawa and shola, comforting rice-and-legume dishes cooked soft with mung beans or split peas.

• Bamia, a gentle okra and tomato stew.

Dumplings: mantu and ashak

Afghanistan does dumplings like nowhere else. Mantu are steamed parcels of spiced minced meat, topped with garlicky yogurt, a split-pea and tomato sauce and dried mint. Ashak swap the meat for leeks or chives, and are just as good. Both are pure comfort.

Afghan mantu dumplings with yogurt

Kebabs, sambosa and street food

On any bazaar street you smell the grills first:

• Chapli kebab, a spiced, flattened patty from the east, crisp at the edges.

• Chopan kebab and lamb skewers, grilled over charcoal and wrapped in fresh naan.

• Sambosa, crisp fried pastry triangles stuffed with spiced meat or lentils.

• Bolani, flatbread stuffed with potato, leek or pumpkin and fried until crisp.

• Sajji, whole marinated lamb or chicken roasted slowly by the fire.

Bread with everything

No Afghan meal happens without naan, long blistered flatbreads straight off the oven wall that double as plate, spoon and scoop. You will also meet roghani naan (richer, glazed) and thin, crisp lavash.

Vegetables, sides and pickles

You will not go hungry as a vegetarian:

• Borani banjan, fried eggplant in tomato and garlic yogurt.

• Torshi, tangy homemade pickles that sharpen every plate.

• Fresh salata, herbs, beans and yogurt in a dozen forms.

Soups to warm the mountains

In the highlands, soup is everything. Aush is a hearty noodle soup with beans, herbs andyogurt, and shorwa a simple meat-and-vegetable broth mopped up with bread.

Something sweet

Afghan sweets are delicate and not too sugary:

• Firni, a silky milk pudding dusted with pistachio.

• Baklava, layered filo with nuts and rose-scented syrup, for weddings and feasts.

• Sheer yakh, Afghan ice cream, churned by hand in summer.

• Gosh-e-fil, "elephant ears", crisp fried pastry with sugar and cardamom, and coils of syrupy jalebi.

• Haft mewa, a compote of seven dried fruits and nuts eaten at Nowruz.

[ IMAGE : un dastarkhan partagé, ou du thé versé. Alt : sharing a meal on an Afghan dastarkhan ]

Tea, drinks and the art of hospitality

Tea, chai, is the heartbeat of Afghan hospitality. Green through the day, black with sugar, milky qymaq chai in the north. Alongside it you will find dogh, a salted yogurt drink, and the country's famous fruit, pomegranates, melons, grapes and mulberries, fresh or dried with nuts. Meals are shared from a dastarkhan, a cloth spread on the floor, everyone sitting cross-legged and eating with the right hand. Expect to be pressed to eat more, always.

Eat your way through Afghanistan with us

Half of travelling here is the meals: lunch in a bazaar, tea with a shopkeeper, dinner as a guest in a family home. Our guides take you where Afghans actually eat, not where tourists are sent. It is one of the best parts of any of our group tours or a private trip.

What travellers ask us first

What is the national dish of Afghanistan?

Kabuli pulao, steamed rice with lamb, caramelised carrots, raisins and nuts.

Is Afghan food spicy?

It is rich and aromatic, built on herbs and yogurt, but rarely hot.

Are there vegetarian options?

Plenty: ashak, bolani, borani banjan, bamia, aush, and lots of beans, rice and bread.

Can you drink alcohol in Afghanistan?No, the country is dry, but the tea and fresh juices more than make up for it.

Pull up a cushion

The best meals in Afghanistan happen sitting on the floor, sharing a dastarkhan with people who met you an hour ago. Join one of our group tours or build a private trip, and there will be a place for you at the table.