Pod Insights The Sporkful This Afghan Restaurant In Houston Tastes Like Home About this episode Over the past few years, Houston has taken in more Afghan refugees than any other American city. When refugees arrive, Omer Yousafzai is there to welcome them. He owns The Afghan Village restaurant, which has become a community hub and gathering place for Afghans and non-Afghans alike.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Dan Pashman? There's nothing quite like Aruba. The white sand beaches are truly unlike anything you've seen. But what really stands out is the food. Because Aruba's not like other Caribbean islands. French pastries, Spanish paella, Peruvian barbecue, papardelle that has no business being that good that far from Florence. Not to mention the local fair. Aruba's food scene pulls you in with its astonishing variety of cuisines and beyond satisfies you with its unexpected flavors. So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you. As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things,
0:43 Dan Pashman? I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean. Whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf, whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean. Whether it's their boots, their Scotch plaid flannel, their rugged field coat, or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside. Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider.
1:19 Dan Pashman? Check, check.
1:22 Dan Pashman? Solomon, right? Can you talk into this microphone, please?
1:26 Speaker 01 Okay.
1:28 Dan Pashman? Excellent, it sounds like it's working. How old are you?
1:31 Speaker 01 Nine.
1:32 Dan Pashman? Nine?
1:33 Speaker 01 And a half.
1:34 Dan Pashman? Nine and a half, oh. So where are we right now?
1:36 Speaker 01 We're in the Allen Village.
1:40 Dan Pashman? Afghan Village Restaurant?
1:41 Speaker 01 Yeah.
1:42 Dan Pashman? You have a family connection to this restaurant?
1:44 Speaker 01 Yeah.
1:44 Dan Pashman? Your dad is the owner?
1:46 Speaker 01 Yeah.
1:48 Dan Pashman? What's your favorite thing on the menu?
1:50 Speaker 01 My favorite thing is chapli kebab.
1:52 Dan Pashman? Oh, chapli kebab.
1:54 Speaker 01 My favorite job is to cook a bread. And chapli kebab.
2:00 Dan Pashman? Oh, you cook the chapli kebabs?
2:01 Speaker 01 Yeah.
2:02 Dan Pashman? Wow. You think someday you'll be the head chef of this restaurant?
2:06 Speaker 01 Yeah.
2:07 Dan Pashman? That'd be cool. Chapli kebabs for everyone.
2:16 Dan Pashman? This is the Spork Fall. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. In 2021, American troops withdrew from Afghanistan after a 20-year war there. Within days, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban took control. There was a massive evacuation: American troops, defense contractors, and about 75,000 Afghans who felt their lives would be in danger if they stayed. Since then, roughly 200,000 immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan have come to the US, and a lot of them have resettled in the greater Houston area. In fact, Houston has taken in more evacuees than any other American city. When refugees are resettled in the US, the government has certain guidelines. One is that new arrivals should get a culturally appropriate meal within their first 24 hours in the country.
3:01 Dan Pashman? And that is how a lot of newcomers end up at a restaurant in Houston called The Afghan Village.
3:07 Speaker 02 They come here straight from the airport. They meet me, and they feel good. I think it's just cultural because they haven't seen Afghans in a while, and all of a sudden, they meet somebody from their culture who speak the language. So they feel very good, very comfortable. And yes, they come often. They come often.
3:25 Dan Pashman? This is Omar Yusufzai. He's the father of Solomon, who you heard at the start of the show, and he's the owner of The Afghan Village Restaurant. Afghan Village sits in a strip mall between an Afghan grocery and an Afghan gift shop, both of which Omar also owns. They're in a neighborhood of Houston that people have started calling Jalalabad, after the city in eastern Afghanistan. The inside of the restaurant has a drop ceiling, tile floors, tables and chairs that would look at home in a diner, and Afghan and American flags on the walls. On one side, there's an elevated platform where larger groups can eat while sitting on the floor with their shoes off. Omar was born in 1977 in Jalalabad. When he was two, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and his family fled across the border into Pakistan to a city called Peshawar.
4:09 Dan Pashman? Although Peshawar is technically in Pakistan...
4:12 Speaker 02 It used to be part of Afghanistan.
4:13 Dan Pashman? Right.
4:14 Speaker 02 The geography is divided by the British. So even today, a lot of people, there are separatists there. They claim that Peshawar is part of Afghanistan, which is, all Afghans believe that.
4:28 Speaker 02 But even in Peshawar, a lot of people believe that Peshawar is Afghanistan.
4:33 Dan Pashman? Interesting. So culturally, it's really the same country?
4:36 Speaker 02 Yes.
4:36 Dan Pashman? Okay, very similar.
4:37 Speaker 02 Very similar.
4:38 Dan Pashman? Omar says he wasn't really allowed in the kitchen as a kid, but he loved watching the women in his family cook.
4:44 Speaker 02 I love the smell of onion when they try to grill them. I still, when I cook kebabs here, it reminds me the smell of kebabs in Peshawar in Afghanistan.
4:55 Dan Pashman? After graduating college, Omar got a scholarship to go to law school in Texas. So in July 2001, he left Pakistan and moved to Houston. At that time, the Afghan community in Texas was small, which was reflected in the food options.
5:09 Speaker 02 There were not a lot of halal foods back then. Now it's, Houston is full of halal foods. And then Afghans, no, there were no Afghan restaurants.
5:18 Dan Pashman? Do you remember the first Western American-style food you ate when you got here? Or is there a certain, a specific meal that stands out that was especially like, whoa? What have I gotten myself into?
