Bolani

Ingredients

• Flour500 g
• Warm water280 ml
• Potatoes600 g
• Spring onions200 g
• Coriander40 g
• Chilli flakes1 tsp
• Garlic yoghurt — to serve250 ml
• Vegetable oil60 ml
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Knead a soft dough from the flour, warm water, a spoon of oil and salt.

   14 min

2. 2

   Cover the dough and rest it thirty minutes.

   32 min

3. 3

   Boil the potatoes soft, drain them and mash them without milk.

   28 min

4. 4

   Work the spring onion, coriander, chilli, salt and pepper into the mash.

   10 min

5. 5

   Divide the dough into six and roll each into a thin round.

   18 min

6. 6

   Spread the filling thinly over half the round and fold the other half over, pressing the edge.

   15 min

7. 7

   Cook them on a brush-oiled pan, four minutes a side, until spotted.

   30 min

About the dish

The filling is spread thin over half the round. A thick layer never heats through while the bread burns outside.

It cooks on an almost dry pan brushed with oil. Bolani is not a fried pasty, and in oil it loses the dry crispness it is made for.

The dough is unleavened and soft and needs half an hour's rest. Unrested it springs back and tears as you roll it.

Worth knowing

• — Mash the potato without milk or butter. A wet filling soaks the dough from within and the bolani never sets.
• — Press the edge down with a fork along its whole length. Through an open seam the filling escapes onto the pan and burns.
• — Bolani is eaten with garlic yoghurt or coriander chutney. Without a sauce it is dry, and in Afghanistan it is not served that way.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

420 kcal

Protein

10 g

Fat

12 g

Carbs

68 g

More from Afghanistan

• Kabuli pulao — Rice with lamb under a layer of caramelised carrot, raisins and almonds. Afghanistan's national dish.
• Afghan mantu — Steamed dumplings of beef and onion under garlic yoghurt and a yellow split pea sauce.
• Ashak — Afghan leek dumplings under garlic yoghurt and a meat sauce.