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Trevor Felch
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Kabul Afghan Cuisinein San Carlos' Kadu, Sautéed Pumpkin, is the Stand-Out of the Vegetarian Trio.
Pumpkin barley wine. Pumpkin-spiced lattes. Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin tortelli. No food or drink is immune to the dining public’s annual autumn Pursuit of Pumpkin. We adore pumpkin-flavored everything— but what about actually ordering pumpkin for lunch or dinner?
Pumpkin it turns out is the key ingredient in one of the signature dishes of Afghan cuisine, kadu.
Kabul Afghan Cuisine’s white tablecloth adorned 25-year-old flagship in a San Carlos mini-mall and its 5-year-old sibling up in Burlingame are the essential Peninsula spots to know for discovering kadu ($10.95) during this pumpkin-mad time of year.
Kabul’s chefs peel the skin from the pumpkins, slice them into thick medallions, then sauté them with sugar until achieving a soft texture that remains one step above a mousse. Imagine those wonderful cinnamon-soaked apples or a precisely poached pear; it’s the same idea in terms of consistency. Forget about a knife. But when you cut through the pumpkin with a fork or spoon, you get a clean, sturdy cut like it’s well-marbled steak, demonstrating perfect timing on the sauté. The sweetness is pronounced but in a way that hints much more in a savory than sweet direction, like roasted beets or celery root purée. The pumpkin has some restrained cinnamon notes but nothing of the allspice/clove onslaught you've come to expect in the Starbucks lattes or Libby's pumpkin pie purée. It's a much cleaner flavor.
Kadu can be vegetarian but traditionally comes with a ground lamb sauce, more like a dense compote, that seems exactly like a typical Bolognese for spaghetti, and a refreshing yogurt sauce that cuts through the pumpkin’s sweetness. I’d recommend asking for the meat sauce on the side so not every bite has to factor in its grease, making it seem more like a meat chili. In fact, a great way to enjoy the pumpkin and more of Kabul’s specialties is the vegetarian trio. Go for the badenjah, where stewed eggplant has the same tender texture of the pumpkin and gulpi, a stew of slowly cooked cauliflower with tomatoes, fresh ginger, and probably a dozen other spices. They’re fun contrasts to the kadu’s sugar. But there’s no doubt, the kadu is the headliner in fall and every season.
In theory, each bite of kadu should be equal parts pumpkin and challaw, the enormous pile of unadorned basmati rice that sits right in front of you begging to be coasted in the various sauces. A piece of Afghan bread also comes with most dishes; it's like the offspring of lightly sesame dusted, grilled pizza crust and fluffy focaccia. When the pumpkin meat is gone but yogurt and pumpkin juice remains, bread soaking becomes obvious.
The rest of Kabul’s menu is pumpkin-free, focusing mostly on Afghan cuisine’s kebabs, dumplings, and a few savory fried turnovers and soups for starters. Don't forget baklava for a sweet finish. Who knows, maybe soon we’ll see pumpkin skewers, pumpkin turnovers, and pumpkin baklava on the menu. But I’m fine with kadu for my pumpkin fix.
135 El Camino Real, San Carlos; (650) 594-2840.
