Afghanistan: The secret girls school defying the Taliban
#FoodandLit May
The new rules say women must cover their faces, ideally wearing the traditional burqa, according to a statement from the General Directorate of Administrative Affairs.
If a woman does not follow the rules, her “male guardian” will be visited and advised, and eventually jailed and sentenced. Women who work in government offices and do not follow the new decree will be fired.”
(NPR) KABUL, Afghanistan — In a morning of tears and anger, the Taliban on Wednesday reneged on a promise to allow Afghan girls to attend secondary school, as thousands of them turned up at their old school gates in tidy uniforms and carrying their school bags. NAWEDA: (Through interpreter) In last 20 years, the girls faced a lot of blasts in schools and universities and institutes, but they still went to school. They were hungry, but they would study. And now whatever efforts they had done, the hard work they did, they lost everything. They came back to point zero.
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There is an ongoing assault on women rights all over the world. Increasingly vicious and violent. Stay vigilant, stay angry and fight back.
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and South Asia.
These are my reading selections for the month.
Bahram Rahman was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and grew up during the civil war and the Taliban regime. He earned a medical degree at Kabul Medical University and a master’s degree in public policy at the University of Erfurt, Germany, while also working as an activist in Afghanistan in the areas of gender equality and youth political participation. Bahram came to Canada as a refugee in 2012, and today he is a senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Health in Ontario. His first picture book, Governor General’s Literary Award finalist The Library Bus, was praised by the New York Times for documenting the barriers to education experienced by girls in war-torn countries and their resilience and ingenuity in overcoming them.
Nasreen’s Secret School
Renowned picture book creator Jeanette Winter tells the story of a young girl in Afghanistan who attends a secret school for girls. Young Nasreen has not spoken a word to anyone since her parents disappeared. In despair, her grandmother risks everything to enroll Nasreen in a secret school for girls. Will a devoted teacher, a new friend, and the worlds she discovers in books be enough to draw Nasreen out of her shell of sadness? Based on a true story from Afghanistan, this inspiring book will touch readers deeply as it affirms both the life-changing power of education and the healing power of love.
The Bookseller of Kabul
In spring 2002, following the fall of the Taliban, Åsne Seierstad spent four months living with a bookseller and his family in Kabul. For more than twenty years Sultan Khan defied the authorities—be they communist or Taliban—to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the communists, and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. He even resorted to hiding most of his stock—almost ten thousand books—in attics all over Kabul.
» For Coffee Spice Mix:
4 cloves (laung)
1 black cardamom (moti elaichi)
2 green cardamom pods (hari elaichi)
1 inch cinnamon stick (dalchini)
4 black pepper (kali mirch)
» For Indian Spiced Coffee:
1 cup of water
3 cup milk
2 teaspoons coffee spice mix
2 tablespoon instant coffee powder
Sugar, as per taste
1 teaspoon chocolate powder for sprinkle on top (optional)
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
» Make Coffee Spice Mix:
Add all the whole spices to a spice grinder and grind to make a fine powder.
Coffee Spice Mix is ready. Transfer this powder to an air-tight jar and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
» How to Make Indian Spiced Coffee in a Pan:
Heat a pan over medium heat.
Add water, milk, and ground spices to the pan.
Stir occasionally, and let the milk boil come to a boil.
Turn the heat to low and boil it for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a mug add coffee powder, sugar, and 1 teaspoon milk.
Beat well, until it becomes frothy.
Remove the milk pan from the heat, and add the beaten coffee to the pan.
Mix everything well, and strain the milk coffee through a fine strainer.
Pour coffee into cups and sprinkle with coffee or chocolate powder.
Serve hot with cookies or cake. Enjoy!
» How to Make Indian Spiced Coffee in a microwave:
Add water, milk, and ground spices to a microwave-safe bowl.
Let the milk boil on high settings for 2 minutes.
Take out the bowl and stir the milk.
Boil the milk again on high settings in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a mug add coffee powder, sugar, and 1 teaspoon milk.
Beat well, until it becomes light and foamy.
Remove the milk bowl from the microwave, and add the beaten coffee to the milk bowl.
Mix well, and strain the milk coffee through a fine strainer.