5:30 Speaker 02 To be completely honest, I love Western food. The only problem we have in even today is they're not halal, and sometimes I thank God they're not halal. Because if they were halal, I would be eating every day.
5:46 Dan Pashman? Right. If McDonald's becomes halal, your cholesterol's gonna go through the roof.
5:50 Speaker 02 Exactly. And, and, and Danies, for example, any steak houses in Texas, when I, when I drive by, I, it's mouth-watering. But again, it's not religiously halal to eat.
6:05 Dan Pashman? Omar found himself missing the flavors of home. But he didn't cook, and there weren't any Afghan restaurants. So he turned to restaurants that serve food from neighboring countries. To the west of Afghanistan is Iran, so Omar tried a Persian restaurant. But Persian food typically doesn't have as much spice as Afghan food, so it didn't hit the spot for him. He thought he'd try food from Afghanistan's neighbor to the other side, Pakistan, where the food tends to be spicier. Omar did like those flavors, but...
6:31 Speaker 02 The pita bread did not taste good. Pita bread is something that I never liked, and even today, I don't like it. We eat clay oven bread.
6:42 Dan Pashman? And what's the difference in taste between those two for you?
6:46 Speaker 02 A huge difference. It's like, the other one, I'm sorry to say, it tastes like paper. You're eating paper, there is no taste to it. But our, our has a taste. It's cooked, it's really good. And maybe it's cultural, maybe some people won't even like our bread, because they're not used to it. So I'm nothing against it, but I was not used to it, and I'm still not used to it.
7:08 Dan Pashman? Right, for you, you want your bread.
7:10 Speaker 02 Yes.
7:10 Dan Pashman? It sounds like that restaurant was like, at that time, that was the closest you could get.
7:16 Speaker 02 Exactly, that was the closest to Afghan cuisine, I should say.
7:19 Dan Pashman? Right, so on one hand, it sounds like it felt good to get something close.
7:23 Speaker 02 Yes.
7:23 Dan Pashman? But also, it wasn't exactly what you wanted.
7:27 Speaker 02 Exactly, there was a gap. It's not home.
7:37 Dan Pashman? Two months after Omar arrived was 9/11. A month after that, in October 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan. Omar watched what was happening there from afar, while earning his law degree in the US. When he graduated in 2005, he never took the bar. Instead, he got a job as a contractor with the Department of Defense. The military needed people who spoke the local languages in Afghanistan. Omar's job was to recruit those linguists in the US. Then they'd go off to Afghanistan to work there on the ground. He did that for a couple of years. Then, a new job opened up. It was a similar role, recruiting linguists, doing operations. But this time, he'd be doing it in Afghanistan.
8:16 Speaker 02 So I thought, maybe this is, I can help the local economy, and at the same time, help the US government by recruiting the right people to work for the... And the job was a very good job, paying very good.
8:30 Dan Pashman? In 2007, Omar flew from the US to Qatar, then on to Bagram, the US Air Force base in Afghanistan.
8:36 Speaker 02 You know, I was scared in the beginning, to be completely honest. I was thinking, I thought something is gonna hit the plane when I was in C5, going from Qatar to Bagram.
8:48 Speaker 02 And when I landed, everything changed. I saw people walking. I saw people with no body armors in the base. So I felt a lot better when I went. Uh, but it was not the same like you were in Afghanistan. It was like just you are in a, another city in, in the US.
9:06 Dan Pashman? Right, yeah, I, I mean, I've spent a tiny bit of time on a military base. It's kind of weird.
9:10 Speaker 02 Yeah.
9:10 Dan Pashman? You feel like it could be anywhere.
9:12 Speaker 02 Exactly.
9:12 Dan Pashman? It's sort of like a, like a very kind of, um, generic place.
9:16 Speaker 02 Exactly.
9:17 Dan Pashman? Eventually Omar was stationed at Camp Phoenix on the outskirts of Kabul. Thousands of troops and contractors were stationed there. Omar says it wasn't an easy place to live. It felt like a prison because they weren't allowed to leave the base. Every once in a while, they might go hiking at a nearby mountain range, but that was pretty much it. So he was technically back in Afghanistan, but it didn't really feel like he was back in Afghanistan.
9:38 Speaker 02 Yeah.
9:39 Dan Pashman? Omar began recruiting Afghans to work with the military. Even though he wasn't allowed off the base, local Afghans came to the base looking for jobs. He would screen them, test their language skills, and assign them work.
9:50 Speaker 02 I, I fit right in and they connected with me. Instead of going to any white guy, black guy, or Hispanic guy, they prefer me. They, they felt comfortable and I think that was the reason I was filling that gap. I was useful and it felt good.
10:07 Dan Pashman? But of course, it was also hard, dangerous work. Experts believe that more defense contractors were killed in Afghanistan than American service members. Omar tells me about a suicide bombing just outside the base that was so close and knocked him to the ground. One of his other jobs was to inform the families of local Afghans when a relative of theirs had been killed. He says he struggled to sleep when he knew he had to do that the next day. And he worried about his own family. Later, he was able to get visas for them to go to the US. But as long as they were in the region, he never told them where he was stationed.
10:40 Speaker 02 I, I kept it, uh, a secret. I did not tell them because they were scared that if I worked there, I may get targeted. And I kept it secret, not only because of their worries, but because I was worried that if people find out that I'm here, maybe they will hurt my family.
11:00 Dan Pashman? And am I right? I understand that, that the Taliban would, would supposedly target Afghans who supported or worked with the US.
