Perfect Afghan Stuffed Onions Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large Yellow Onions
- ½ kg Ground Lamb
- ¾ cup Cooked Basmati Rice
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- 1½ tsp Chopped Garlic
- 1½ tsp Whole Cumin Seeds
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Freshly Ground Pepper
- 10 Pitted Prunes (Alu Bukhara)
- ½ cup Feta Cheese
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- Olive Oil For Brushing Onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil the bottom of a casserole dish or Dutch oven.
Prepare the Onions:
- Trim the ends off the onions, then make a slice only halfway through each onion lengthwise (with your knife positioned end-to-end).
- Pull off the brown papery skin. Boil onions in a large pot of water, partially covered pot, for 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions into a large bowl filled with cold water. Pour out heated water and refresh with more cold water, and repeat again.
- Let onions cool in the water for a few minutes. To keep from burning your hands, work under water to gently separate the softened outer layers of each onion, one by one, about 4 or 5 per onion, until you get to the stiffer middle section, which will not be used in this recipe. Put onions layers in a strainer to dry.
Make The Stuffing:
- Put cooked rice in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small frying pan. Add chopped garlic (1½ teaspoons) and cumin seeds (1½ teaspoons) to pan and cook over medium heat, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Turn off heat if garlic starts to turn brown. Scrape cumin and garlic into bowl with rice. Add salt (1½ teaspoons) and pepper (¼ teaspoon). Stir rice to combine with spices. Add ground lamb and Feta cheese and gently combine with rice. (I recommend using your hands)
Stuff The Onions:
- Pat the onion layers dry if need be. Add a generous heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture to the center of an onion layer.
- Roll the onion layer around the meat, and put it in the oiled casserole, seam side down. Continue with all of the meat. You should have 12-14 stuffed onions.
- Brush the tops of the rolls with some olive oil and sprinkle with some fresh ground pepper. Cover casserole with lid or with a double layer of foil. Bake in the lower third of a preheated oven for 1 hour
- Briefly remove pot from oven. Turn oven up to "broil". Remove foil from casserole. Baste onions with pan juices. Return to oven, uncovered, and cook onion rolls for an additional 5 minutes to brown them, watching carefully to make sure they don't burn.