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Shola - Afghan Savoury Sticky Rice
1 hr + 30 min
Main
Servings
Total
1 hr + 30 minPrep
15 minCook
1 hr + 15 minContains
soy
Free from
peanut
tree nut
sesame
gluten
Ingredients
Mung bean rice
-
¼ cup (60 mL)vegetable oil
-
2medium yellow onions, chopped
-
2garlic cloves, crushed
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2 Tbsp (33 g)tomato paste
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1½ tsp (3 g)paprika powder
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1 tsp (3 g)ground turmeric
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1 tsp (2 g)ground cumin
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¼ tspground black pepper
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5 cups (1200 mL)water
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1 cup (214 g)dry mung beans, soaked overnight
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2½ cups (500 g)uncooked short-grain white rice, rinsed
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¼ cup (12 g)dried dill
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1½ tsp (9 g)salt
Gheymeh - tomato sauce topping
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1 cup (190 g)dry split yellow chickpeas, soaked overnight†
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¼ cup (60 mL)vegetable oil
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2medium yellow onions, chopped
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4garlic cloves, minced (optional)
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2 Tbsp (33 g)tomato paste
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2 tsp (12 g)salt
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1 tsp (3 g)ground turmeric
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1 tsp (2 g)ground black pepper
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¼ cup (60 mL)water
Garlic yogurt sauce
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1 cup (240 mL)unsweetened soy yogurt
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2garlic cloves, crushed
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½ tspsalt
Serves well with
Optional garnishes
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paprika powder
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dried mint leaves
Make your own
Directions
- To a large pot, add the drained split chickpeas and cover with 8 cups (2 L) of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a rapid simmer, and cook for 30 - 60 minutes, or until the split chickpeas are fully cooked through*. Then drain.
- Meanwhile, make the flavoured rice. Add the oil to a large pot over medium-high heat and cook the onions until golden.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds, stirring throughout.
- Add the paprika, turmeric, cumin, and pepper. Stir for about 1 more minute to toast the spices.
- Then add the water and drained mung beans. Partially cover and cook for 20 - 25 minutes at a gentle simmer. Then scoop a mung bean out of the pot and pinch it between your fingers. When it's about 50% cooked, soft on the outside but still a bit firm in the middle, move onto the next step.
- Add the rice, dried dill, and salt, stir. Make sure there is 1 inch (2 cm) of liquid above the rice. If not, add more water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes. Stir periodically.
- To make the gheymeh, add the oil to a saucepan on medium-high heat. When hot, cook the onions for 5 - 7 minutes, or until golden.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, salt, turmeric, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring throughout. Then add the drained cooked split chickpeas, and ¼ cup (60 mL) water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn off the heat.
- Returning to the rice, when it’s cooked through, wrap a clean kitchen cloth around the lid of the pot and cover, allowing the rice and beans to steam for an additional 10 minutes on very low heat. This helps to ensure that all the rice and mung beans are ultra-soft.
- To make the yogurt sauce, combine the yogurt, garlic, and salt in a small bowl.
- To assemble the dish, scoop a generous serving of the rice into a serving dish. Top with some of the gheymeh.
- Add a generous drizzle of the yogurt sauce, garnish, and enjoy!
Notes
- †Speed-it-up: split chickpeas are also known as chana dal or split yellow peas. To speed up this recipe, you can substitute the split chickpeas for brown or green lentils. In this case, the cooking time is significantly reduced, down to about 20 minutes.
- * The cooking time can vary drastically depending on the source and brand. Continue to check on them and cook until completely soft into the centre.
Storage
- Store the rice and gheymeh in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- The yogurt sauce is best enjoyed immediately, otherwise it's best to store separately from the rice in the fridge for up to 2 days. Note that the sauce will curdle, and that's normal. Simply stir for it to become smooth again.
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Plate method
The Plate Method is a visual tool that helps us ensure our dietary needs are on track. Touch the image below to see how this recipe measures up.
Grains & Starches 44%
• uncooked short-grain white rice
Proteins 37%
• dry mung beans
• dry split yellow chickpeas
• unsweetened soy yogurt
Fruits & Veggies 19%
• medium yellow onion
• garlic clove
• tomato paste
• medium yellow onion
• garlic clove
• tomato paste
• garlic clove
Calcium
• unsweetened soy yogurt
Fat
• vegetable oil
• vegetable oil
Nutrition info
Focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. For specific nutrition needs due to a medical condition, consult a dietitian or physician. While we strive to provide accurate nutritional information, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. See our disclaimer for details.
