Blanket Approval

Afghanistan, positioned between Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia, has one of the great unknown cuisines of the world. And the new Afghan House in Northridge is the place around here to try it--as you might guess from the large number of Afghan customers thronging it.

The restaurant has a giant map of Afghanistan on one wall, an antique rifle on another. The dining area is decorated with tapestries, samovars and Asian swords, and the tables near a stage are furnished with chairs from the remote Afghan province of Nuristan. In short, it has plenty of Afghan atmosphere, though the soft soundtrack of Indian pop music is an acquired taste.

The kitchen may be slow, but the food it turns out is delicious. One of the best appetizers is bulani katchalu, which looks like a giant quesadilla but is really a flatbread stuffed with stewed leeks. Another interesting option is aushak, leek-filled ravioli with three sauces: yogurt, green herb sauce and a light tomato sauce.

Possibly Afghanistan’s most famous dish is mantu, a huge plate of ravioli-like dumplings stuffed with chopped beef under a blanket of yellow split peas. Mantu is made to order here, and the pasta is always perfectly al dente. This dish is almost unreasonably good.

The crowds come for other dishes as well. One is gulpi chalaw, the best cauliflower dish I’ve ever tasted. At $6.99 it may sound expensive--it’s just three big pieces of cauliflower with basmati rice and a handful of peppers--but the cauliflower is richly flavored from its cooking liquid (it actually takes on a pale brown color). Burani bademjan is a filling side dish of thick fried eggplant slices lusciously dressed with thickened yogurt.

Then there is qabuli palaw, a celebratory rice pilaf. Picture a huge mound of beautifully cooked basmati rice shot through and through with buttery shreds of carrot, plump raisins and thinly sliced almonds. Hidden under it is a braised lamb shank, whose meaty juices partly infuse the rice.

There are kebabs, much like the Persian sort, though the portions are not as huge; most diners here order a kebab to end a meal (if they haven’t filled up on multiple orders of mantu) the way we might end a meal with dessert. The chicken, lamb and beef kebabs are all tender and nicely marinated. Personally, I’d just get all three by ordering the combination kebab and sit around wondering how such an attractive cuisine could be so little known in our country.

BE THERE

Afghan House, 8516 Reseda Blvd., Northridge. Lunch Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m., and Friday-Sunday, 5-10 p.m. No alcohol. Parking lot. MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $21-$33. Suggested dishes: bulani katchalu, $1.99; mantu, $9.99; qabuli palaw, $7.99; gulpi chalaw, $6.99. Call (818) 709-6233.