Authentic Afghan food in Edinburgh!
This is Edi Eats, an A-Z guide where I’ll be eating my way from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, highlighting the culinary diversity of the Scottish capital, and our very own university campus. My journey starts at Kabul Kitchen on Castle Terrace where I experienced my first real taste of authentic Afghan food.
My first impression of the venue: a brightly lit and noticeably quiet restaurant, whose walls were decorated with several rugs and photos of Kabul, giving it a rustic, but distinctly Afghan feeling. It is always wise to let the food do the loudest talking, so I got straight to exploring the extensive, but not excessive, selection.
Whilst the menu also had some more pan-Arabic options, I went straight to the Afghan section and opted for the Qabuli Palow, the country’s national dish. Despite its resemblance in name, this slow-cooked rice dish has no relation to the country’s capital, and can be found across both Afghanistan and Central Asia.
After a short wait I was delivered a bountiful portion of buttery rice, blanketing a sizeable lamb shank, topped with carrot and raisins, as is traditional. The dish complied with its slow-cooked description as the lamb fell off the bone with ease and was a tender delight.
Alongside my Qabuli Palow I was presented with three sauces, two of which were the standard kebab shop staples of garlic and chilli mayos. However, the third was rather more intriguing. Labelled simply as spicy sauce by the waiter, this clearly house-made concoction had been decanted into an old Heinz bottle. Out of sheer curiosity I applied it with aplomb to my plate and did not regret this. The sauce added a kick, which was a welcome dimension amongst the sweet pop of the raisins, and the fatty richness of the lamb, with the grated carrot also playing its role as a textural component. After probing one of the two young Afghan men who were manning the ship on this Wednesday evening, I found out that this homemade concoction was yoghurt blended with garlic, coriander and green chillies.
My final verdict is that whilst this place is certainly rustic, the food I was presented with was fabulous, and so Kabul Kitchen is definitely the place to go if you want to try authentic Afghan food in Edinburgh.
Images by Rory Gibson for the Student.
