Ashak

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspfine salt
• 220 mlwarm water

Gandana filling

• 500 gAfghan leek (gandana), or 400 g garlic chives plus 100 g spring onion greens, very finely chopped
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspchilli flakes
• 1 tbspvegetable oil

Qorma-e qeema (meat sauce)

• 350 gminced lamb or beef
• 1large onion, finely chopped
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsptomato puree
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspturmeric
• ½ tspblack pepper
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 200 mlwater
• 1 tspsalt

Chaka topping

• 400 gthick strained yoghurt
• 2garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• ½ tspsalt

To finish

• 2 tspdried mint, crushed between the palms
• 1 tspchilli flakes

Directions

1. Knead the flour, salt and water into a firm, smooth dough for 8 minutes, then wrap and rest it 30 minutes; a rested dough rolls thin without tearing.
2. Salt the chopped gandana and leave it 15 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid in your fists. Wet filling makes dumplings that burst.
3. Mix the squeezed greens with the chilli and oil and taste for salt; the filling should be aggressively seasoned since the dough and yoghurt are bland.
4. For the sauce, brown the mince hard in the oil for 6 minutes, breaking it up, then add the onion and cook 8 minutes until soft and golden.
5. Stir in the garlic, spices and tomato puree, fry 2 minutes until the puree darkens, add the water and salt and simmer 25 minutes to a thick, glossy sauce that mounds on a spoon.
6. Beat the yoghurt with the garlic paste and salt until smooth and pourable, and leave it out so it is not fridge-cold when it hits the dumplings.
7. Roll the dough as thin as you can, under 2 mm, and cut 9 cm rounds. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling on each, fold into a half-moon and pinch the edge closed, pleating if you like.
8. Boil the ashak in plenty of well-salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until they float and the dough turns translucent enough to show the green filling. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly.
9. Spread a third of the chaka over a warm platter, lay the dumplings on it in a single layer, spoon over more chaka, then ladle the hot meat sauce down the centre.
10. Crush the dried mint over the whole dish, add the chilli flakes and serve immediately, while the dumplings are hot and the yoghurt is cool.

Technique

• Gandana is the whole point. It is a flat-leaved Afghan leek somewhere between chive and leek, more pungent than either, and garlic chives are the nearest thing in a Western market.
• Warm the platter and take the chill off the yoghurt. Cold chaka on hot dumplings drops the temperature of the dish and the fat in the sauce sets.
• Ashak is a Kabul dish for guests and celebrations, and the labour of pleating is part of the point; families make it together in a production line.

Substitutions

• No gandana or garlic chives: use finely chopped leek greens with extra chilli, or the Uzbek-Afghan version stuffed with potato and spring onion. Wonton wrappers are a common shortcut in the diaspora.

Variations

• Ashak-e chalaw is served over rice as a fuller meal.
• A vegetarian version is common in Ramadan, replacing the qeema with a split-pea and tomato sauce.
• Mantu, the sister dish, is steamed and filled with onion and mince instead.

History

Kabul’s leek-filled dumpling, layered with qurut yoghurt sauce and minced meat; a speciality of the capital’s Hazara and Uzbek kitchens.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ashak?

Ashak is a main from Afghanistan: leek-filled dumplings under garlic yogurt and spiced meat sauce. Kabul’s leek-filled dumpling, layered with qurut yoghurt sauce and minced meat; a speciality of the capital’s Hazara and Uzbek kitchens.

How long does Ashak take to make?

Ashak takes 1 hr 15 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings, about 30 dumplings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Ashak?

Yes, within limits. No gandana or garlic chives: use finely chopped leek greens with extra chilli, or the Uzbek-Afghan version stuffed with potato and spring onion. Wonton wrappers are a common shortcut in the diaspora.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ashak?

Crush the dried mint over the whole dish, add the chilli flakes and serve immediately, while the dumplings are hot and the yoghurt is cool.