11:09 Speaker 02 Of course.
11:09 Dan Pashman? Even before they targeted the US soldiers?
11:11 Speaker 02 Oh, yes.
11:14 Dan Pashman? As Omar and I sit and talk, Solomon brings tea to our table. Thank you. This smells, this tea smells so good.
11:20 Speaker 02 Great tea.
11:21 Dan Pashman? You just poured it and the whole table smells like a garden. Is this sugar?
11:25 Speaker 02 This is, um...
11:26 Dan Pashman? What is that?
11:26 Speaker 02 This is sugar. Brown sugar. It's called jagri.
11:29 Dan Pashman? Okay. Oh, yes. I've had this. Oh, my God. It's so good.
11:32 Speaker 02 Yeah, you can put that in tea and you can bite and sip tea afterwards.
11:36 Dan Pashman? Oh, you dip it in the tea and then bite it?
11:38 Speaker 02 You don't have to dip it in the tea. You can just bite on it and sip tea afterwards. Let me, let me, let me...
11:43 Dan Pashman? Demonstrate for me. Oh, you just like, oh, you hold it in your mouth, kind of?
11:47 Speaker 02 Yeah. You can bite on it.
11:48 Dan Pashman? Right.
11:49 Speaker 02 And then...
11:52 Speaker 02 It goes very well with the tea.
11:53 Dan Pashman? Oh, my God. I gotta try this.
11:56 Dan Pashman? I'm gonna take this piece here. That's delicious.
11:59 Speaker 02 Okay.
12:00 Dan Pashman? This is hitting the spot perfectly.
12:01 Speaker 02 Yep.
12:04 Speaker 02 Is it okay if I order? We, we, I didn't eat, so we eat together.
12:08 Dan Pashman? Yes, I would love that. Can, can, um, I, I need to try Solomon's chapli kebab.
12:14 Speaker 02 But you make the chapli kebab, okay?
12:16 Dan Pashman? Yeah, I want Solomon's. Omar starts rattling off instructions and dishes to his son, who looks eager to please, but a little overwhelmed. You, you wanna write it down, Solomon?
12:27 Speaker 02 Just go ahead, take notes and take it to the kitchen, okay?
12:30 Dan Pashman? I tell you, you're gonna be able to retire very soon.
12:32 Speaker 02 Yeah. He's able to cook the chapli kebab because it's, uh, it's like a patty.
12:38 Dan Pashman? In addition to the chapli kebab, Omar orders a few other kebabs. And birani banjaan, an eggplant dip, similar to baba ganoush, but it's served warm. He also asked for lamb karai, chunks of lamb marinated in spices and cooked in tomato sauce. Solomon leaves the table. But a minute later, he's back. Solomon's back. Hold on.
12:55 Speaker 01 Uh, how many chapli kebab?
12:57 Speaker 02 Just make two chapli kebab, Manta.
13:01 Dan Pashman? How is the food on the military base?
13:03 Speaker 02 Oh. That's, um, I mean, I'm no, I'm not complaining. They had good food, but if you eat the same food every day, it's no good anymore because, and it was not just one kind. I remember Camp Phoenix, you can't find that kind of dining facility here in the US. They had over a hundred different kinds of items, cooked, uncooked, even Mongolian night, live barbecues.
13:27 Dan Pashman? Wow.
13:27 Speaker 02 Yeah, but you know, you eat it every day, you get tired.
13:30 Dan Pashman? After a few, couple of years, maybe.
13:32 Speaker 02 Yes, but local foods were amazing.
13:35 Dan Pashman? How would you, because you, you weren't supposed to leave the base.
13:38 Speaker 02 Exactly.
13:39 Dan Pashman? How did you get your hands on local food, Omar?
13:41 Speaker 02 Probably if my supervisor hear what I did, they will not like it. We were not allowed, but we would still bribe the locals. Literally give them extra money. I won't call it bribe, but to make them a little extra.
13:54 Dan Pashman? Extra job on the side, yeah.
13:56 Speaker 02 So they would bring food from outside and twenty, thirty dollars will buy food for ten people. And everybody in that area would come and share.
14:08 Dan Pashman? And was this home-cooked food?
14:10 Speaker 02 No, it was from restaurants.
14:11 Dan Pashman? From restaurants?
14:12 Speaker 02 Yes.
14:12 Dan Pashman? And what were some of the dishes that they were bringing back?
14:15 Speaker 02 Chabli kebab was one of them.
14:16 Dan Pashman? Okay.
14:17 Speaker 02 Because this, this is an easy thing. Ground beef and you mix some spices, you know, it's very easy, accessible. And then lamb chops is another famous, they, they, they call it Shinwarik kebab. We had kabali palau, which is lamb cooked inside rice, some vegetables too.
14:38 Dan Pashman? So the American soldiers, what were their reactions?
14:41 Speaker 02 They said, if we eat this food seven days a week, we will never get tired of it. Each time we brought it, they would literally have a dance before eating. I, I remember a lot of, um, military personnel from all races, I'm talking about black, Hispanics, uh, white. It was a feast, honestly. They had other food as well. Every once in a while, we would tell them, "Go get us Chinese." We had Chinese food in Kabul. It was different. It was mixed with some Afghan spices, really tasty, though. We would bring that as well because it had that taste of Afghan in there.
15:18 Dan Pashman? We wanted to hear more about these meals, so we tracked down a defense contractor who worked with Omar at Camp Phoenix named Michael Nunez. He's from Jamaica, lives in Georgia now. Michael told us that even 15 years later, he remembers those feasts well.