Show nutrition info
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Warm and hearty. Love it
Hello i came across a recipe by a lady based in Pakistan, she called this mote (fat/coarse) chawal (rice) AND ghate wreje. i wasn't sure which variety of rice she used so started looking online and that's when I came across SHOLA... i'm guessing the dish originates from Afghanistan?
I came across a recipe by an Afghan man, he used calrose rice. i asked him if i could use any short grain rice, he said to use long grain as an alternative.
I also noticed the variation in recipes too, another Afghan lady used vegetables in her dish .
The Pakistani recipe mentioned above uses beef and whole moong.
Your dish also looks very interesting, I've never tried Afghan recipe and have been meaning to try shola and the herb dumplings
Very tasty - better the next day after spices & yoghurt sauce had mellowed. I also added a lot of fresh dill afterward. I steamed some kale and spinach and layered the Shola over it. Next time I will use a rice other than basmati, as it turned too mushy, too quickly.
I have no experience with tastes of Afghan cuisine, but this is a tasty meal ✌️
This is soo good! It will definitely became part of the weekly rotation
Really fun to try Afghan recipes! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I was afraid to make this but I finally did and everyone loved it! Less complicated than I thought.. well I still forgot the rice and added it a bit too late:)) I used green lentils instead of the split chickpeas and less garlic and onions.. I have a sensitive stomach and I usually cut down on these but the flavour was still amazing! Will definitely make it again
Thanks for the recipe! Do you use whole or hulled mung beans?
Fave PUL recipe! Reminded me of home ❤️
Absolutely delicious! Always make it for dinner when we have guests over and everybody loves it!!!
This is such a delicious meal! So flavorful and filling and nourishing, absolutely loved it. I swapped the mung beans in the rice for kidney beans (because I had those on hand), and that tasted great as well. I also used green lentils for the gheymeh (also because I had those on hand), and served it alongside the garlic yoghurt and cucumber tomato salad. I'll definitely be making this again, thanks so much for the recipe!
My husband and I love it!
Instead of the split yellow chickpeas we used regular chickpeas and just mashed them up a little. We also used canned chickpeas and beans since we didn't have as much time and wanted to speed up the process, which seemed to have worked well :)
Since I get nauseous from tomatoes, we didn't use tomato paste but instead used miso paste for a similar consistency. I have no idea how it tastes different or what it would be like with tomato paste but it turned out really good :D !
Simply delicious!
I've been wanting to try out this recipe because it seemed easy and with simply ingredientes I usually have on hand. Although I had to make a few changes (I didn't have dry split yellow chickpeas or dill), I could still make it. A fabulous meal I easily put together.
Thank you for helping me, an Argentinean, reach Afghanistan :)
Love the Afghan recipes!! Please add some more! Would love to try this recipe in the instant pot to cut down on cooking time. Has anyone tried this?
Loved this dish! Made it with whole chickpeas for a little variation in size. Will have to try it again with green lentils. I could literally drink the garlic yogurt sauce! Made it with the salata, which is one of my faves. This was my first foray into cooking an Afghan recipe and I'm in love. There's a local Afghan restaurant that I frequent, so I'm super stoked to find some recipes that I can make at home.
The dish is incredible and so versatile with any legumes you put on it! We tried it out at home and it was an incredible success, even with my picky-eaters! The combination of the flavors and textures is outstanding. It is so easy to batch cook, really satiating and it combines well with so many side dishes. I honestly can't recommend this dish enough. So practical and delicious. Don't be intimidated by the hour and half cook time most of the time you will be waiting for the food and can do other things.
This really really is an absolutely amazing recipe!!! I made it tonight with the kichaloo banjan and salata and everyone went for seconds. The flavours of the rice, gheymeh and yoghurt sauce were all quite subtle (still delicious!) but together - oh my - it was sooo good. It paired lovely with the kichaloo banjan and salata, which were thoroughly enjoyed as well. Will definitely be making this again!!!
