Yemi’s Food Stories: A visit to the Harrogate pop-up Afghan Kitchen

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef  competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food  and sharing cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

 

I first learnt about Afghanistan’s national dish kabuli pulao – which consists of rice cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts, and lamb – back in 2021. I followed a recipe to create it and it was one of the most delicious, aromatic rice dishes I’d ever tasted.

The char masala mix that goes into the dish is made up of only four spices: cumin, cinnamon, black cardamom, and cloves in equal proportions. Other recipes include green cardamom and black pepper corns, but I am told the secret is the black cardamom.

When I got the invitation to the pop-up restaurant, Afghan Kitchen in Harrogate, I knew I was in for a treat. I was excited to taste the authentic version from people who have cooked and eaten this dish their entire lives.

The Afghan Kitchen is the vision of Nahid Hamidi, a wife and mother who had to flee Afghanistan with her family, leaving behind a successful charitable organisation she had built and everything else they owned.

She and some other refugee families now live in the Harrogate district – working hard to rebuild their lives. Nahid’s desire to help her fellow women led to this venture; she wanted to help them settle into their new environment and earn some income.

The women get a chance to use their skills and share their food, with the added benefit of meeting people in the community.

Yemi enjoyed Afghanistan’s national dish Kabuli Pulao.

The dining experience started when we were welcomed at the door with sugared almonds that looked wintery and tasted delicious.

The starter was crispy Afghan rolls. The filling included shredded carrots, onions and other vegetables served with a hot dipping sauce made from tomato, garlic, lemon juice and chilli – which added a lovely hint of sweetness.

The anticipated main course was fragrant rice steamed in a vegetable stock with onions, julienne carrots, and plump raisins. This dish is the main attraction of any dining table. The rice was fluffy and tasty, and although it looked oily, it didn’t taste oily. I surprisingly enjoyed the raisins and carrots that brought an extra sweetness.

It was a dish that could be enjoyed on its own, but it was served with a choice of chicken dopiaza or qorma-e-lubia for vegetarians. The chicken — spiced with garlic, cumin, turmeric, and lemon juice — was made with twice-cooked braised onions, peppers and tomatoes. The golden yellow broth was beautifully seasoned and I enjoyed mopping it up with flatbread.

The vegetarian qorma-e-lubia reminded me of a bean dish we cook in Nigeria – using brown or black-eyed beans. The Afghan version is made by cooking kidney beans with fried onions, tomatoes, turmeric, coriander and garlic. This was comforting and delicious, and was the perfect accompaniment for the flatbread and rice.

Side dishes included sabzi — a vegan dish made from chopped spinach, leeks and spring onions — Afghan naan, which was freshly baked, and a fresh salad which included cucumber and red onions dressed with lemon juice.

When I was told the dessert was a cold milk pudding called Firni (also spelt Ferini), I wasn’t too excited as I’m not a huge fan of milk. However, I was blown away by how delicious it was. I tasted it and kept going back for more until it was finished.

This Afghan delight was flavoured with cardamon and finished with chopped pistachios and almonds. The dessert is served hot or cold across many parts of the Middle East, but the Afghan version is always served cold.

Green tea flavoured with cardamom and baklava were served to end the heartwarming and indulgent experience.

Nahid and her team will continue running the pop-up kitchen in Knaresborough and Harrogate whilst looking at other locations.

The price for this experience is £25 per person.

The team can be contacted via email: theafghankitchenyorkshire@gmail.com

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Refugees set up Harrogate district’s first Afghan pop-up restaurant

A pop-up-restaurant created by Afghan refugees will hold its launch event this month in Knaresborough. 

The Afghan Kitchen will offer food and drink for up to 60 diners at Gracious Street Methodist Church, with both meat and vegetarian menus available. 

The initiative is the brainchild of Nahid Hamidi, who fled Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban seized control of country. Her husband, Jamil, was an interpreter for the British Army – and was even injured in the line of duty – but his role with British armed forces made him and his family an immediate target, so even though they had visas to travel to the UK and were packed and ready to go, they were forced to leave with nothing in an American cargo plane. 

University educated, Nahid was the director of an international charity in the northern province, Badakhshan, and speaks English well. But after the family moved to Harrogate in November 2021, she quickly recognised how difficult it was for many of her fellow countrywomen who lacked the necessary English skills to find work. 

She told the Stray Ferret: 

“I worked for a charity in Afghanistan, and helping is like my hobby! I wanted to help my Afghan lady friends, because they really want to work, and cooking is one thing they really know how to do – we all learned to cook from our mothers. 

“I’m employing two of them so far, but eventually I hope to employ 20 or more. I want to run these events in Skipton, York, and right across Yorkshire.” 

Photo of diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council.

Diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council earlier this year.

The Afghan Kitchen is supported by Harrogate District of Sanctuary, which has been helping the Hamidis and other Afghan families since their arrival in the region. 

Nahid said:

“I really hope it all goes well. There will be Afghan food, Afghan music, and hopefully also an Afghan atmosphere – a real Afghan experience.

“I just want to get feedback as good as I received from the Refugee Council when I cooked lunch for 32 of them – they really liked my food. In Afghanistan, if someone visits and we can’t feed them, it just doesn’t feel right. But if we can, then we’re happy!”

Photo of diners at an Afghan lunch cooked by Nahid for the Refugee Council earlier this year.

Feedback from the Refugee Council lunch for 32 people was overwhelmingly positive.

The first Afghan Kitchen pop-up restaurant will be held on Saturday, September 23 from 7pm to 9.30pm. Tickets are running out fast, but a second event is planned for Harrogate, on Saturday, October 21 at Kairos Church, just off Cold Bath Road.

Two set menus are available: a meat menu at £20 and a vegetarian menu for £17. Both include a starter, main course, bread, salad and dessert. Gracious Street Methodist Church is not licensed, so no alcohol is permitted on the premises. 

Tickets for either of these events can be reserved by emailing TheAfghanKitchenYorkshire@gmail.com.

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