Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kabuli Pulao
Afghanistan's national dish: steamed rice piled over lamb and crowned with candied carrots and raisins.
Afghan · advanced · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 90 min
~954 cal · 49g protein · 116g carbs · 33g fat · 5g fiber · 22g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kabuli pulao (qabili palaw) is the national dish of Afghanistan, steamed rice piled over tender lamb and crowned with caramelized carrots, raisins, and slivered almonds or pistachios. Fragrant, festive, and generous, it is the centerpiece of Afghan hospitality and celebration.
The rice is cooked in a rich meat broth and layered with the sweet-savory topping of fried carrots and raisins, perfumed with and cumin. The dish reflects the Silk Road crossroads that shaped Afghan cuisine, cousin to the of Central Asia and Persia.
Served at weddings, holidays, and for honored guests across Afghanistan, kabuli pulao is a dish of pride and welcome, traditionally shared from a communal platter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 lb lamb, bone-in
3 cups basmati rice, soaked
3 carrots,
3/4 cup raisins
2 onion
1 tsp cumin
4 pods
1 tbsp char masala
1/3 cup slivered almonds or pistachios (to garnish)
Instructions
1
Brown the onion, add the lamb (or chickpeas and mushrooms), and simmer in water to make a rich stock, then reserve the stock.
2
Caramelize the carrots and raisins in a little oil with sugar until glossy, and set aside.
3
Parboil the soaked rice in the seasoned stock until about 70% done, then drain.
✎ Chef’s note
Parboil the rice in the meat stock so every grain drinks up the flavour, then finish it by steaming. Draining it while still firm keeps the final rice separate, not mushy.
4
Layer the rice over the meat, add spices and a little stock, cover tightly, and steam (dum) for 25 minutes.
5
Mound the rice over the lamb and crown with the candied carrots, raisins, and slivered almonds or pistachios.
Kabul tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kabul. The meal is built around bread and tea. Naan is slapped against the wall of a tandoor and carried home long and flat, and green tea is poured before, during and after everything else. Kabuli palaw, rice with carrot and raisin over lamb, is the dish put out for guests rather than the ordinary weekday plate.
🗺️
Afghanistan. Fruit is what the country grows best when it is allowed to. Kandahar's pomegranates are famous inside Afghanistan and out, and the province's grape orchards run to tens of thousands of hectares, with roughly half the harvest dried into raisins. Dried fruit and nuts are both a winter pantry and an export, which is why a bowl of them appears with tea before anything else does.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Afghanistan
KhaginaAfghan eggs cooked into a soft, spiced tomato base, a quick, warming Kabul breakfast.
MantuSteamed dumplings of spiced beef and onion topped with garlicky yogurt and a lentil-tomato sauce, an Afghan favorite.
FirniA silky ground-rice milk pudding scented with cardamom and rosewater, topped with pistachios, an Afghan celebration sweet.
Browse all Afghanistan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kabuli Pulao?
Afghanistan's national dish: steamed rice piled over lamb and crowned with candied carrots and raisins.
Where does Kabuli Pulao come from?
Kabuli Pulao is a Afghan dish from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Can Kabuli Pulao be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kabuli Pulao recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kabuli Pulao safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kabuli Pulao take to make?
About 120 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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