I did consider taking something that usually gets deep fried and baking it instead, but after remembering my many, many failures at that (onion ring attempt, Scotch eggs attempt, mozzarella sticks attempt #1, mozzarella sticks attempt #2), I decided against it. It would be one thing if it was just me eating it, or me and A (who eats everything), but I didn't want to make baby B suffer through something terrible. He's still developing his taste buds, and if it were something awful, he might never want to try that thing again! Plus, we couldn't use eggs in the breading and dredging process, so what would I even make?
Our inspiration: bolani at Ariana Afghan Kebab Restaurant in Hell's Kitchen
That was the decision I made back in March, but fast-forward a couple months to June. As part of our AtWCC exploration of Afghan dishes, I wanted to try making some bolani, a flatbread/turnover-type thing usually filled with potatoes, pumpkin, or assorted vegetables. We had eaten these before at the Afghan restaurant near our old apartment (one day, we'll write about that for WorldEats...), and they were definitely very fried and crispy. If I was going to take something typically deep-fried and try to make it as a baked dish, then I might as well count this for the deep frying challenge! As for our other concerns, egg wouldn't be necessary to make these, and I planned to keep some of the filling separate to give to B in case the actual bolani turned out to be a disaster. As for my concerns about dredging failures, I guess I just keep trying, because I made those crunchy onion rings later in the summer.
[Side note: You might notice I mentioned June above. I wrote the initial draft of this a very long time ago, and that also gives some idea of how long ago we started cooking for the AtWCC. My plan had been to write our Afghanistan WorldEats posts and then publish the AtWCC posts for Afghanistan in the order we made the dishes to better reflect our cooking "journey," but none of that has happened yet, it's the end of December, and it's time to get as many challenge posts out there as possible before the end of the year!]
I started with a recipe I found on V for Veggy, and made some adjustments (ingredients, but most notably, baking instead of deep frying). The ingredients we used were:
for the dough:
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour ($1)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1.5 tsp olive oil ($0.15)
- 1 cup water ($0)
for the dough "process":
- flour for work surface ($0.05)
- olive oil coating for mixing bowl ($0.10)
- small bowl of water for adding to the dough while kneading ($0)
for the filling:
- 2 russet potatoes ($1)
- 6 scallions ($0.65)
- 1/2 bag frozen spinach ($0.75)
- ground coriander ($0.15)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
- ground cumin ($0.15)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
for the yogurt sauce:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt ($1.38)
- a lot of garlic powder ($0.10)
- a little salt ($0.02)
- small batch of mint (about 1/3 cup chopped) ($1)
One thing I will say about this recipe was that it was very budget-friendly. Dinner for the three of us was approximately $6.62. We haven't seen a challenge meal come out that affordable in a long time.
This was a labor-intensive recipe, which I knew going into it. I figured it would take at least 1.5-2 hours. Unfortunately, we got a late start, and it did edge slightly over the 2 hour mark, but considering how slow my pace usually is, it was better than it could have been. The steps for making the baked bolani were:
1. Combine ingredients for dough in large bowl.
2. Knead dough until it's soft, smooth, and not sticky. [The recipe had really good time estimates here, and was exactly right that it would take 10 minutes. I would periodically wet my fingers to add a little more water to the dough when kneading, so it was probably a little more than a cup of water in the end.]
3. Coat the mixing bowl with olive oil, and cover dough with a wet towel. Proof for an hour.
4. While dough is proofing, prep potatoes (peel, chop, boil, and mash), chop scallions, and chop mint.
5. Make yogurt sauce while potatoes are cooking by combining all ingredients. Chill until ready to eat.
6. Make mashed potatoes by combining all ingredients for filling and seasoning to taste.
7. Divide dough into 8 portions, roll out into large circles on a floured work surface, and spread the filling on half of the circle, leaving the edges free. Wet the edges, fold over, and seal.
8. Bake on parchment paper at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and eat with yogurt sauce.
The author had given some baking recommendations to another reader in the comments, noting that it would still not be as good as frying (which I knew and was okay with), so I followed those. That time and temperature yielded a nice crispy crust, and the way they ballooned, they looked like not-that-filled baked empanadas. They were never going to be the same as fried, but they did turn out crispy and crunchy.
As a side note, this was my first time kneading dough and using a rolling pin. I don't know how I made it this many decades without actually doing that. I found the entire process very calming, which was good since we had just bought a pound of yeast at this point in the year. The kneading went well, but the rolling out, not so much. I couldn't make a circle even after 12 tries, and only had a few that were remotely symmetrical. And the reason I had 12 tries was because, even though I used some flour to separate them, I guess I left them too long and the bottom ones all stuck together, so I had to do it over again. Definitely need more practice!
My backup for the bolani was intended to be little mashed potato cakes. I figured I would just take the remaining spinach-potato mixture, make it into little balls, and pan-fry them with some olive oil. A few minutes in, as the mixture started sticking to the pan, I got this unsettling feeling of deja vu. This had definitely happened to me before. I was basically making bubble and squeak, and I remembered how much of a failure that was in the past. (Proof here.) Before more of the potatoes could stick to the pan, I quit that and figured we'd just have a side of spinach mashed potatoes. (Reading over old posts, it seems I did make bubble and squeak work on a second or third attempt, but it would have taken 20+ minutes in the pan, and we didn't have that type of time anyway.)
