Few outside Afghanistan realise that pasta, in various forms, is a staple dish of this beautiful, and troubled country and even fewer know that Afghan treatment of something as simple as spaghetti transforms this easy to cook food from what can be decidedly boring into a delicious meal which is bound to have everyone asking for more!

Forget the regular ‘spaghetti in tomato sauce’ business and give ‘Aush’ — with or without meat — a try. So simple to prepare and with inspired variations, this traditional Afghan dish is an absolute delight.

Basic Aush (Spaghetti with yoghurt, chickpeas and kidney beans)

Have a taste of Afghan style spaghetti

Ingredients (Serves 4 – 6)50g chickpeas50g red kidney beans450ml plain yoghurt50ml cooking oil2 medium sized onions250g spaghettiSalt to taste4 large tomatoes or 2 tablespoons tomato pasteRaisins — a handful, if likedCrushed garlic to taste2 tsp coriander powder2 tsp cumin powder1 tsp turmeric powderRed chilli powder or chopped, fresh, green / red chillies to taste1 handful chopped fresh mint or 1 large spoon dried mintWater

Method:

Soak the chickpeas and red kidney beans in water overnight. Adding a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the soaking water helps soften the peas / beans and thus speeds up cooking time.

Remove excess water from the yoghurt by draining it through a piece of very fine muslin cloth: first scald the cloth with boiling water to sterilise it. The yoghurt usually takes about an hour to fully drain.

Place the chickpeas and red kidney beans in a large pan along with the water they were soaked in, add additional water if required. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until fully cooked. Cooking time varies depending on the freshness / age of the dried pulses.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: peel and chop the onions, fry, lightly in the oil — keep back a little oil to add to the spaghetti water — then add the garlic, spices, tomatoes / tomato paste, salt to taste and cook until the sauce is thick. Add water to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan if necessary. Simmer for 10 minutes on a very low heat and then stir in the cooked chickpeas, red kidney beans, raisins if used, drained yoghurt and mint. Adjust seasoning and amount of liquid to personal satisfaction. Cover and set aside.

In a separate, very large, heavy based pan, heat up enough water to boil the spaghetti in: adding a little oil and salt to the water prior to putting in the spaghetti. When the it is cooked, drain off the water leaving the spaghetti in the pan. Then pour the sauce over the spaghetti, mixing it — a couple of very large forks, used to toss the spaghetti in the sauce, are ideal for this purpose.

Allow the spaghetti / sauce to stand for 30 minutes or so while the flavour develops and then re-heat, very slowly and on a very low flame to prevent it from sticking to the base of the pan and burning. Once nicely hot, serve immediately accompanied by salads, kebabs if liked and fresh naan bread if appetites are large.

Alternative 1:

If a meat rather than vegetarian dish is preferred then a separate dish of minced meat can be served.

Ingredients (for four to six people):25ml cooking oil2 small onionsCrushed garlic to taste1 tsp coriander powderRed / green chilli to tasteSalt500g minced beef / lamb200ml water or tomato juice

Method:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the chopped onions, crushed garlic, coriander powder, chilli and, stirring continuously, fry for four to five minutes. Next, add the minced meat and salt to taste. Keep on stirring and cook until the minced meat is nicely browned, then add the water / tomato juice and continue cooking and stirring until the meat is thoroughly cooked. If the meat becomes too dry, add a little more water / tomato juice. Cooking time for the meat is approximately 30 minutes.

Serve the meat in a separate dish from the Aush so that people can spoon on as much as they like, or, if preferred, mix the meat directly into the previously prepared Aush.

Alternative 2:

Correctly known as ‘Aush-i-Asli’, this spaghetti, yoghurt and meatball dish is superb.

Ingredients for the meatballs:500g beef / lamb mice meatball1 large onion, finely chopped1 tsp coriander powder1 tsp cumin powderSalt and chilli powder to taste1 egg

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly until smooth: form into small balls.

Make sauce as for Basic Aush, omitting the chickpeas, red kidney beans and raisins, and cooking the meatballs in the sauce instead. The meatballs will take approximately 30 minutes to cook in the sauce. Proceed as for Basic Aush.

• Note: Afghans use very little chilli and far less of other spices than we do here in Pakistan. The recipes here differ from original Afghan ones as they were created to cater for Pakistani taste.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 28th, 2015

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