15:32 Speaker 03 It became a ritual, you know? People would get around and wait for it. We got pilau, I think was the name of the rice with carrots and I think lamb, chicken, fish, lots of veggies, and the bread and Afghan pastries. And I gained so much weight over there, can't believe it.
15:58 Dan Pashman? Michael says the food on the base was bland. And food's important to him. He loves to cook. Sometimes he would make Jamaican food. But whether it was that or the Afghan food...
16:07 Speaker 03 Having that bonding and, you know, enjoying the food and the culture kind of took your mind off the dangerous aspect or, you know, what was going on around us. You know, for a brief moment, you know, you were like enjoying life and worrying about, you know, is tomorrow gonna be my last day?
16:32 Dan Pashman? Those meals didn't just make an impression on Michael Nunez. They also gave Omar an idea.
16:37 Speaker 02 When I saw people liking Afghan food, that moment, I decided if I come back, I'm gonna try a restaurant.
16:46 Dan Pashman? Coming up, Omar moves back to Houston and opens his restaurant. And it quickly becomes much more than a place to eat for Omar and the community. Stick around.
17:03 Speaker 04 It's time to open up a can of advertisements.
17:08 Dan Pashman? There's nothing quite like Aruba. The white sand beaches are truly unlike anything you've seen. But what really stands out is the food. Because Aruba is not like other Caribbean islands. French pastries, Spanish paella, Peruvian barbecue, papardelle that has no business being that good that far from Florence. Not to mention the local fair. Aruba's food scene pulls you in with its astonishing variety of cuisines and beyond satisfies you with its unexpected flavors. So plan your escape to culinary delight at aruba.com. Your taste buds will thank you. As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things,
17:52 Dan Pashman? I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean. Whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf, whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean. Whether it's their boots, their Scotch plaid flannel, their rugged field coat or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside. Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider. Start the day strong with Quaker protein products. Quaker makes it easy and delicious to get a good source of protein. No matter what the day has in store, Quaker protein products give you a variety of ways to reach your protein goals. Oatmeal, granola, bars and rice snacks in flavors you already love like maple and brown sugar and blueberries and cream. Quaker protein helps fuel you to start whatever's next.
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18:44 Dan Pashman? Welcome back to This Porkful. I'm Dan Hashman and I want to throw a couple of deep, very serious ethical questions at you. Let's see your eating with your significant other. It's just the two of you. Do you need to ask permission to double dip? If so, is there a point in the relationship at which you no longer have to ask? And then how about this one? How guilty should you feel about not eating the leftovers from something your partner cooked? On last week's show, we opened up the phone lines and take on your fiery hot food disputes and food questions with cookbook authors Ham Alweli and Pailin Changchunat. We hear from one couple who've been in a serious dispute over double dipping for some time now. Rena thinks she shouldn't have to ask her fiance Cole if she can double dip.
19:21 Speaker 05 I think it's Sui. We share germs. We kiss. Like, he's OK with double dipping. Why do I have to ask every time?
19:29 Dan Pashman? And Cole, what's your take? I would summarize my position on this is it's nice to be asked.
19:34 Speaker 05 So where are you at now? What is the double dipping status now? We use it to rile each other up. I have a bit like, it's like, oh, you know.
19:46 Dan Pashman? Yeah, now it's a cudgel.
19:47 Speaker 05 If I don't, yeah, if I don't ask, generally Cole will let it slide, but not always. And then sometimes if I want to poke the bear, I'll make direct eye contact and ask.
19:58 Dan Pashman? Ham and pie weigh in on this issue and many more, including a listener who insists that eating a hot dog from both sides creates a perfect final bite in the middle. Yeah, we had thoughts on that one, too. That episode's up now. Check it out. One more quick note. We have a special segment sponsored by Bonnie Plants at the end of this episode, so make sure you stick around till then to get some really helpful, really great pro tips for your vegetable garden. Now, back to the Afghan Village Restaurant in Houston, where I'm talking with owner Omar Yusuf-Sai. After four years in Afghanistan and a couple more in Turkey, Omar moved back to the US in 2013 and continued working as a defense contractor. It felt good to be back in Houston.
20:36 Speaker 02 You know, you feel like Houston is my place. I want to, I want to live in Houston.
20:40 Dan Pashman? What was it about Houston?
20:42 Speaker 02 I think when you, when you land in the US, in any city, it can be Kansas, it can be DC, it can be Houston. That becomes your birthplace. Honestly, I feel like I'm in Afghanistan today. Like, I feel like this is my home. I lived here all my life, and I won't trade it for any city in the US.
21:06 Dan Pashman? While Houston now felt like home, one key component was still missing.
21:10 Speaker 02 We didn't have good Afghan food in Houston. Even my own family, we did not find the taste. So one day, we were driving and I saw a restaurant for Lees. The restaurant was fully equipped. You have to pay goodwill, you have to pay a lot of money to get a place like this.
21:27 Dan Pashman? How much cooking had you done in your life at that moment?
21:30 Speaker 02 Not much, not much.
21:32 Dan Pashman? Omar hadn't forgotten how all those Americans at Camp Phoenix reacted when they tasted Afghan food. And he wasn't gonna let his lack of cooking or restaurant experience stop him. He signed the lease and spent the next few months trying to get the kitchen up and running. Then he had to find a chef. First one he hired before the restaurant even opened, never showed up on time. Omar fired him. Then he found a guy with decades of experience cooking in restaurants. But that chef was quickly overwhelmed with the job.
