I was going through some of my photos from my time overseas, and came across pictures of food from Afghanistan.

The local food I had in Afghanistan was better than any of that type I’ve had in the D.C.-area…a fact I would fully expect would be the case anywhere else in the world regarding local dishes.

In the top picture is Qabili Palau.  According to Wikipedia, it is “the most popular dish in Afghanistan.”  I certainly saw a bit of it in southern Afghanistan, and it’s a staple at the D.C.-area Afghan restaurants, so I can believe it.  It’s typically made in a broth which imparts quite a bit of taste to the mixture.  Where I was in Afghanistan, the Qabili Palau was moist…much more oily than the stateside restaurant versions that I’ve tried.  It was good enough that some naan bread and Qabili Palau made for a complete meal (heck, even the naan over there was flavorful enough to eat by itself).

The bottom picture shows a veritable feast.  Succulent lamb, delicious chicken (some of the best chicken I’ve had ANYWHERE), tasty tomatoes with eggplant, and an Afghan pudding dessert (Firni) made with cardamom and pistachios.

I only wish I had more of the local food while I was there.  The western food there got boring.

And yeah, Sprite and root beer probably not the best choice to go along with such good food…probably should have had Red Bull.