Residents of the Akron region can enjoy Afghanistan’s rich culinary tradition at a pop-up restaurant this weekend.
From Friday to Sunday, the Hujra Afghan Restaurant will serve traditional Afghan cuisine at NoHi, a culinary business incubator located at 778 N. Main Street in the North Hill neighborhood.
Hujra’s menu will feature grilled meat, fish, and vegetarian dishes from eastern Afghanistan, heavily influenced by Kabul culinary traditions. They include Kabuli Pulao, a steamed rice dish with a shoulder of lamb, raisins, carrots, and masala seasoning; bhindi aloo sabzi, a vegetarian dish of okra and fried potatoes; fried fish with chickpeas with tamarind, lemon, chilli and special sauce; grilled chicken or beef skewers; and lamb chops seasoned with masala, lemon, chili and cilantro. Hujra will also offer firni, afghan rice pudding, and refreshing saffron green tea. Most starters come with a salad, naan and rice.
The owner of Hujra, a local Afghan immigrant who arrived with his family in northeastern Ohio in 2017, explained that Hujra means “guest house” in the Pashtun language. (Out of respect for family security concerns resulting from the current political crisis in Afghanistan, the Beacon Journal does not name the owner.) Following NoHi’s pop-up, his goal is to open a physical restaurant in the greater Cleveland. where it can accommodate its neighbors and other members of the community.
Despite the growth of the Afghan community in northeast Ohio, there aren’t many restaurants offering the region’s food, he explained. The owner of Hujra wants to fill this gap.
“My vision is that every Afghan who lives in the greater Cleveland area should see Hujra as their own place,” he said.
“They should come once a week with their families and enjoy the food with us, and feel at home,” he said.
Since its inception last summer, NoHi has featured a rotating team of chefs who have served dishes from a wide range of culinary traditions, including Burmese, Jamaican and Ethiopian. NoHi also offers a Culinary Arts Entrepreneurship Program for minority chefs and women.
Hujra’s owner said he discovered his talent and passion for cooking after helping and learning from his mother in his family’s kitchen in Afghanistan.
“In our culture, the daughter usually helps the mother with the cooking and cooking, but my mother did not have daughters until later. I was the oldest son, so I was helping her, so I kind of learned from her, ”he said.
In college, he lived in a dormitory and continued to explore his passion for cooking by feeding his classmates.
When he moved to northeast Ohio with his wife and children in 2017, Hujra’s owner started working at local restaurants. At the same time, the couple frequently received friends and began to organize large events and celebrations hosted by members of the Afghan community.
“Afghans, we meet here, we try to cook for our friends. So [I was] thinking, why not open our own restaurant and share our recipes with the locals? This is how I got the idea of [opening] a catering business, ”he said.
The owner of Hujra is excited to introduce residents of Northeastern Ohio to Afghan cuisine.
“The Afghan food culture is very rich. I can’t count how many dishes we have, ”he said.
He said he doesn’t use store-bought seasonings, but makes his own mixes using the best ingredients.
“I try to find the raw materials, then I make them myself. That’s what’s special about it, ”he said.
After the pop-up, his goal is to find a location to open a restaurant in the western part of Cleveland. He and his wife will run the business.
The Afghan restaurant Hujra in NoHi will be open Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information or to support the owner of Hujra by donating commercial kitchen supplies or monetary donations, contact 440-454-6333 or visit NoHi at 778 N. Main Street in Akron.
Seyma Bayram is a member of the corps for Report for America, a national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms. Learn more at reportforamerica.org. Contact her at [email protected] or 330-996-3327 or on Twitter @ SeymaBayram0.
