LAND OF PLENTY
The family behind Adelaide’s Parwana Afghan Kitchen honours Afghanistan’s rich culinary heritage in their new cookbook.
The family behind Adelaide’s Parwana Afghan Kitchen honours Afghanistan’s rich heritage in their new book.
My family never had any grand plan to be in the restaurant game. Parwana began with my mother Farida (pictured above) and her intuition that, as migrants to Australia, it was increasingly important that we preserve the customs, flavours and essence of our Afghan cuisine, and also share it with those in our new home. She carried with her a generationally engrained love for her traditional food and the rituals that sit alongside it. This, combined with our experience as displaced people, witnessing first-hand the scattering effects of war on Afghanistan’s memory and culture, coaxed Parwana into being. In this way, Parwana was driven by commemoration, reconciliation and creativity, tinged with a mixture of loss and hope.
However, in hindsight, the strands of the idea had long existed in many guises, and had been finding their way to us to consolidate and express, well before we opened the doors to Parwana in 2009.
The restaurant, and the food we shared, was a manifestation of the immense history of cross-pollination and cultural exchange that underpinned Afghanistan’s history at the centre of the ancient Silk Road. As time marched on and change unfolded on the land, including the emergence of Afghanistan as a nation state, this was captured in the cuisine and the traditions surrounding it. By the time the heavy clouds of conflict gathered overhead, my family had migrated to Australia – and, with the emotions of exile, whose challenges and opportunities were now ours to carry, food took on a new poignancy and significance. Food was never static, but an ever-evolving way to stay anchored to our history while filling our sails with hopes for tomorrow. For us, food had become a means to tell a bigger story. This book contains not only recipes, but also the history and energies that lie behind them.
Parwana, 124B Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville, SA, (08) 8443 9001, parwana.com.au
Sunflower oil for deep-frying, plus
125ml (½ cup) extra
2 eggplant, peeled and sliced into
4 lengthways
1 large onion, sliced into semi-circles
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 long red chillies, thinly sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder, plus extra to serve
½ tbsp white vinegar
5 large tomatoes, sliced
125 ml (½ cup) boiling water Mint leaves, to serve
YOGHURT DRESSING
520 gm (2 cups) Greek-style yoghurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Heat oil in deep-fryer or large saucepan until it reaches 170°C. 2 Gently add eggplant, in batches, and fry, turning occasionally, until golden and tender. Set aside in a colander placed over a bowl to catch excess oil. Repeat with remaining eggplant.
3 Heat extra oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Fry onion, garlic and sliced chilli, stirring continuously, until fragrant (2 minutes). Reduce heat to low and add coriander, sugar, turmeric, chilli powder, vinegar and 1 tbsp salt. Stir until flavours are combined (2 minutes).
4 Cover mixture with tomatoes, then add boiling water. Gently layer eggplant on top. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5 Meanwhile, for dressing, combine yoghurt, garlic and ½ tsp salt in a bowl.
6 Spread half the dressing over a large platter then gently arrange eggplant over, without overlapping. Spoon onion and tomato sauce over, then top with the remaining yoghurt dressing. Garnish with mint and extra chilli powder to taste. Serve hot.