What Afghanis Eat, at Dunya Kabab House | The New Yorker

"In Kensington’s Little Pakistan, I found Dunya Kabab House—co-owned by Mohamed Ghiasi and his father Basir—to feel immediately welcoming: a spotless, brightly lit dining room with hand-painted murals and a glassed-in kitchen where cooks in crisp paper hats scoop from an enormous rice cooker and steep black tea with cardamom pods in porcelain pots. The menu reflects everyday Afghan cooking: a non-negotiable basket of mixed bolani (sharp-cornered triangles of golden fried dough stuffed with pumpkin purée, scallions, or potato-onion-cilantro); mantu (ground-lamb dumplings) and aushak (leek-and-scallion dumplings) drizzled with a thin tomato sauce and an excellent, tart white sauce made in-house with yogurt, mayonnaise, and dried mint (the Ghiasis wholesale this sauce to food carts and deliver it to every table in a condiment caddy). Afghans’ predilection for beef and lamb is evident across multiple kebab iterations—kofta and cubed, charred skewers—alongside a tomato-based korma fragrant with ginger and garlic, and an Uzbeki Qabali pulao featuring an enormous lamb shank on the bone over dark, glossy Kabul-style rice slicked with chicken fat, cumin, raisins, and shredded carrot. Since my last visit I’ve craved the almost-neon turmeric, saffron-fragrant chicken-kofta kebab and the borani banjan—thick peeled eggplant slices deep-fried until edges are crisp and interiors melt—a lush, slightly sweet dish; dishes range from $4.99–$24.99." - Hannah Goldfield