A revisit to one of my favorite restaurants

Not too long ago, I went on a much-needed date with my dad. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Helmand. Located in Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon area, The Helmand is named after one of the provinces in present-day Afghanistan, and thus serves the most wonderful Afghan food you will probably ever come across, at least in the United States. The Helmand is even owned by the president of Afghanistan’s brother! Pretty neat, right?

Cuisine from Afghanistan proudly stands in its own category of ethnic foods – I would suggest that it’s a hybrid of Middle Eastern, Indian, and Mediterranean cuisines; however there are no curries and masalas, which are typical in Thai and Indian dishes. (Masala simply means “mixture or combination.”) Curry powder and garam masala, one of the most common masalas, are essentially combinations of many aromatic spices. So, since every culture has its own variation of spice blends that are characteristic to its food, Afghan cuisine probably has its own blend of spices with its own name that makes its dishes so tasty.

Every time I go to The Helmand, and I don’t get to go there very often, I end up ordering the same thing. I just cannot bring myself to order anything else because my favorite dishes are so heavenly, and I feel like I would be committing some sort of treason against myself if I indulged in another dish. It’s like a competition: each menu item tries to transcend the next to win me over. Lucky for me, I get to be the judge. This time, I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered all new dishes.

As an appetizer, we usually get the pan-fried baby pumpkin with a garlic-yogurt sauce. Two words: mouth watering. The description speaks for itself, so I won’t even bother to elaborate, but I will say that I am already a fan of all things pumpkin, and when this little dish was first introduced into my life, I was re-awakened to pumpkin in a whole new way. Although this appetizer is a slightly larger portion than what the French call an “amuse de bouche,” I would sure say it amused my mouth! It was a tough decision not to order the pumpkin dish, but this time I opted for the stewed eggplant with garlic, tomatoes, and peppers, topped with a yogurt-garlic cilantro sauce. No sacrifice of flavor here for my substitution. The sweet tomatoes, plump eggplant, and creamy garlic sauce were impeccably balanced. The extra sauce left on the plate made a delectable dipping companion for the warm, homemade flatbread that we ordered.

Now for the main course, instead of my usual Chilean sea bass stewed with tomatoes, ginger, potatoes, and spices, I settled on something new. I ordered the chicken kabob with pallow, cinnamon-scented basmati rice, which was different than the challow, cumin-scented rice, that accompanies the Chilean sea bass dish. Apart from the chicken being slightly over salted, the dish overall was no less than outstanding! I had never tasted chicken so moist and perfectly cooked, that I double checked to make sure it was not still raw inside. The rice was so simple, but yet had such a delicate and complex aftertaste of warm, spicy cinnamon. My dad ordered the lamb stew, which he still raves about. Caramelized turnips, tomatoes, onions, ginger, and peppers married in sublime harmony with the pungent spices to make for one tasteful dish. Served along side the stew was steamed spinach. But, this was not your grandma’s typical over-buttered spinach mush; on the contrary, it was a delicious plate of sauteed greens teased by unusual spices, which my dad and I struggled to identify – spinach that any child would be eager to devour.

Dessert is something my dad and I usually skip when we dine at The Helmand because the nothing on the dessert menu ever sounds that enticing. However, on our last visit, we decided to peruse the dessert menu just to see if anything new made its way onto the list. My dad and I have much in common, and something we share is a love for rice pudding. On the dessert menu there was an item called Feereny –  sounds like the porridge-like hot cereal called Farina my mom made me when I was a little girl. But the description read far more appetizing than gloppy breakfast grits: a creamy and cold eggless custard garnished with a generous portion of fresh fruit. On my tongue, the cool custard was smoothly chunky, if you will, and had a pleasant burt-sugar undertone. I wish I had known about this delicious dessert in the past. Perchance Feereny is a new addition to the menu; nevertheless, I will be ordering it the each time I return to the Helmand. I polished off the dish, allowing my dad a few bites for himself.

You may not be into Afghan food, but believe me, it’s worth a try at The Helmand.