My friend Khat made these dumplings for me for dinner the other night. The name of this lovely dish? Ashak (Khat's favorite, and one of mine as well) . . . it's a scallion and leek-filled dumpling over a yogurt sauce, topped with a ground lamb sauce. No recipe yet. I'll see if she'll share it with me 🙂
I have this funny habit. If someone asks me how I am and I know them pretty well, I might just skip past the niceties and tell the truth. Some days, all is well and I’m happy to leave it at that. Other days, not so much. Not that I’m trying to be Debbie Downer, but if I’m having a tough time, I’ll generally cop to it.
So when my friend Khat texted me the other night asking how I was, I was honest. I told her I’d been feeling a bit down. She promptly invited me to dinner. My outlook immediately improved!
Yes, it’d been a rough week, and my energy was low. She invited me over AND cooked for me. A true home-cooked meal rarely happens for me in New York City. I either cook for myself, go to a restaurant, or eat popcorn out of a bag. Ha! So when someone does invite me over for dinner, and a home-cooked one at that, it’s a real treat.
Khat is from Afghanistan, but she grew up mainly here. She’s quite the cook, and I love Afghan food. Her making this meal for me was a lovely, heartfelt, and healing gesture.
We started out with crunchy samosas with a ground lamb filling and a garlic yogurt dip. I had to restrain myself from eating them all. The main dish was called Ashak, scallion and leek filled dumplings over a yogurt sauce, topped with a ground lamb sauce. Such a subtle flavor, yet so vibrant and irresistible. I’m seriously in love with dumplings, and dumplings with these particular flavors practically made my week.
I took the night off from blogging (almost!), and didn’t get the recipes for these goodies. But I’ll see what I can do going forward.
Khat and I, at her bro's wedding back in April. I love this girl! She's such a good friend and a talented and creative person.
We closed out the meal with some skillet brownies I doctored up from a Trader Joe’s gluten-free brownie mix. I was testing the mix for possible use at my upcoming Yoga retreat. They were quite good. I call them skillet brownies because Khat didn’t have a baking dish, so we commandeered a skillet instead, greased it up nicely, and baked them in that. With a sprinkling of sour cherries and chocolate chips, they tasted homemade.
I almost let myself simply enjoy the meal and Khat’s lovely company. But then the blogger in me made and appearance, and I snapped a couple of (quick, I promise!) pics of the with my camera phone before we devoured it. The food, not the phone! (Sorry, but the samosas were long gone at this point).
Khat is an incredible jewelry designer, and she’s prepping a collection now. I’ll be blogging about that very soon. Beyond that, she’s a wonderful friend. I feel truly blessed to have so many good friends in my life. Thanks, Khat!
Khat seems like a wonderful friend! I love hanging out/cooking with girlfriends :).
Ashak is a fave of mine, I’ve loved it since I was a child and my parents took me to an Afghani restaurant in Cambridge, MA called Helmand. Do post the recipe if you can!
Nadia, I’ll try to post the recipe. Love those darling dumplings. And yes, Khat is the best!
And btw, I just got back from Cambridge, Mass. Next time I’m up there, I’ll have to check out that restaurant.
I’ve never had Afghani food but I’ve read about and it sounded delicious. You too look gorgeous in the festive outfits.
Nisrine
Thanks, Nisrine. Do try Afghan food. I’m quite certain you’ll LOVE it. If you dig Persian, Arabic, and/or India food, Afghan food is right up your alley.
I had Afghan food recently, in Dallas and in San Fransisco; my favorite dish was the ashak; the dumplings were so tender and buttery and the leek filling was amazing with that yogurt sauce; anyway, all of that to say that I would kill for a good recipe, so dear, I am waiting with abated breath!
Duly noted 🙂
B, I just read this (I’m blushing!)
As always, it’s a wonderful time with you 🙂
How sweet. You’re the best!
May I add myself to the waiting list for the recipe? I adore Afghan food, and am lucky enough to have a seriously good Afghan restaurant here. I’m dreading the day I am going to leave: will I be able to live without ashak? so yes, a recipe is definitely very welcome 🙂 And does your friend know anything about a soup with some sort of thick noodles, chickpeas and dill in it? I’d love to track down a recipe for that one as well.
I’m happy to ask her. I know of a similar dish in Persian cuisine. Thanks for the requests–I’ll speak to Khat and see what she says. How lucky you are to have a stellar Afghan restaurant near you.
[…] this is the same sweet friend who invites me to dinner on random nights, and whose brother’s traditional Afghan wedding I attended earlier this […]