Dan Pashman: Okay. Check, check. Soloman, right? Can you talk to this microphone, please? 

Soloman Yousafzai: Okay.

[LAUGHING]

Dan Pashman: Excellent. It sounds like it's working. How old are you?

Soloman Yousafzai: Nine.

Dan Pashman: Nine. 

Soloman Yousafzai: And a half.

Dan Pashman: Nine and a half. Oh. So where are we right now?

Soloman Yousafzai: We're in the Afghan Village.

Dan Pashman: Afghan village restaurant? 

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: You have a family connection to this restaurant.

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: Your dad is the owner?

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah.

Dan Pashman: What's your favorite thing on the menu?

Soloman Yousafzai: My favorite thing is chapli kabob.

Dan Pashman: Oh, chapli kabob. 

Soloman Yousafzai: My favorite job is to cook bread. 

Dan Pashman: Mmm. 

Soloman Yousafzai: And chapli kabob.

Dan Pashman: Oh, you cook the chapli kabobs?

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: Wow. You think someday you'll be the head chef of this restaurant? 

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah.

Dan Pashman: That'll be cool. Chapli kebabs for everyone.

Dan Pashman: That'd be cool. Chapli kebabs for everyone. 

[LAUGHING]

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: This is The Sporkful, 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.

Dan Pashman: 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 2021, roughly 200,000 immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan have come to the U.S., and 10,000 of them have resettled in the Greater Houston Area. Houston has taken in more evacuees than any other American city. 

Dan Pashman: 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. And that’s how lots of newcomers end up at a restaurant in Houston called The Afghan Village…

Omer Yousafzai: 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.

Dan Pashman: This is Omer Yousafzai. He’s the father of Soloman, 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 Omer also owns. They’re in a neighborhood of Houston that people have started calling Jalalabad, after the city in eastern Afghanistan. About 20,000 Afghan people live in the Houston area now, including the 5,000 who’ve settled here since August. 

Dan Pashman: 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.

Dan Pashman: Omer 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. Although Peshawar is technically in Pakistan … 

Omer Yousafzai: It used to be part of Afghanistan.

Dan Pashman: Right. 

Omer Yousafzai: The geography is 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. But even in Peshawar, a lot of people believe that Peshawar is Afghanistan.

Dan Pashman: Interesting. So culturally, it's really the same country?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: Okay. Or very similar. 

Omer Yousafzai: Very similar. 

Dan Pashman: Omer says he wasn’t really allowed in the kitchen as a kid, but he loved watching the women in his family cook.

Omer Yousafzai: I love the smell of onion when they try to to grill them. I still — when I cook kabobs here, it reminds me the smell of kabobs in Peshawar in Afghanistan. 

Dan Pashman: After graduating college, Omer 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.

Omer Yousafzai: There were not a lot of halal foods back then. Now Houston is full of halal foods. And then Afghans — no, there were no Afghan restaurants. 

Dan Pashman: Do you remember the first Western American style food you ate when you got here? Or is there certain a specific meal that stands out? That was especially like, "Whoa, what ... what have I gotten myself into?" 

Omer Yousafzai: Well, 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. 

[LAUGHING]

Dan Pashman: Right. If McDonald's becomes halal your cholesterol’s gonna go through the roof. 

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly. And Denny’s, for example, any steakhouses in Texas, when I drive by, it's mouthwatering. But again, it's not a religiously halal to eat.

Dan Pashman: Omer found himself missing the flavor of home, but he didn’t cook and there weren’t any Afghan restaurants. So he turned to restaurants that served food from neighboring countries. To the west of Afghanistan is Iran, so Omer 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. Omer did like those flavors, but …

Omer Yousafzai: 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.

Dan Pashman: And what's the difference in taste between those two for you?

Omer Yousafzai: 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 ours 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.

Dan Pashman: Right. 

Omer Yousafzai: So I'm nothing against it. But it was. I was not used to it, and I'm still not used to it.

Dan Pashman: Right. For you, you want your bread?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. Yes.  

Dan Pashman: It sounds like that restaurant was, at that time, that was the closest you could get.

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly. That was the closest to Afghan cuisine, I should say. 

Dan Pashman: Right. Right. So on one hand, it sounds like it felt good to get something close. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: But also, it wasn't exactly what you wanted.

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly. There was a gap. It's not home.

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: Two months after Omer arrived was 9/11. A month after that, in October 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. Omer watched what was happening there from afar, while earning his law degree in the U.S. When he graduated in 2005, he never took the bar. Instead, he got a job as a contractor with the Department of Defense.