This was really delicious! I made the shole with Borani Banjan and Salata for a small dinner party and my friends were AMAZED at the flavor! For 4 people I should've done 4 servings but I went with 8 which was way way way too much - I had enough to send everyone home with leftovers and have plenty leftover for myself. I subbed regular chickpeas for the split chickpeas, french green lentils for mung beans, and brown short grain rice instead of white. I put the brown rice in just a few minutes after adding the lentils and did have to add quite a bit more water and double the time for the brown rice. Initially I thought the dill was way over the top too much and I was skeptical as I was bringing it all together but it turned out amazing. That yogurt sauce is the perfect pairing with this.
I made this for a friend yesterday and we loved it! This is the first time I that I have made Shola and I think it is a very tasty and comforting dish so I'm really glad to have found your recipe. The added benefit is that mung beans are beneficial for sleep so I have woken up this morning having had a really great night's sleep as well. I will definitely be making this dish again.
I'm going to try this next week, but I can't find any mung beans around me, what would you swap them for ? Thank you for all your answers !
I was pretty uncertain about this recipe because I don't often use mung beans or split chickpeas, but it turned out amazing! The gheymeh was the best part - perfect amount of spice and really satisfying flavor. I've loved the Afghan recipes so far and this one was no disappointment. Will definitely be making this again!
Wow! I made this tonight and this is so good! My husband and I both loved it. My 5-year old ate the mung bean rice with yogurt sauce, wouldn't try the tomato sauce but still...
2 minor changes: I happened to have fresh coriander so I used it instead of dill. And I forgot to soak the yellow split peas so I used green lentils instead.
Added some of the last tomatoes from the garden too.
I was hesitant to make all the components but they pair really well. And the yogurt sauce on top is perfect.
Very happy to have cooked afghan for the first time and it was such a success. I am definitely making it again soon! (This time with the split peas)
Hello PUL Team!
It is a long weekend holiday here in Spain and I have decided to live it through in my kitchen as a Sadia-inspired- afghani cooking festivity. Saturday has turned into Shola day!!! And I LOVE the soul-nutritious feeling of this meal and was so surprised to realize that the yoghurt sauce carries it to a top-notch level. However the crushed garlic was a bit too overpowering and seemed to cover up all of the other flavours... any tips to avoid that? May be I have messed up the yoghurt-to-garlic proportion?.
On a separate note, I have saved the split chick-peas water to make a chocolate mousse... do not know if this dessert is too afghani but... chocolate... why not?
I absolutely love this page and the recipes you guys post and I’m literally on a roll here with all of your Afghani dishes. I just made Shola and it was so amazing! I’m going to make Borani Banjan for lunch tomorrow. Absolutely can’t wait!
We had this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely amazing! Thank you! It is a lot of food for our little family of 2. Do you have suggestions on if it will freeze well and how to freeze?
I can't believe how delicious this was!!! Thank you for sharing it with us! My only suggestion is that the instructions could have been a bit more streamlined. For example the instruction that says "then cook the rice," could be its own number three stuff then the next instruction about sauteeing onions could be number four. I kept getting confused and thinking I was supposed to add the uncooked rice to that saute mixture because they were in the same instruction. Anyways, just a small thing, but somehow made the recipe seem more complicated to me.
Thanks again, this was just amazing, and a great way to get really healthy protein in!!
Hi Sadia and team! I loved this Afghan sticky rice dish on all levels. I loved the combination of the mung beans, chana dal and short grain rice as well as the tomato and dill flavours in this recipe and, most importantly, the garlic yogurt sauce to finish. I swear that stuff can make anything taste twice as good! Will definitely be returning to this again.
Hi! Three questions. 1. What is a good substitute for dried dill? I’m thinking that might be hard to find. 2. Can I use brown rice instead of white? 3. I’d like to use less oil than what the recipe calls for. What is your suggestion for making this with less oil or oil free?
Hi, is it ok to use split mung beans instead of the mung beans? I bought the wrong type of mung bean!
Absolutely delicious!! I subbed the split yellow chickpeas with regular chickpeas and the mung beans with lentils (i couldn’t find them at the store). It was pretty time consuming but totally worth it! thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Thank you for sharing such amazing recipes! I am just a little bit confused because the ingredients mention chickpeas but the directions mention lentils, just wanted to double-check what should I use for the recipe.
In Afghanistan do u have any dish name afghani pulao made of rice and meat, garnish with sweet carrots and raisins ???
If u know about afghani pulao can u plz share the authentic recipe original version..