#qaubill palau

[travelingbytastebuds]

AFGHANISTAN WHERE: The Box 8211 Hull Street Rd, North Chesterfield, VA 23235 I usually have to travel at least an hour and half to get to the restaurants for this project, but this restaurant may be the closest one to my house. The Box, the small little Afghanistan restaurant staffed by a kindly old man, is only 3 miles away from me which was such a nice change. They deliver too, which is helpful for my ever increasingly waist line! lol I tried the qaubill palau first. It's a pilaf that also happens to be the national dish made of steamed rice mixed with raisins, carrots and lamb. I love my lamb and the amazing things the middle east restaurants on my list do to it. Seriously, any type of middle eastern lamb might be on my top ten things that I've discovered on my Traveling By Tastebuds journeys. And having the raisins in the meal added that extra bit of sweetness. Next was the aushak, which are leek-filled raviolis topped with ground beef sauce and served on bed of mint-kissed yogurt. It was thinner than most raviolis I've had in my life and very floppy, but so good with the yogurt and mint flavors. Wikipedia says that it is "a time-consuming meal to prepare, it is usually served on holidays or at special gatherings." Or, you know, on random Tuesdays when I show up to indulge myself.   I also tried the mantu-- very tasty little beef dumplings. I think by the end of going through all the Asian countries I will have eaten like two dozen types of dumplings. Afghan mantu in particular date back to the time of the Turkic and Mongol horsemen of Central Asia. It is believed that the horsemen carried frozen mantu during the cold winters while traveling long distances and then boiled them over camp fires for supper. I washed that all down with freshly squeezed carrot juice (can you squeeze a carrot?) while I thought of all the gas money I saved by having this restaurant so close in the neighborhood.

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