Dan Pashman: The military needed people who spoke the local languages in Afghanistan. Omer’s job was to recruit those linguists in the U.S., 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.

Omer Yousafzai: So I thought, maybe this is — I can help the local economy and at the same time, help the U.S. government by recruiting the right people to work for them. And the job was a very good job, paying very good. 

Dan Pashman: In 2007, Omer flew from the US to Qatar, and then on to Bagram, the U.S. Air Force base in Afghanistan. 

Omer Yousafzai: You know, I was scared in the beginning, to be completely honest. I was thinking … I thought something is going to hit the plane when I was in C-5, going from Qatar to Bagram. And when I landed, everything changed. I saw people walking. I saw people with no body armor in the base. So I felt a lot better when I went. But it was not the same like you were in Afghanistan. It was like, just you are in another city in the U.S.

Dan Pashman: Right. Yeah, I mean, I've spent a tiny bit of time on a military base. It's kind of weird. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah.

Dan Pashman: You feel like it could be anywhere.

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly.

Dan Pashman: It's sort of like a very kind of generic place. 

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly. 

Dan Pashman: Eventually, Omer was stationed at Camp Phoenix on the outskirts of Kabul. Thousands of troops and contractors were stationed there. Omer 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.

Dan Pashman: Omer 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.

Omer Yousafzai: 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 felt comfortable. And I think that was the reason I was filling that gap. I was useful and it felt good.

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. Omer tells me about a suicide bombing just outside the base that was so close it knocked him to the ground. And 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’d have to do that the next day. And he worried about his family. Later he was able to get visas for them to go to the U.S., but as long as they were in the region, he never told them where he was stationed …

Omer Yousafzai: I kept it a secret. I did not tell them because they were scared that if I work 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.

Dan Pashman: And, am I right? I understand that the Taliban would supposedly target Afghans who supported or worked with the U.S.?

Omer Yousafzai: Of course.

Dan Pashman: Even before they targeted the U.S. soldiers?

Omer Yousafzai: Oh, yes. 

MUSIC 

Dan Pashman: As Omer and I sit and talk, Soloman brings tea to our table. 

Dan Pashman: Thank you. This smells — this tea smells so good.

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah, it’s green tea.

Dan Pashman: You just poured it and the whole table smells like a garden. Is this sugar?

Omer Yousafzai: This is ... 

Dan Pashman: What is that

Omer Yousafzai: This is sugar, brown sugar. It's called jaggery. 

Dan Pashman: Okay. Oh, yes! I've had this. Oh my god, it's so good.  

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah, you can put that in and you can bite and sip tea afterwards. 

Dan Pashman: Oh, you dip it in the tea and then bite it? 

Omer Yousafzai: No, you don't have to dip it in the tea. You can just bite on it and sip tea afterwards. Let me ... Let me ...

Dan Pashman: Yeah, demonstrate for me. Oh, you hold it in your mouth, kind of? 

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah, you can bite on it. 

Dan Pashman: Right. 

Omer Yousafzai: And then ... it goes very well with the tea. 

Dan Pashman: Oh my god, I gotta try this. Let me take a bite out of this piece. That's delicious. 

Omer Yousafzai: Okay. 

Dan Pashman: This is hitting the spot perfectly. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yup. 

Dan Pashman: Mm.

Omer Yousafzai: Is it okay if I order? Well, I didn't eat, so we eat together. 

Dan Pashman: Oh, yes. I would love that. Can I — I need to try Soloman's chaplio.

Omer Yousafzai: You make the chapli kabob. Okay. 

Dan Pashman: Yeah, I want Soloman's. 

Omer Yousafzai: Make sure you wash …

Dan Pashman: Omer starts rattling off instructions and dishes to his son, who looks eager to please but a little overwhelmed. 

Dan Pashman: You wanna write it down Soloman?

Soloman Yousafzai: Oh, yeah.

Omer Yousafzai: Go ahead, take notes, and take it to the kitchen. Okay?

Dan Pashman: I'd say you're going to be able to retire very soon. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah. He's able to cook the chapli kabob because it's like a patty.

Dan Pashman: In addition to the chapli kebab, Omer orders a few other kabobs, and burani banjan, an eggplant dip similar to baba ganoush but it's served warm. He also asks for lamb karhai, chunks of lamb marinated in spices and cooked in tomato sauce. Soloman leaves the table, but returns a minute later.

