Aush is a traditional Afghan noodle soup made with various greens, mint leaves, tomato-based soup, yogurt, garlic, and chili powder. It contains lamb or beef, kidney beans, and unique Afghan ingredients. It can be served as a side dish, frozen, and reheated. Homemade reshteh is simple to make.
Also known as aash, aush is a traditional Afghan noodle soup. It is prepared with various greens and mint leaves. The soup stock is a tomato-based soup that contains yogurt and other flavoring agents, such as garlic and chili powder. Some cooks prefer to create a more Western version of the dish, similar to chili peppers.
The variety of meats and vegetables in the soup, as well as its yogurt content, make it packed with nutrients. While it can be a filling food, it is often served as a side dish. Like other soups and chili dishes, it can also freeze well and be saved to be served as a reheated quick meal in the future.
The meats used in aush typically include lamb or beef. Any ground beef can work, though these two produce the best, most authentic results. Beans or peas are also included in most recipes. Kidney beans are the most common bean used, although a lentil-pea mixture or either ingredient alone can be used instead.
Several special ingredients that are unique to Afghan cuisine are included in most of the recipes. These might include reshteh, or Iranian noodles, as well as kashk, or thickened Iranian whey. If these ingredients cannot be found locally, they can be purchased in Afghan specialty food stores or online. They can also be substituted in Westernized recipes, for example with all-purpose flour.
When making aush, the noodles should be cooked first. To ensure the most authentic flavour, these should be fresh noodles. If noodles are not available, cooked rice will suffice in the dish. Some chefs prefer to use egg noodles, wonton wraps or even noodles, especially if reshteh is not available. Making another homemade aush paste is another option and will yield the closest results to the traditional Afghan soup.
Homemade reshteh is quite simple to make. It is made up of flour, water and salt. The dough is mixed and rolled like many other doughs, then separated and left to rest. It is cut into strips after the resting period and left to rest longer before being used in soup or other recipes.
Depending on the recipe, the rest of the process used in creating aush can be quite complicated or simple. Meatless versions of the soup may require simply combining ingredients, browning some, such as onions, separately for flavor. Other recipes may call for browning the meat separately while cooking the vegetables, then adding tomato sauce to create an oily gravy base. Chefs should select which recipe suits their tastes based on the suggested ingredients.
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