Everyone enjoys three days off for Eid in Afghanistan. On the first day of Eid, the men go to Eid prayer in the morning while the women stay at home and make preparations for the celebration. When the men come back home, the whole family, adorned in their new clothes, goes to an elder’s house for lunch. There they meet with other relatives including grandparents, uncles and aunts. The kids receive “eidi money” from the adults. Additionally, they also receive Russian and Afghan candies and hard-boiled decorated eggs. After lunch, people have either plain green tea or black tea served with an assortment of pastries, cookies and homemade cakes. 

The pastries include slightly salted cookies with black seeds on top, roghan joshi (sweet fried donuts), jalebi, baklava, and cream horns. They also serve dried fruits and nuts which consists of plain almonds, sugar coated almonds, chickpeas, pistachios, walnuts, raisins, dried figs and apricots. Sometimes in the evening, people get together for dinner and live entertainment. Famous Afghan musicians play at these gatherings. Some of the specialty dishes served at these gatherings are Kabuli pulao (rice with fried raisins, carrots, raw almonds, and pistachios), sabzi (cooked spinach), borani banjan (eggplant dish), and chicken kabob. Other dishes include narangi pulao (rice with julienned orange peels with pistachios, and slivered almonds), abresham kabob (made of eggs, sugar, and spices), mantu (ground beef dumplings), ashak (vegetable dumplings), zamarod pulao (rice made with spinach), and shola goshti (rice with mung beans and meat).  

Composed by Filiz Arslan