Dan Pashman: Soloman’s back, hold on.

Soloman Yousafzai: How many chapli kabob?

Omer Yousafzai: Just make two chapli kabob, manta. Okay?

Dan Pashman: How was the food in the military base?

Omer Yousafzai: Oh — 

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] 

Omer Yousafzai: That's — I mean, I'm not ... I'm not complaining. They had good food. But if you eat the same food every day, it's not 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 U.S.. They had over a hundred different kinds of items. Cooked, uncooked, even Mongolian night. Live barbecues. 

Dan Pashman: Wow.

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah. But you know, you eat it every day, you get tired. 

Dan Pashman: After a couple of years maybe?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: Right. 

Omer Yousafzai: But local foods were amazing.

Dan Pashman: How would you — because you weren't supposed to leave the base? 

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly. 

Dan Pashman: How did you get your hands on local food, Omer?

Omer Yousafzai: Probably if my supervisor hear what I did, they will not like it.

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] 

Omer Yousafzai: We were not allowed, but we would still bribe the locals, literally give them extra money. I won't call it bribe, but make them a little ...

Dan Pashman: Extra job on the side. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: Yeah. 

Omer Yousafzai: So they would bring food from outside. And 20, 30 dollars will buy food for ten people. And everybody in that area would come and share.

Dan Pashman: And was this home cooked food?

Omer Yousafzai: No, it was from restaurant.

Dan Pashman: It was from restaurants.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: And what were some of the dishes that they were bringing back?

Omer Yousafzai: Chapli kabob was one of them. 

Dan Pashman: Okay.

Omer Yousafzai: Because 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 call it Shinwari kabob. We had Kabuli pulao, which is lamb cooked inside rice. Some vegetables, too.

Dan Pashman: So the American soldiers, what were their reactions?

Omer Yousafzai: 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 remember a lot of military personnel from all races. I'm talking about Black, Hispanics, 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.

Dan Pashman: We wanted to hear more about these meals, so we tracked down a defense contractor who worked with Omer at Camp Phoenix named Michael Nunes. He’s from Jamaica, lives in Georgia now. Michael told us that even 15 years later, he remembers those feasts well.

Michael Nunes: It became a ritual, you know? People would gather round and wait for it. [LAUGHS] We got palao, I think, was the name of the rice with the carrots, and I think lamb, chicken, fish, lots of veggies, the bread, and Afghan pastries. And I gained so much weight over there, I can’t believe it. [LAUGHS] 

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 …

Michael Nunes: Having that bonding and, you know, enjoying the food and the culture kind of took your mind off the dangerous aspect of what was going on around us. You know for a brief moment you were, like, enjoying life. Not worrying about if tomorrow is going to be my last day. 

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: Those meals didn’t just make an impression on Michael Nunes. They also gave Omer an idea.

Omer Yousafzai: When I saw people liking Afghan food, that moment I decided if I come back, I’m going to try a restaurant.

MUSIC 

Dan Pashman: `Coming up, Omer moves back to Houston and opens his restaurant. And it quickly becomes much more than a place to eat for Omer and the community. Stick around.

MUSIC

 

+++ BREAK +++

 

MUSIC 

Dan Pashman: Welcome back to The Sporkful, I’m Dan Pashman. Let me ask you: Do you need to ask your partner if you can double dip? How guilty should you feel about not eating leftovers? On last week’s show, we took on your fiery hot food disputes and food questions, with cookbook authors Ham El-Waylly and Pailin Chongchitnant.

Dan Pashman: We heard from one couple who have been in a dispute over double dipping for some time now. Rena thinks she shouldn’t have to ask her fiance Cole if she can double dip:

Reena: I think it's silly. We share germs, we kiss like he's okay with double dipping. Why do I have to ask every time?

Dan Pashman: And Cole, what's your take?

Cole: I, I would summarize my position on this is it's nice to be asked.

Pai Chongchitnant: So where are you at now? What is the double dipping status now?

Reena: We use it to rile each other up. So, you know...

Dan Pashman: It's a cudgel.

Reena: Yeah. If I don't, yeah, if I don't ask, generally Cole will let it slide, but not always. And then sometimes if I wanna poke the bear, I'll, I'll make direct eye contact and ask.

Dan Pashman: Ham and Pai weigh in on this, and a lot more, including a listener who insists that eating a hot dog from both sides creates a perfect bite in the middle. Yeah I had a lot of thoughts on that one. That episode is up now, check it out . 

