Aush (Afghani Chili)

Ingredients

• pound ground beef
• onion, coarsely chopped
• (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
• tablespoon minced garlic
• teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon sground cumin
• teaspoon schili powder
• 1/2 tablespoon sdried mint
• tablespoon sgaram masala
• (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• (10 ounce) boxfrozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• (16 ounce) packagefettuccine, broken in half
• cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; remove beef with a slotted spoon to a large pot, reserving drippings in the skillet.
2. Cook and stir onion in reserved drippings until golden brown; remove with a slotted spoon and add to beef in the pot.
3. Stir tomatoes with juice, garlic, red pepper, cumin, chili powder, mint, garam masala, garbanzo beans, and spinach into beef mixture; simmer over low heat for 3 to 6 hours.
4. Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat; stir in fettuccini and return to a boil. Cook pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well; stir pasta into the chili along with sour cream. Serve hot.

Tips

Aush is traditionally a noodle dish, but feel free to substitute cooked rice. You can also use a package of cooked small or medium egg noodles instead of fettuccini. The dish may be frozen before noodles or rice are added.