A normal Afghan lunch will cost about $1.50 per person; an expensive one will cost about $6. If you have a fancy/expensive one, you will normally get: a soda, some soup (lentil puree, dollop of yogurt, and a generous amount of mutton fat), bread, and a mixed platter including grilled chicken and mutton, pilau, wilted salad, mantu (Afghan style dumplings with minced meat and yogurt on top), and chips (potato slices fried in mutton fat). Another typical food (not pictured) is boulanee which is a greasy crepe type dough filled with lentils or potatoes or a spinach-type vegetable. How the boulanee is cooked, depends on where in the country you are: in Kabul and along the eastern side, it is made on a griddle with a lot of grease, towards the interior and along the western side, it is baked more than greased. Whenever tea is served, you are normally offered something sweet to go with it, either a cake or some candy. This might help explain why there is so much tea drinking in Afghanistan (or, at least, why I kept accepting tea when it was offered).