So, what was the verdict? A little over two hours of work, but I was disappointed (and I don't blame the recipe at all). It was never going to be as good as the bolani in an Afghan restaurant because we weren't frying them, but the whole thing was a little bland. The spinach filling, despite all the seasoning I added to it, seemed to lack flavor, and the dough had no flavor either. I probably should have seasoned it a little since I wasn't going to be frying it, so it wasn't going to pick up the flavor from the frying oil. Generally, there wasn't really anything wrong with how they turned out, but they just felt so lackluster, and meh is the last feeling I want after finally eating something I just spent two hours on. Thank goodness for that yogurt sauce though. It made everything better! As is often my conclusion when I try baking something that comes out really well deep-fried, I think in this case, we'll just leave it to the experts and get these from restaurants.
Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients (or was in a rush, can't remember), so here's a photo of all the components together
I started with a recipe I found on V for Veggy, and made some adjustments (ingredients, but most notably, baking instead of deep frying). The ingredients we used were:
for the dough:
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour ($1)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1.5 tsp olive oil ($0.15)
- 1 cup water ($0)
for the dough "process":
- flour for work surface ($0.05)
- olive oil coating for mixing bowl ($0.10)
- small bowl of water for adding to the dough while kneading ($0)
for the filling:
- 2 russet potatoes ($1)
- 6 scallions ($0.65)
- 1/2 bag frozen spinach ($0.75)
- ground coriander ($0.15)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
- ground cumin ($0.15)
- salt and pepper ($0.05)
for the yogurt sauce:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt ($1.38)
- a lot of garlic powder ($0.10)
- a little salt ($0.02)
- small batch of mint (about 1/3 cup chopped) ($1)
One thing I will say about this recipe was that it was very budget-friendly. Dinner for the three of us was approximately $6.62. We haven't seen a challenge meal come out that affordable in a long time.
Making the dough
This was a labor-intensive recipe, which I knew going into it. I figured it would take at least 1.5-2 hours. Unfortunately, we got a late start, and it did edge slightly over the 2 hour mark, but considering how slow my pace usually is, it was better than it could have been. The steps for making the baked bolani were:
1. Combine ingredients for dough in large bowl.
2. Knead dough until it's soft, smooth, and not sticky. [The recipe had really good time estimates here, and was exactly right that it would take 10 minutes. I would periodically wet my fingers to add a little more water to the dough when kneading, so it was probably a little more than a cup of water in the end.]
Ready to proof
3. Coat the mixing bowl with olive oil, and cover dough with a wet towel. Proof for an hour.
4. While dough is proofing, prep potatoes (peel, chop, boil, and mash), chop scallions, and chop mint.
5. Make yogurt sauce while potatoes are cooking by combining all ingredients. Chill until ready to eat.
Mashed potato filling
6. Make mashed potatoes by combining all ingredients for filling and seasoning to taste.
7. Divide dough into 8 portions, roll out into large circles on a floured work surface, and spread the filling on half of the circle, leaving the edges free. Wet the edges, fold over, and seal.
Those are not circles. Not even close
8. Bake on parchment paper at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and eat with yogurt sauce.
Final product
The author had given some baking recommendations to another reader in the comments, noting that it would still not be as good as frying (which I knew and was okay with), so I followed those. That time and temperature yielded a nice crispy crust, and the way they ballooned, they looked like not-that-filled baked empanadas. They were never going to be the same as fried, but they did turn out crispy and crunchy.
As a side note, this was my first time kneading dough and using a rolling pin. I don't know how I made it this many decades without actually doing that. I found the entire process very calming, which was good since we had just bought a pound of yeast at this point in the year. The kneading went well, but the rolling out, not so much. I couldn't make a circle even after 12 tries, and only had a few that were remotely symmetrical. And the reason I had 12 tries was because, even though I used some flour to separate them, I guess I left them too long and the bottom ones all stuck together, so I had to do it over again. Definitely need more practice!
This is how things are shaped when you can't roll out even circles
My backup for the bolani was intended to be little mashed potato cakes. I figured I would just take the remaining spinach-potato mixture, make it into little balls, and pan-fry them with some olive oil. A few minutes in, as the mixture started sticking to the pan, I got this unsettling feeling of deja vu. This had definitely happened to me before. I was basically making bubble and squeak, and I remembered how much of a failure that was in the past. (Proof here.) Before more of the potatoes could stick to the pan, I quit that and figured we'd just have a side of spinach mashed potatoes. (Reading over old posts, it seems I did make bubble and squeak work on a second or third attempt, but it would have taken 20+ minutes in the pan, and we didn't have that type of time anyway.)
So, what was the verdict? A little over two hours of work, but I was disappointed (and I don't blame the recipe at all). It was never going to be as good as the bolani in an Afghan restaurant because we weren't frying them, but the whole thing was a little bland. The spinach filling, despite all the seasoning I added to it, seemed to lack flavor, and the dough had no flavor either. I probably should have seasoned it a little since I wasn't going to be frying it, so it wasn't going to pick up the flavor from the frying oil. Generally, there wasn't really anything wrong with how they turned out, but they just felt so lackluster, and meh is the last feeling I want after finally eating something I just spent two hours on. Thank goodness for that yogurt sauce though. It made everything better! As is often my conclusion when I try baking something that comes out really well deep-fried, I think in this case, we'll just leave it to the experts and get these from restaurants.
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