Bolani

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspfine salt
• 300 mlwarm water
• 2 tbspsunflower oil

Potato filling

• 600 gfloury potatoes, boiled in their skins and peeled
• 1 bunchspring onions (about 80 g), finely sliced
• 30 gcoriander leaf, chopped
• 2green chillies, deseeded and minced
• 1 tspground coriander seed
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspblack pepper

To cook and serve

• 120 mlsunflower oil, for shallow frying
• 300 gfull-fat yogurt, strained 2 hours to make chaka
• 2garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 1 tspdried mint

Directions

1. Rub the oil into the flour and salt, add the water in stages and knead 8–10 minutes to a soft, slightly tacky dough. Cover and rest 30 minutes; it should stretch without tearing.
2. Crush the warm potatoes coarsely with a fork, leaving some texture, then fold through spring onion, coriander, chilli, ground coriander, salt and pepper. Taste: it should be assertively seasoned and greenish throughout.
3. Divide the dough into 8 balls. On a lightly floured bench roll each to a 24 cm round, thin enough to see the wood through it.
4. Spread 4–5 tbsp filling over one half only, leaving a 1 cm border. Fold the bare half over, press the rim firmly and seal with a fork or a crimped pinch.
5. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy frying pan or tawa over medium heat until it shimmers, about 175°C (350°F).
6. Fry each bolani 3–4 minutes a side, pressing lightly with a spatula, until blistered and deep gold with dark freckles; the dough should crackle when tapped.
7. Drain on a rack, not paper, so the underside stays crisp. Keep warm in a low oven while you fry the rest.
8. Whisk the strained yogurt with the garlic paste, a pinch of salt and the dried mint rubbed between your palms. Serve the bolani cut into wedges, hot, with the chaka alongside.

Technique

• The dough must be rolled paper-thin: a thick bolani steams instead of crisping and the filling tastes raw and starchy.
• Boil the potatoes whole in their skins so they stay dry. Wet potato leaks steam and bursts the seal in the pan.
• Afghan cooks add the herbs off the heat and never cook the filling first: the point is the fresh, grassy hit against the fried bread.

Substitutions

• Gandana (Afghan flat chive) is the classic filling and hard to find outside Kabul: use 300 g leek greens plus a handful of garlic chives, wilted in a little oil and squeezed dry.
• No time to strain yogurt? Use thick Greek yogurt loosened with 1 tbsp water.

Variations

• Bolani-e-katchalu, the potato version sold at every Kabul bazaar.
• Bolani-e-kadu, made with grated pumpkin cooked down with turmeric and chilli.
• Bolani-e-nakhod, filled with mashed yellow split peas.

History

Thin flatbread stuffed with potato, leek or pumpkin, fried on a griddle; a Ramadan and Nowruz staple and the best-known Afghan diaspora food.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bolani?

Bolani is a street food from Afghanistan: thin flatbread stuffed with potato or leek, pan-fried, dipped in yogurt. Thin flatbread stuffed with potato, leek or pumpkin, fried on a griddle; a Ramadan and Nowruz staple and the best-known Afghan diaspora food.

How long does Bolani take to make?

Bolani takes 40 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings (8 bolani). It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Bolani?

Yes, within limits. Gandana (Afghan flat chive) is the classic filling and hard to find outside Kabul: use 300 g leek greens plus a handful of garlic chives, wilted in a little oil and squeezed dry. No time to strain yogurt? Use thick Greek yogurt loosened with 1 tbsp water.

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

The dough must be rolled paper-thin: a thick bolani steams instead of crisping and the filling tastes raw and starchy.