The dastarkhwan (“spread cloth”) is the Afghan communal meal: a large cloth spread on the ground around which guests and warriors sit cross-legged. Dishes — bread, rice, grilled meat, soup, dried fruit, tea — are placed in the center and shared. There is no strict starter/main/dessert order: bread and rice accompany everything, soup (shorwa) may open or punctuate the meal, and sweets and tea conclude it. At the royal court, the abundance of the dastarkhwan signaled the sovereign's generosity.

The queen spice of Afghan court cuisine, green cardamom perfumes both royal palau and firni and kahwa. Coming from trade routes linking South India to Central Asia, it was a marker of prestige on a shah's dastarkhwan: the more a dish contained, the more the host honored his guests.