21:56 Speaker 02 The first day that we did the grand opening, he said, "I can't do this job." Because it's too much for him. We had a good crowd.
22:03 Dan Pashman? On the day of the grand opening?
22:05 Speaker 02 Grand opening.
22:05 Dan Pashman? Your chef said, "I basically, I can't do this."
22:07 Speaker 02 He said, "I'm gonna help you."
22:08 Dan Pashman? Right.
22:09 Speaker 02 But that day, he gave me the notice.
22:11 Dan Pashman? Omar convinced him to stay on just long enough to train the next chef, Gulam Bastani. And just in case...
22:17 Speaker 02 I said, "You train him, you train me at the same time." I cannot depend on nobody.
22:22 Dan Pashman? So both Gulam and Omar started learning. And because Omar really didn't want to risk losing another chef, he offered Gulam part ownership of the restaurant. Once they were on their own, Omar and Gulam had to fine tune their cooking skills. They still didn't have much experience. Fortunately, Omar was able to get help from another source: his mom.
22:40 Speaker 02 But she would come at night, sometimes show us how to do stuff. Do it differently. We were doing it, but do it a little differently. Sometimes when we take the food from here to the house, she would comment.
22:54 Dan Pashman? What kinds of comments?
22:55 Speaker 02 Okay, so the bread, she would say, "Hey, you know, they need to mix it a little more." The minute we take the food, she will tell me exactly how it is. So she can, we can correct it and don't repeat it.
23:07 Dan Pashman? Right.
23:07 Speaker 02 She will tell me, "The flowers are not mixed right. I still feel it." "The salt is extra there. The spices are less here." So all these comments really made this place perfect.
23:18 Dan Pashman? So she was like your secret weapon?
23:20 Speaker 02 Yes, yes, yes.
23:23 Speaker 02 Are you ready for food?
23:25 Dan Pashman? Sure, sure.
23:27 Speaker 02 I think.
23:28 Dan Pashman? This looks incredible. Oh my goodness. Holy smokes. More food just keeps arriving. There is a glorious platter of meats and grilled vegetables and rice. This looks... Oh my god, the spices just... the aroma just hit me. It smells amazing. Let's just run through everything we see before us. So I see Salman's own chapli kebabs, which look similar to burger patties, but probably with a lot more flavor.
23:55 Speaker 02 Exactly.
23:56 Dan Pashman? A lot more spices.
23:57 Speaker 02 It is, yes. I believe this is lamb. I just asked them. This is lamb karai, which is basically lamb cooked in tomato sauce, but with Afghan spices.
24:07 Dan Pashman? When you say Afghan spices, what are the major spices?
24:09 Speaker 02 The major spices is cumin seeds and coriander, saffron, a lot of saffron for the coloring,
24:17 Speaker 02 and black pepper.
24:18 Dan Pashman? Okay. And so we have the naan, garlic naan, which is just glistening in...
24:24 Speaker 02 It's garlic with some butter on top and cilantro. And then we have the eggplant dip with yogurt sauce on top of it. Then we have the kebabs, of course, the famous chapli kebab, the chicken kebab, marinated in saffron and some herbs. Then we have beef shami, which is similar to chapli kebab, but in a different shape.
24:49 Dan Pashman? It looks amazing. Should we start eating?
24:51 Speaker 02 Yes, please.
24:51 Dan Pashman? Let's dig it. You go first, please. I'll leave the microphones recording, but I'm gonna put it down for a minute because we can focus on eating. You know, priorities.
25:02 Dan Pashman? Everything was fantastic. All the meats just juicy and well spiced. The lamb karai was my personal favorite. The meat just fell apart. Following Omar's lead, I spooned the tomato sauce on my rice. That is a bite I won't soon forget. I sort of think there's like a universal language of comfort food. Hearty, flavorful food made with care that just feels like a big hug inside and out, you know? I didn't grow up with Afghan food, so this isn't what my grandma cooked, but it sure tasted like someone's grandma cooked it. Then there was the bread. What do you think? Better than pita?
25:36 Speaker 02 A lot better than pita.
25:39 Speaker 02 I sell pita bread in my store every day. And I hope and I wish that I will never need to eat it. Because you never know, maybe I stuck in a military base somewhere. They feed me pita bread, I'll eat it. But this is a lot better. This is different.
25:58 Dan Pashman? Yeah, it's got a crust to it.
26:00 Speaker 02 Yep.
26:01 Dan Pashman? Flavor and also a crust.
26:02 Speaker 02 Yep.
26:04 Dan Pashman? Am I right that you also have a practice here that if someone comes in and doesn't have enough money for food?
26:12 Speaker 02 Always, always. Everybody in this restaurant know that if somebody comes in, they don't have money, they don't go hungry. Always. It doesn't, no reasons asked. They can just come and eat.
26:24 Dan Pashman? How, how often do people come in?
26:26 Speaker 02 We have people daily coming. In my community, it's not easy to ask for food. I'm sure probably with every community, but I know my community. It's the hardest thing to do, to ask for free food.
26:38 Dan Pashman? Why?
26:39 Speaker 02 But if, if they, it's just honor. Even I told the guys here, they're trained, that if they are hesitant, if they ask for, how much is this dish? How much is, we already know that he cannot afford it. So we told the guys not to charge them.
27:03 Dan Pashman? Coming up, I talk with a few people who've newly arrived from Afghanistan about how they're faring and what it means to have a restaurant like The Afghan Village near them. That's coming up. Stick around.