Dan Pashman: One more quick note, we have a special segment sponsored by Bonnie Plants at the end of the episode so make sure you stick around till then for tips on your vegetable garden.

Dan Pashman: Now back to The Afghan Village restaurant in Houston, where I’m talking with owner Omer Yousafzai. After four years in Afghanistan, and a couple more in Turkey, Omer moved back to the U.S. in 2013 and continued working as a defense contractor. It felt good to be back in Houston. 

Omer Yousafzai: You know, you feel like Houston is my place. I want to ... I want to live in Houston. 

Dan Pashman: What was it about Houston?

Omer Yousafzai: I think when you land in the U.S., in any city, it can be Kansas, it can be D.C., 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 U.S. 

Dan Pashman: While Houston now felt like home, one key component was still missing.

Omer Yousafzai: 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 said I saw a restaurant for lease. The restaurant was fully equipped. You have to pay good will, you have to pay a lot of money to get a place like this.

Dan Pashman: How much cooking had you done in your life at that moment?

Omer Yousafzai: Not much. Not much. 

Dan Pashman: Omer hadn’t forgotten how all those Americans at Camp Phoenix reacted when they tasted Afghan food. And he wasn’t going to 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. The first one he hired, before the restaurant even opened, never showed up on time. Omer fired him. Then he found a guy with decades of experience cooking in restaurants, but that chef was quickly overwhelmed by the job … 

Omer Yousafzai: 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.

Dan Pashman: On the day of the grand opening? 

Omer Yousafzai: Grand opening.

Dan Pashman: Your chef said, "I ... basically, I can’t do this."

Omer Yousafzai: He said, "I'm going to help you ..." 

Dan Pashman: Right.

Omer Yousafzai: But that day he gave me the notice.

Dan Pashman: Omer convinced him to stay on long enough to train the next chef, Ghulam Bostani. And just in case …

Omer Yousafzai: I said, "You train him, you train me at the same time." I cannot depend on nobody.

Dan Pashman: So both Ghulam and Omer started learning. And because Omer really didn’t want to risk losing another chef, he offered Ghulam part ownership of the restaurant. Once they were on their own, Omer and Ghulam had to fine tune their cooking skills. They still didn’t have much experience. Fortunately Omer was able to get help from another source: his mom.

Omer Yousafzai: 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 the food from here to to the house, she would comment.

Dan Pashman: What kinds of comments?

Omer Yousafzai: 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. 

Dan Pashman: Right.

Omer Yousafzai: She will tell me the flours are not make it right. I still feel it. The salt is extra there. The spices are less here. So all these comments really made this place perfect.

Dan Pashman: So she was like, your secret weapon, kind of?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes.

Dan Pashman: Right. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes, yes yes. Are you ready for food?

Dan Pashman: Sure. Sure. This look 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 Soloman’s own chapli kebabs, which look similar to burger patties. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. Yes.

Dan Pashman: But probably with a lot more flavor. 

Omer Yousafzai: Exactly.

Dan Pashman: A lot more spices.

Omer Yousafzai: It is. It is. Yes. I believe this is lamb. I just asked them. This is lamb karhai, which is basically lamb cooked in tomato sauce, but with Afghan spices.

Dan Pashman: When you say Afghan spices, what are the major spices?

Omer Yousafzai: The major spices is cumin seeds and coriander. Saffron, a lot of saffron for the coloring. 

Dan Pashman: Hmm. 

Omer Yousafzai: And black pepper.

Dan Pashman: Okay. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: And so we have the naan, garlic naan. 

Omer Yousafzai: Garlic naan. 

Dan Pashman: Which is just glistening.

Omer Yousafzai: It's garlic with some butter on top and cilantro. And then we have the eggplant dip with yogurt sauce on top of it. 

Dan Pashman: Mmm. 

Omer Yousafzai: Then we have the kabobs, of course, the famous chapli kabob, the chicken kebab marinated in saffron and some herbs. Then we have beef shami, which is similar to chapli kabob but in a different shape.

Dan Pashman: Looks amazing. Should we start eating? 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: Let's dig in. You go first, please. 

Omer Yousafzai: Okay. 

Dan Pashman: I’ll leave the microphones recording but I’m gonna put it down for a minute so we can focus on eating. You know, priorities

Omer Yousafzai: Hmm. 

[LAUGHING] 

Dan Pashman: Everything was fantastic. All the meats, just juicy and well spiced. The lamb karhai was my personal favorite, the meat just fell apart. Following Omer’s lead, I spooned the tomato sauce on my rice. That’s a bite I won’t soon forget.