Pour coffee into cups and sprinkle with chocolate powder.
Serve hot with cookies, crackers, or any of your favorite snacks. Enjoy!
Wonderfully soft Afghan Naan Bread, a homemade naan bread recipe perfect for any stew or curry.
Course Bread
Cuisine Afghan
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 219kcal
Author Adina
Ingredients
400 g all-purpose flour 14 oz/ 3 1/3 cups
30 g whole wheat flour 1 oz/ 1/4 cup
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast Note 2
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
230 ml lukewarm water 7.8 fl.oz/ 1 cup
60 g yogurt 2.1 oz/ scant ¼ cup
1 tablespoons oil
Nigella seeds
3-4 tablespoons ghee or butter as needed
Instructions
Mix the flours, yeast, syrup, salt, water, yogurt, and oil in a food processor, fitted with a dough blade or a mixer fitted with a bread hook.
Knead for about 5 minutes (more or less depending on the machine you are using) or until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. If you do that by hand, you will have to knead a bit longer.
The dough should be soft but not too sticky; if it is too sticky, add a bit more flour a little at a time.
Let rise: Form a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place. Leave for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
Divide the dough into 10 portions, form small balls, cover and let stand for another 15 minutes.
Roll the balls into discs using a small rolling pin, and shape the dough to form the typical elongated naan bread. The naan breads should be rolled about about 5 mm/ 0.2 inches thick, about 12-14 cm / 5-5.5 inches long and about 8-9 cm/ 3-3.5 inches wide.
Fry bread: Melt a little bit of the butter or ghee in a large non-stick skillet, add 2 or 3 of the dough pieces and fry for 1 minute.
Flip and cook the second side for about 4 minutes until the underside has brown spots.
Repeat: Melt another small piece of butter and repeat with the rest of the dough.
Brush: Place the naan bread on a cloth and brush with a little more butter or ghee. Keep covered in cloth until ready to serve.
INGREDIENTS
3 Cups basmati rice
½ Cup Vegetable oil
Species
1 tbsp. Cumin seeds
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. Black Pepper (Finely Ground)
1 tsp Cardamom (Finely Ground)
DIRECTIONS
Rinse rice (First make sure to rinse the rice. Leave it aside for few hours before cooking.
The taste of it will be much better if it is rinsed and soaked in advance.
Boil water (Boil water in a pasta pot with strainer or use a regular pot and drain the water after boiling using a strainer.
Once the water is boiled, add the rice and boil for few minutes or until the rice is soft and long.
Drain water from rice
Heat a Pan on High heat and add vegetable oil, boiled rice, salt dissolved in warm water and the spices (Cumin seeds, Black Pepper, Cardamom)
Mix well
make holes with the back of spatula.
Cover the lid with a kitchen towel and place it on the pot.
Cook on low heat for at least 25 to 30 minutes.
10. Serve with your favorite curry
Afghanistan (meaning “land of the Afghans” or “Afghan land”) has been a strategically important location throughout history. The land served as ” a center of the ancient Silk Road in central Asia, a gateway to Indian subcontinent, connecting China to western Asia and Europe, which carried trade from the Mediterranean to China. Sitting on many trade and migration routes, Afghanistan may be called the ‘Central Asian roundabout since routes converge from the Middle East, from the Indus Valley through the passes over the Hindu Kush, from the Far East via the Tarim Basin, and from the adjacent EurasianSteppe.
The Iranian languages were developed by one branch of these people; the Pashto language spoken today in Afghanistan by the ethnic Pashtuns, is one of the Eastern Iranian languages. Elena E. Kuz’mina argues that the tents of Iranic-speaking nomads of Afghanistan developed from the light surface houses of the Eurasian steppe belt in the Bronze Age.
Mirwais Hotak followed Ahmad Shah Durrani unified Afghanistan’s tribes such as Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks and Turkmens under one banner and founded the last Afghan Empire in the early 18th century CE Afghanistan is inhabited by many and diverse peoples: the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Qizilbash, Aimak, Pashayi, Baloch, Pamiris, Nuristanis, and others.
It is absolutely heartbreaking what is happening in this country today.