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29:33 Dan Pashman? Welcome back. All right, let's return to the show. So Omar has brought that taste of Afghanistan to Houston, the taste of home that he was missing when he arrived. Since opening his restaurant in 2013, he's added an Afghan grocery and gift shop in the same strip mall. Afghan village has grown into a community hub with Omar as its unofficial mayor. There are various nonprofits working to help the Afghans who arrived over the years, and they know Omar is someone to come to in an emergency. He's gotten phone calls in the middle of the night from the local police to help interpret for Afghans who've been arrested. He's advised on Afghan burial practices for funerals. But most of his work centers around food, providing that familiar taste to people who feel far from home.
30:09 Speaker 02 The table on my right. The big table.
30:13 Dan Pashman? Right.
30:14 Speaker 02 They are all newly arrived evacuees with this current crisis with the Taliban taking over.
30:21 Dan Pashman? The guys who are sitting right over here next to us? These guys are among the 10,000 Afghans who have arrived in Houston since 2021, when American troops withdrew and the Afghan government collapsed. The US government had promised to evacuate any Afghans who had worked alongside Americans in Afghanistan. There was even a special immigrant visa program that started back in 2009 to do just that. But according to an organization called Association of War Time Allies, as of a couple years ago, there were more than 78,000 people eligible for those visas who were still stuck in Afghanistan. Their lives could be in danger under Taliban rule, especially given their work with Americans. Recently, their chances of getting to the US got even slimmer. The Department of Homeland Security paused immigration applications for people in a bunch of countries, including Afghanistan.
31:03 Dan Pashman? Just a few weeks ago, news broke that Afghan refugees who helped US forces and are now stranded in a former military base in Qatar are being pushed to return to Afghanistan or potentially be resettled in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here in the US, the Trump administration ended temporary protected status for thousands of Afghans, which could leave them vulnerable to deportation. For now, there are still 200,000 Afghan immigrants who made it to the US. Some of them are people Omar recruited way back when he was at Camp Phoenix.
31:31 Speaker 02 The big number of the people that I hired there came to Houston on a special immigrant visas. And they know me. I don't know them because they came, they, I hired thousands and they will tell me exactly when I hired them and, and they are so thankful. They know that I, I was able to help them out and I'm the reason he came to the US and he's supporting his family. So I'm so proud of what I did. I will do it again in a, in a heartbeat.
31:56 Dan Pashman? Are those immigrant visas the ones that were, that were given to Afghans who, who worked with the US military?
32:03 Speaker 02 Yes, yes.
32:04 Dan Pashman? I know there's been some issues with some of those visas. Not everybody who was supposed to get them got them and...
32:09 Speaker 02 It's a big issue because a lot of the qualified people, they were not able to get the visas and right now... Most of those people are still in line, they're waiting and they're hoping that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
32:25 Dan Pashman? A lot of the Afghans who do make it to the US seek out Omar and his food.
32:29 Speaker 02 Because they do different businesses, right? Some of them are in trucking, truck business. They would park their truck right in front on the main road on this hillcraft with the emergency lights on.
32:41 Dan Pashman? Right outside this restaurant where we are right now.
32:42 Speaker 02 Emergency lights on because they found out Omar owns this restaurant. They would come and say hello and they will introduce themselves and they take off.
32:49 Dan Pashman? Right.
32:50 Speaker 02 So yes, it's beautiful and they're all over.
32:52 Dan Pashman? Grab one for the road.
32:52 Speaker 02 Yes, exactly, exactly.
32:54 Dan Pashman? Today is no exception. As Omar said, there are a few people sitting right next to us who arrived recently. I want to ask a few questions, but they don't speak English and I don't speak Pashto. So Omar translates as I talk with Ziyar Ghul Daudze. He's been in the US for six months.
33:13 Speaker 02 So far, it's not an easy journey. It has been tough because we are away from family. And it has been only six months, so it's gonna get better, hopefully.
33:24 Dan Pashman? How old are you and like is he married? Does he have kids?
33:30 Speaker 02 He's 38, four kids, they're in Afghanistan and he wished they were here.
33:34 Dan Pashman? Is he trying to get them here? How, how does that work?
33:40 Speaker 02 So far, no, because there is no specific guidelines on how we can do that.
33:45 Dan Pashman? There's no system?
33:46 Speaker 02 There is no system at this moment, but he is hopeful that it's gonna happen.
33:49 Dan Pashman? How's the food?
33:54 Speaker 02 It's very good.
33:58 Dan Pashman? Has it been hard to find the foods that he, that are familiar to him around Houston and other places besides the restaurant?
34:08 Speaker 02 He says that it took me 30 minutes in different buses to come to this place because I can't find this kind of taste nowhere. And I eat here and then I take some groceries from the next door and then I go.
34:20 Dan Pashman? Ziarq Ghul tells us that he was doing logistics for the US military in Afghanistan. When the government collapsed, he fled to the US and ended up staying on a military base in Wisconsin. And that's actually when he first heard about Omar and Afghan Village.
34:33 Speaker 02 He said, "When we came to Houston, we searched the restaurant and it came on the top and we came here then."
34:44 Speaker 02 He said, "I saw the same culture, I saw the same people, spoke the same language, my own food, so I felt like I was in Afghanistan."
34:58 Dan Pashman? So, how does it feel, Omar, for you to hear that?
35:00 Speaker 02 Amazing. It's emotional.
