From the land of silken pasta and goat grabbing

Imagine a plate of steamed beef ravioli topped with peas and carrots and yogurt and mint. The pasta has a luscious, sophisticated texture, and the yogurt and dried mint give it a wild tang.

This is an Afghan dish called mantu, and it’s kind of Afghanistan in a nutshell, wild and elegant at the same time.

Just look around at Azeen’s, a new Afghan restaurant in a quiet corner of Pasadena’s Old Town. It’s a subdued and tasteful place with talismans of the old country scattered here and there, such as a distinctive boat-shaped lute called a rebab. But down at the end of the room there’s a big color photo of Afghanistan’s national extreme sport, buzkashi (“goat grabbing”), which is more or less keep-away for grown-ups, played on galloping horses, using a goat carcass as the ball.

Just keep that in mind: Afghanistan, land of silken pasta and goat grabbing.

So why aren’t we seeing more Afghan restaurants? After World War II Japanese restaurants started showing up around here. The first wave of Korean restaurants came after the Korean War, and Vietnamese places came after the Vietnam War. The war in Afghanistan hasn’t yet had this effect, though Afghan cuisine is a fine one -- like Persian but heartier, like Indian with fewer spices, more enthusiastic about yogurt than either -- and the Afghans are proud of it. For years the family of Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been running restaurants in several U.S. cities.

There are plenty of Afghan places in San Diego and loads of them in Northern California, but in the Los Angeles area, not so many. Aside from Azeen’s, I can think of only one in Claremont (with the misleading name Walter’s) and two in Reseda. That’s a paltry number, considering that a single Bay Area suburb, Fremont, has three of its own. It’s about time we got an elegant Afghan showcase like Azeen’s.

Azeen’s serves mantu as either an appetizer or an entree. Another fine appetizer is bulanee, a sort of cousin of the samosa, only larger, flatter and crisper. The classic bulanee has a filling of Chinese leeks; Azeen’s version uses a combination of leeks and green onions. It has the irresistible flavor of browned pastry and onions, and it’s particularly good with a little yogurt (you also get a mint chutney, which is rather like English mint sauce). Another bulanee on this menu has a filling of potatoes and ground beef, making it even more like a samosa. It’s savory but heavier than the leek bulanee.

If you want, you can actually get a rather Indian-like samosa with a filling of potatoes and chickpeas, and some nice, not so Indian-like pakoras (spelled pakawra here): breaded eggplant or potato slices with a bit of meat sauce and yogurt on top.

And then there’s the beef-vegetable soup called aush, which could pass for an American noodle soup except for the dill and yogurt flavoring, and something with an edgy flavor like pickles. It’s a substantial, savory bowl. “I could make a meal of it,” a waiter told me, practically salivating.

One of the appetizers that also shows up as an entree is aushak, a sort of leek ravioli with a yogurt and meat sauce topping. Aushak is one of the most famous Afghan dishes, but these have less filling and sauce than I’d like. I’ll take the mantu instead.

The rest of the menu consists of kebabs and pilafs. The chicken kebab is unusual -- big chunks of dense white meat -- and the lamb kebab (kabob-e gousfand) is downright smashing, made with remarkably delicious sweet, gamy lamb. There’s an even fancier lamb kebab, kabob-e chupan, using diced lamb chops, but the regular kebab is excellent in itself.

The best pilafs (challaws) are gulpi (topped with beef stewed with cauliflower and cinnamon-ginger tomato sauce) and smarooq, where the topping is chicken stewed with mushrooms (samaruq in Afghan), tomatoes, bell peppers and an undeclared touch of saffron.

Afghanistan’s most famous pilaf, qabili, is generously covered with raisins and grated carrot but it is less interesting. The stewed eggplant (badenjan) and mild chile (korma) sauces are on the plain side. All these toppings except smarooq are available in meatless versions.

For dessert, there’s nothing but walnut baklava (baghlava), a syrup-soaked Indian-style fritter (jelabi) fried in a neat spiral and firni, a mild cornstarch pudding with almonds, pistachios and a dash of rosewater.

Unless you want another plate of mantu. I know I do.

*

Azeen’s Afghani Restaurant

Location: 110 E. Union St., Pasadena; (626) 683-3310

Price: Lunch appetizers, $3 to $4; entrees, $8.90 to $15.90; desserts, $3 to $3.25. Dinner appetizers, $3.90 to $4.90; entrees, $11.90 to $19.90; desserts, $4 to $4.50.

Best dishes: Bulanee, mantu, gulpi challaw, kabob-e gousfand, smarooq challaw.

Details: Street parking. All major cards.