Dan Pashman: I sort of think there’s a universal language of comfort food — hearty, flavorful food made with care that just feels like a 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’s cooked it. Then there was the bread.

Dan Pashman: What do you think, better than pita?

Omer Yousafzai: A lot better. 

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHING] 

Omer Yousafzai: Yup. 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’m stuck in a military base somewhere and they feed me pita bread. I'll eat it. But this is a lot better. This is different.

Dan Pashman: Right. It's got a crust to it. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yup. 

Dan Pashman: Flavor and also a crust. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yup. 

Dan Pashman: Mmm. Am I right that you also have a practice here that if someone comes in and doesn't have enough money for food?

Omer Yousafzai: Always. Always. Everybody in this restaurant knows 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.

Dan Pashman: How often do people come in?

Omer Yousafzai: 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.

Dan Pashman: Why?

Omer Yousafzai: But if they — it's just honor. Even I told the guys here, they're trained that if they are hesitant, if they ask for it, how much is this dish? How much ... we already know that he cannot afford it. So we told the guys not to charge him.

MUSIC 

Dan Pashman: Coming up, I talk to a few people who have newly arrived from Afghanistan about how they are faring, and what it means to have a restaurant like The Afghan Village available to them. That’s coming up, stick around.

+++ BREAK +++

Dan Pashman: Welcome back to the Sporkful, I’m Dan Pashman. Alright, let’s get back to the show. 

Dan Pashman: So Omer has brought that taste of Afghanistan to Houston, the taste of home that he was missing when he arrived. Since opening the restaurant in 2013, he’s added an Afghan grocery and gift shop in the same strip mall. 

Dan Pashman: Afghan Village has grown into a community hub, with Omer as its unofficial mayor. There are various nonprofits working to help the Afghans who’ve arrived over the years, and they know Omer as 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.

Omer Yousafzai: The table on my right, the big table?

Dan Pashman: Right.

Omer Yousafzai: They are all newly arrived evacuees. And with this current crisis, with the Taliban taking over.

Dan Pashman: The guys who were sitting right over here next to us?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: These guys are among the 10,000 Afghans who’ve arrived in Houston since 2021, when American troops withdrew and the Afghan government collapsed. The U.S. government had promised to evacuate any Afghans who had worked alongside Americans in Afghanistan. There was a Special Immigrant Visa program that started back in 2009 to do just that. But according to an organization called Association of Wartime Allies, in 2022, more than 78,000 people eligible for those visas were still stuck in Afghanistan. Their lives could be in danger under Taliban rule, especially given their work with Americans. 

Dan Pashman: 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. And a few weeks ago, news broke that Afghan refugees who helped U.S. 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. 

Dan Pashman: Here in the U.S., The Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Afghans, which could leave them vulnerable to deportation. 

Dan Pashman: For now, there are still 200,000 Afghan immigrants who have made it to the U.S. Some of them are people Omer recruited, way back when he was at Camp Phoenix.

Omer Yousafzai: A big number of people that I hired there came to Houston on special immigrant visas. And they know me. I don't know them because they can't — I hired thousands and they will tell me exactly when I hired them. And they are so thankful they know that I was able to help them out. And I'm the reason he came to the U.S. and he's supporting his family. So I'm so proud of what I did. I will do it again in a heartbeat.

Dan Pashman: Are those immigrant visas the ones that were sort of — that were given to Afghans who worked with the U.S. military? 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. Yes. 

Dan Pashman: Right. I know there's been some issues with some of those visas. Not everybody who was supposed to get them got them and ...

Omer Yousafzai: 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 ... 

Dan Pashman: A lot of Afghans who did make it to the U.S seek out Omer and his food.

Omer Yousafzai: 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 Hillcroft with the emergency lights on.

Dan Pashman: Right outside this restaurant, where we are right now?

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. Emergency lights on because they found out Omer owns this restaurant. They would come and say hello and they will introduce themselves and they take off. 

Dan Pashman: Right.

Omer Yousafzai: So yes, it's beautiful ...

Dan Pashman: Grab one kabob for the road.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes, exactly. Exactly.

Dan Pashman: Today is no exception — as Omer said, there are a few people sitting next to us who arrived recently.

Dan Pashman: Salaam alaikum.

Dan Pashman: I want to ask a few questions but they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Pashto, so Omer translates as I talk with Ziaratgul Daudzai. He’s been in the U.S. for 6 months.