35:06 Dan Pashman? Alright, well tell him I say welcome and good luck.
35:31 Dan Pashman? Towards the end of our meal, the chef comes out to say hi. This is Ghulam Bastani, Omar's partner in the business. He speaks some English, but Omar translates for him. And, oh, everything is fantastic. The food is very delicious. Ah, nice job. Yeah. Yeah, thank you.
35:51 Dan Pashman? Are you worried that Salman is gonna take your job?
36:11 Speaker 02 Yes, the next generation has to take over because we're becoming older and the new generation has to step in and take over.
36:19 Dan Pashman? At this point, Omar tells me that Ghulam's son is also here. Salman brings him over. His name is Yusuf and he's 12. He helps out at the restaurant sometimes, too.
36:30 Speaker 02 You you I'm into the like the cooking.
36:33 Dan Pashman? You like you like to be behind the scenes.
36:35 Speaker 01 Yeah, I like I me I'm I I agree with him. I I I don't want to be a waiter. I want to be a cooker.
36:41 Dan Pashman? You guys like to both be behind.
36:42 Speaker 02 I want to be a chef.
36:43 Dan Pashman? What do you like about it?
36:45 Speaker 02 Like when people taste your food, you love the smile on their faces. Oh, my God. You know, like you just feel something and that's when you know you want to cook.
36:55 Dan Pashman? So, Omar, this is the best kebab I ever had.
36:59 Speaker 02 Wow.
37:00 Speaker 01 I'm I'm glad that you like it.
37:02 Speaker 02 Oh, good.
37:03 Dan Pashman? Thank you. Yes, very, very good. I think pretty soon your dads are going to be out of they're going to be out of a job. They're going to have to just go retire so you you guys your kids can take over, huh?
37:12 Speaker 01 Yeah.
37:14 Dan Pashman? I think you're ready.
37:21 Dan Pashman? You're doing amazing work here, Omar.
37:23 Speaker 02 Thank you.
37:24 Dan Pashman? I would imagine as much good work as you're doing and it I'm sure it feels very rewarding. It's also can a ti- on certain days feel like a certain weight?
37:35 Speaker 02 Yes.
37:35 Dan Pashman? People call on you. You're getting phone calls. You told me at four o'clock in the morning sometimes.
37:39 Speaker 02 Yes.
37:40 Dan Pashman? Somebody needs something.
37:41 Speaker 02 Yes.
37:41 Dan Pashman? You're the guy everyone calls.
37:43 Speaker 02 Yes.
37:45 Dan Pashman? There must be some times that that's hard.
37:48 Speaker 02 Yes, of course.
37:50 Dan Pashman? Are are there days, though, that it ever feels like too much?
37:53 Speaker 02 Of course, we are human, you know. We there are days ups and downs, of course, but overall, overall, I'm satisfied. I'm very, very happy, thankful.
38:20 Dan Pashman? That's Omar Yusafzai, owner of the Afghan Village Restaurant in Houston. Since we first spoke, Omar has been very busy. He opened branches of the Afghan Village in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Oklahoma City. So, if you're in any of those places, definitely check out the Afghan Village. My thanks to Subia Katak, Bashir Safi, and Omar Concepcion for their help with this episode. Next week on the show, we talked to a journalist who traveled thousands of miles in search of the best free restaurant bread in America. Did she find it? We'll find out. That's next week. While you wait for that one, check out last week's show, Retake Your Food Disputes, such as, should you ask for permission from your fiance to double dip, even when it's just the two of you? And how guilty should you feel about not eating the leftovers of a dish your partner made? That episode's up now. Check it out.
39:04 Dan Pashman? And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. This episode was produced by me, along with managing producer-
39:35 Speaker 06 Emma Morgenstern-
39:36 Dan Pashman? and senior producer- Andres O'Hara- It was edited by-
39:38 Speaker 06 Tracy Samuelson-
39:40 Dan Pashman? Our engineer is- Jared O'Connell- Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
39:50 Speaker 04 And I'm Ariel Robb with Dan, live in Houston, Texas, reminding you to- Eat more, eat better, and eat more better.
40:16 Dan Pashman? Thank you to Bonnie Plants for sponsoring this segment. Spring is here, which means it's time to get into the garden. That's why I wanted to chat with Dr. Amy Enfield, Senior Horticulturist at Scotts Miracle-Gro. Before you got into horticulture, you wanted to be a musician.
40:32 Speaker 05 I did.
40:33 Dan Pashman? Do you sing to your plants?
40:34 Speaker 05 I have.
40:35 Dan Pashman? Am I right? Is there research that shows that if you play music and sing to your plants, they grow better?
40:39 Speaker 05 I've read that, and I think a lot of it, from at least the singing standpoint, is because you're giving off CO2 and they're taking in CO2.
40:47 Dan Pashman? Got it.
40:48 Speaker 05 But I think there is research out there that happy moods make plants happy and sad moods and mad moods can make your plants sad.
40:55 Dan Pashman? Do you think that's true?
40:56 Speaker 05 Considering I've stressed some plants out over the years, yeah.
41:02 Dan Pashman? I think plants are smarter than we give them credit for.
41:04 Speaker 05 I think they are too. There's research out there that plants under stress, under attack, insects, diseases, they give off like pheromones, hormones, different chemical compounds to warn the other plants around them. So yeah, I think plants are a lot smarter than
41:21 Dan Pashman? That's amazing.
41:22 Speaker 05 than I think we even understand.
41:23 Dan Pashman? And so then do the other plants around, like, do they have a response? Can they build up their defenses?
