Afghan Chili - Mawshawa Recipe

By Humaira
 
Eight years ago when Katie (co-founder of this blog) and I first met over a pot of Afghan noodle soup (aush) she was very curious about Afghan food and recipes.  I must say, I longed to be her friend but the food questions were way over my head so I avoided her.  Finally, my mom Jeja was over at my house and I asked her if she would show me how to make a few Afghan dishes including mashawa.  She agreed, so I quickly called Katie and invited her to a cooking session in the middle of the morning at my house.  
 
I had no idea how this would work since cooking as a community was not part of my upbringing, infact Jeja had never taken the time to teach me a single Afghan dish but our cooking session was off to a quick start with Jeja cooking as she normally does, without a recipe: throwing ingredients in without measuring while Katie and I tried to get names and measurements.  Both Katie and Jeja are quiet people so I found myself translating the few food instructions. Over time something magical happened, the conversation turned from food, to life, children, loss of loved ones, tears and back to food.  After the big lunch and the emotional roller coaster I felt drained and needed a nap.  I realized that food is a common interest among people around the world; it surpasses religion, politics and other controversial topics. So, we hope to share the beautiful culture of the Afghan people and their traditions through our recipes and stories in this blog.
 
Mawshawa is a hearty dish with mung beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, beef and a handful of dill.  When I made it a couple of nights ago my daughter Sofia asked, "What are we having for dinner?" My immediate response was "Afghan chili".  It was a great hit with everyone including my husband Jim who has never liked traditional American chili. 

  

This recipe calls for canned kidney and garbanzo beans since it saves time.  However, lately I have been using dried beans, soaking them over night and then boiling them.  If you have the time, it’s worth the effort.  They are more flavorful, plump and over all better than the canned variety.  If you decide to use dried beans soak them over night, it cuts the boiling time in half.
 
This dish freezes well so you can make it ahead of time and take it with you for weekend getaways to the snow for a nutritious and filling dinner.  Serve with garlicky yogurt and flat bread.
 

 

Afghan Chili

Mashawa 

 

1 medium onion, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp. olive oil
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs. beef stew meat, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. Kosher salt
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. finely ground coriander
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. red chili flakes (optional)
1 1/2 cups dried mung beans
1 15oz can of kidney bean
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans
2 tbsp. dried dill
 1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. dried ground garlic
1/2 tsp, salt
 
Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot, add onions and brown for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and sautee for another 2 minutes. Add the meat and cook 10-12 minutes until browned and cooked through.  Add the chicken broth, salt, tomato paste, coriander, pepper, and mung beans to the pot.  Stir well. Bring to a boil and then turn the head to low and cook for 25-35 minutes until the mung beans are soft.  In the meantime, rinse the kidney beans and garbanzo beans in a colander.  Finally, add the kidney beans, mung beans and dill to the pot. Cook for 5-8 minutes.

Mix the yogurt, garlic and salt.  Stir until creamy.
 
Serve hot in a large bowl with a dollop of yogurt mixture and a piece of nan or flat bread.

 

Comments

[Humaira]

Julie - How is the Iraqi chili made? Does it have similar ingredients? Nosh- e - jan. - Humaira

[Humaira]

Mayram - Not a weird question at all. You may use water or any other kind of broth such as vegetable broth. Noshe-jan- Humaira

[Maryam]

I hope this is not a weird question but is there another type of liquid you can use other than chicken broth?

[Julie]

This looks delicious and perfect for a chilly, rainy day. It reminds me of an Iraqi bean stew that I make often (I also call it Iraqi chili!), but the addition of dill and yoghurt sounds amazing. I think this one will be on the menu this week!

[Humaira]

Hi Sarah, what a delightful comment. Wow, I had no idea about the language issues that can arise from recipes but I am so grateful to have readers like you, from around the world who can make clarifications. In the US we call the fresh herb cilantro and the dried spice coriander. Thank goodness for the Oxford dictionary. Happy cooking - Humaira

[Sarah]

Thanks for sharing the recipe for this delicious dish - we cooked it and really enjoyed the rich flavour and texture of this soup.
This has been singled out as the soup for a dinner party.

For the lulz, your list of ingredients led to a bit of confusion over American English v British English in our kitchen:
none of us, including a British-Afghani citizen, had any clue as to what 'garbanzo beans' are - while the picture on top clearly showed that 'chickpeas' had been used in your recipe.
After consulting the Oxford English Dictionary we found out that 'garbanzo beans' and 'chickpeas' (as we in the UK commonly call them) are indeed the same ingredient :).

We had already encountered a similar AE v BE language thingy with 'cilantro' (chiefly AE) and 'coriander' (chiefly BE).

Looks like Afghan recipes do indeed work wonders when it comes to the so-called 'cultural exchange' - even if it is just between the US and the UK. ;)

[K-bobo @ Gormandize with A-dizzle & K-bobo]

Thanks for this great recipe. I made my own vegan version, it turned out great!

http://gormandizewithus.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/meat-free-mashawa-afghan-spicy-beans.html

[Harriet]

Thanks for this delicious dish. I did make some changes though. I had some leftover beef stew which worked great, and I used fresh garlic instead of powder. This recipe is a keeper!!

[Hameeda]

Thanks a lot for sharing this delicious recipe of Mashawa.

[shayma]

my mother doesnt know what a blog is- she does read some of my posts if my sister plonks the laptop in front of her, but she knows that i learnt to cook from her; i am sure jeja knows her influence on you, too :) and on many others.

[Humaira]

Jeja has no idea about her role in this blog, eventhough I have tried to tell her. Her English is rusty and she has never used a computer so she has no clue about her contribution to the blogsphere.

[shayma]

Humaira Jan, May I just say what a huge fan I am becoming of Jeja's? She seems to be the inspiration behind this blog and the recipes :) Another really beautiful dish. so delicious, i can smell the dill you have added. x shayma

[fpfj]

Just found your website. I was just thinking that a good Afghan cooking website would be great. Thank you! I'm looking forward to trying the recipes!

[Stoorai Ayazi]

Thanks for sharing, mashawa is one of my favorit.