A fried, stuffed flatbread, bolani is a well-liked Afghan boulevard meals. This bolani recipe comes from Walwala Jalalzay, one of the most proprietors of the Kabul-Shengjin Cafe in Shengjin, Albania. Jalalzay is an Afghan refugee who used to be pressured to escape her house in Kabul after the Taliban seized energy remaining August; in conjunction with a industry spouse, she began her Afghan eating place remaining November so that you could feed her fellow Afghan refugees. Her bolani are full of potato and chives and served with a tomato chutney. A pitcher of dogh, a yogurt drink, completes the meal, offering consumers with each refreshment and a style of house. — Rebecca Marx
Potato and Chive Bolani Recipe With Tomato Chutney and Dogh
Serves 6-8
Components:
For the bolani:
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ cups lukewarm water
1 pound potatoes, peeled and quartered (more or less about 3-4 huge potatoes)
1 cup chives, chopped, or 1 bunch inexperienced onions
½ teaspoon chile flakes
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
For the tomato chutney:
2 huge ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
For the dogh:
3 cups yogurt
2 Persian cucumbers or one common cucumber, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dry mint
½ teaspoon salt, or extra to style
2 cups water or as wanted
Sliced cucumber and mint sprigs for garnish
Directions:
Step 1: In a big bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, vegetable oil, and heat water till a slightly stiff dough bureaucracy. On a floured floor, knead the dough till easy, about 10 mins. Go back to the bowl, duvet with plastic wrap, and let the dough relaxation for half-hour.
Step 2: In a small pot, boil the quartered potatoes till they’re cushy. Drain, position in a bowl, and put aside.
Step 3: Should you’re the use of chives, you’ll skip this step. Should you’re the use of inexperienced onions, have compatibility a steamer basket over a pot and steam them for five mins. Alternately, you might blanch them for roughly 3 mins. Chop the golf green onions when they’re cool sufficient to care for.
Step 4: Upload the golf green onions to the potato combination and season with chile flakes, ½ teaspoon salt, and black pepper. The use of a fork, mash the potatoes and flippantly fold the elements to mix. Set the potato filling apart and stay heat.
Step 5: Collect the tomato chutney. In a blender or small meals processor, pulse the chopped tomatoes till they’ve a corpulent consistency. Upload the chopped jalapenos, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar, then puree till effectively combined like a thick paste.
Step 6: Shape the bolani. Take the well-rested dough and divide it into 6-8 parts. On a floured floor, roll each and every portion right into a ball, then roll out each and every ball into an roughly 8-inch skinny circle (virtually like a tortilla). Repeat for the remainder of the dough balls. Position each and every disc on a sheet pan, preserving them separated with parchment in order that they don’t stick. Duvet with a moistened paper towel to stay from crusting.
Step 7: Unfold about ⅓ cup of filling on half of of each and every rolled-out disc, leaving a half-inch border across the edges. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon-shaped bolani. Gently press right down to seal the seams. Repeat for the remainder of the bolani. Position each and every one on a sheet pan, however stay them separated to wait for frying.
Step 8: In a deep pan over medium warmth, upload sufficient vegetable oil to shallow fry the bolani. (Get started with about ⅓ cup and upload extra if the pan will get too dry.) Fry each and every bolani for two to a few mins on each and every aspect till it’s mild brown. Switch the cooked bolani to a sheet pan coated with paper towels to blot out the oil.
Step 9: Make the dogh. In a blender, mix the yogurt on top velocity till frothy. Upload the finely chopped cucumber, dry mint, and salt, and proceed to mix till the entirety is easily integrated. Upload water. If the dogh is just too thick, you might upload extra water to regulate it to a drinkable consistency. Garnish with sliced cucumber and mint sprigs.
Step 10: Serve the bolani on a dish or tray with the tomato chutney at the aspect, accompanied via glasses of dogh.
Walwala Jalalzay is an Afghan businesswoman. She used to be displaced via the new warfare in Afghanistan and is lately in exile in Albania, the place she runs the Kabul-Shengjin Cafe.
Louiie Victa is a chef, recipe developer, meals photographer, and stylist residing in Las Vegas.
Recipe examined via Louiie Victa