41:27 Speaker 05 Yeah, they can.
41:28 Dan Pashman? That's so incredible. So, so Dr. Amy, seeing as you've spent so much time communing with plants, I think you're the perfect person to help us out here. I put another call to listeners. We asked for gardening questions. One question that we got from a lot of folks, how do you keep out deer, rabbits, chipmunks, stray cats, and any other animal that could mess up your garden?
41:49 Speaker 05 I know a handful of people who swear by planting a marigold border around their gardens. I've also heard that if the deer is desperate enough, they will walk right over the marigolds.
41:59 Dan Pashman? All right. So marigolds work pretty well, but they're not perfect. Is there another option?
42:03 Speaker 05 Herbs in general emit fragrances that tend to be repelling to animals. That's why if you go and look at animal repellents, which unfortunately, a lot of them are not labeled for use on edible plants, they're essential oils which come from herbs like basil and rosemary.
42:20 Dan Pashman? All right, we're moving on to tomatoes, Dr. Amy. We got a lot of questions about tomatoes. Candied Fabrics writes, how do you prune tomatoes so you get more fruit and fewer vines?
42:30 Speaker 05 So the biggest thing is, is to keep it off the ground, which will help with disease.
42:36 Dan Pashman? Any stalks, branches, things that are growing so low that they're touching the ground? You want to cut those off?
42:42 Speaker 05 Take those off. And actually, sometimes the more you prune, the more fruit you end up with in the end. So what you do is you identify your main stalks. And then as it starts to branch, it throws off what are called suckers that form in the, in the little axle where the leaf meets the stem. You will actually get more fruit, bigger fruit on the main plant if you remove the suckers as they grow.
43:07 Dan Pashman? And you just pinch them off with your fingers?
43:08 Speaker 05 Just pinch them off with your fingers.
43:10 Dan Pashman? All right, Susan in Southwick says, what's the best way to stake tomatoes? I have sturdier cages and it still seems like every year the plants get so heavy that they just pull the cages over.
43:20 Speaker 05 I don't think I've ever had a tomato not topple my cage at some point in the year. Pruning will help with the weight load, except when all the weight gets at the top, it'll still pull your trellis down. Pruning and thinning out the plant helps with some of the weight issue. The other thing is it depends on the type of tomato you're growing. So there are indeterminate, those just keep forming and growing bigger and bigger and bigger, so they never, what we call terminate in a flower. Those are the ones that tend to pull your trellis down. If they get to the size of the trellis, you can always pinch out the growing points and that'll stop them from getting too big. The other thing you can look for is a determinant type of tomato. They reach a certain size and stop growing.
44:03 Speaker 05 Now, that could still be six foot tall, but you know it's going to reach a height and stop growing.
44:08 Dan Pashman? It'll stop at some point. There are so many different types of tomatoes. One of the things that I love about the Bonnie website is this tomato picker. Tell me about the tomato picker.
44:17 Speaker 05 So the tomato picker, you can pick from determinant, indeterminate, small, medium, large, gigantic. So if you've got a small apartment or a small balcony, you can go in and select for the smaller sizes. The type of fruit, are you looking for a cherry, a slicer, a beefsteak? It helps you drill down all the tomatoes within the Bonnie portfolio.
44:38 Dan Pashman? And so even if you don't know much about growing tomatoes, you can just check the right boxes and the body will figure out which tomatoes you need.
44:44 Speaker 05 Correct.
44:45 Dan Pashman? I love that because that's something I struggle with. My thanks again to the sponsor of today's segment, Bonnie Plants. As you heard in this segment and the others we've done with Dr. Amy in recent weeks, even experienced gardeners struggle, right? Whether it's keeping out pests, or how much water, when to water, how best to prune for good results. So if you're an experienced gardener, you may still need some help. And if you're just starting out, Bonnie's website is a phenomenal resource. They can help you pick the right plants for your They'll send the plants to your door and they'll give you tips on how to care for them. Bonnie Plants believes that growing your own garden should be simple, accessible, and attainable. And you know, Janie and I have a garden. When you bring in your crop, even if it's just a handful of tomatoes or a couple of leaves of basil, it's a great feeling knowing that you grew it.
45:29 Dan Pashman? You're going to put it in your food and you're going to eat it and have that satisfaction. Bonnie is going to help you do it. With over a century of experience growing fresh, quality plants, Bonnie Plants can be your partner in successfully growing delicious, fresh food and finding your moment. Head to BonniePlants.com for more. Hey everyone, it's Stavros Halakis and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Stavvi's World. Each week we're joined by great guests like Josh Safdie, Eric Andre, Caleb Heron, and more. It's sort of an interview show, but really, we're just messing around, making each other laugh, and hopefully making you laugh while you're washing the dishes or grocery shopping or on a long drive. Plus, I take listener calls where we have honest conversations about dating, life, and everything in between.
46:12 Speaker 03 Imagine if your therapist was a vulgar degenerate whose office was in a Greek diner. No scripts, no polish, and absolutely no holding back. Listen to Stavvi's World wherever you get your podcasts. Confidence in your financial future starts with confidence in the advice you receive. Personal advice from Ameriprise Financial helps clients feel more confident. No wonder more than nine out of 10 clients are likely to recommend Ameriprise. Our advice is based on your full financial picture, helping you achieve your goals today and tomorrow with confidence. Ameriprise Financial, advice worth talking about. Visit Ameriprise.com/Advice for information and disclosures. Securities offered by Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.
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