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: 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 going to get better, hopefully. 

Dan Pashman: How old are you and what his, like is he married? Does he have kids?

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: He's thirty-eight, four kids there in Afghanistan, and he wish they were here.

Dan Pashman: Is he trying to get them here, how does that work?

Omer Yousafzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: So far, no, because there is no specific guidelines on how we can do that. 

Dan Pashman: There's no system.

Omer Yousafzai: There is no system at this moment, but he is hopeful that is going to happen. 

Dan Pashman: How's the food?

Omer Yousafzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: It's very good. It's very good. 

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] Has it been hard to find the foods that he — that are familiar to him around Houston in other places besides the restaurant. 

Omer Yousafzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: He says that it took me 30 minutes and different busses 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. 

Dan Pashman: Ziaratgul tells us that he was doing logistics for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. When the government collapsed, he fled to the U.S. and ended up staying on a military base in Wisconsin. And that’s actually when he first heard about Omer and Afghan Village. 

Omer Yousafzai: He said when we came to Houston, we searched the restaurant and it came on the top and we came here then.

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: 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.

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Dan Pashman: So how does it feel, Omer, for you to hear that?

Omer Yousafzai: Amazing. It's emotional.

Dan Pashman: All right. Well, tell him I say welcome and and good luck.

Omer Yousafzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Ziaratgul Daudzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: Towards the end of our meal ...

Dan Pashman: Starting to get full.

Dan Pashman: The chef comes out to say hi. This is Ghulam Bostani, Omer’s partner in the business. He speaks some English but Omer translates for him.

Dan Pashman: And everything is fantastic. The food is very delicious.

Ghulam Bostani: [SPEAKING PASHTO] Bon appetit!

Dan Pashman: Yeah, thank you. Are you worried that Soloman is going to take your job? 

Omer Yousafzai: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Ghulam Bostani: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. The next generation has to take over because we are becoming older and the new generation has to step in and take over. 

Dan Pashman: Yeah. 

Dan Pashman: At this point, Omer tells me that Ghulam’s son is also here — Soloman brings him over. His name is Yusuf, and he’s 12. He helps out at the restaurant sometimes, too.

Yusuf Bostani: I'm not really into the waiter stuff. I'm into the cooking.

Dan Pashman: You like to be behind the scenes. 

Soloman Yousafzai: I mean, I agree with him. I don't want to be a waiter. I want to be a cooker. 

Dan Pashman: You guys like to both be behind — 

Yusuf Bostani: Yeah, I want to be a chef. 

Dan Pashman: What do you like about it? 

Yusuf Bostani: When people taste your food, you love the smile on their face. 

Omer Yousafzai: Oh my god, absolutely.

Yusuf Bostani: You don't like — you just feel something. And that's when you know you want to cook.

Dan Pashman: Soloman, this is the best kabob I ever had.

Omer Yousafzai: Wow.

Soloman Yousafzai: I'm glad that you like it.

Dan Pashman: Thank you. Yes, very, very good. Um, I think pretty soon your dads are going to be out of a job. They're going to have to just go retire so you guys, you kids can take over, huh? 

Soloman Yousafzai: Yeah!

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] I think you're ready. 

MUSIC 

Dan Pashman: You're doing amazing work here, Omer. 

Omer Yousafzai: Thank you. 

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 uncertain days feel like a certain weight. 

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: People call on you. You're getting phone calls. You told me at four o'clock in the morning sometimes.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes.

Dan Pashman: Somebody needs something.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes. 

Dan Pashman: You're the guy everyone calls.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes

Dan Pashman: There must be some times that that's hard.

Omer Yousafzai: Yes, of course.

Dan Pashman: Are there days, though, that it ever feels like too much?

Omer Yousafzai: 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. 

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: That’s Omer Yousafzai, owner of The Afghan Village restaurant in Houston. Since we first spoke, Omer has been busy. He opened branches of The Afghan Village in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Oklahoma City. If you are in any of those cities, definitely check out The Afghan Village. 

Dan Pashman: Special thanks to Sobia Khattak, Bashir Safi, and Omar Concepción for their help with this episode.

Dan Pashman: Next week on the show, we talk to one journalist who travelled thousands of miles in search of the best free restaurant bread in America. Did she find it? That’s next week.

Dan Pashman: While you wait for that one, check out last week’s show, where we take your food disputes, like: Should you ask permission from your fiancee to double dip? And, how guilty should you feel for not eating leftovers? That episode is up now, check it out