Experiencing Afghanistan Beyond the Borders

Published in

Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI)

6 min readJun 5, 2023

By Nilufar Kayhani

I am proud to call myself Afghan. However, Afghanistan, the country I call home, is one I have never even visited. I’m not alone in this experience, many other children of the Afghan diaspora are like me.

As a child growing up in the United States, I yearned for a connection to my Afghan identity. I’ve found it through art, food, and community. Afghanistan’s rich culture can be found and experienced in many places. I write this guide to help you explore Afghanistan — beyond its physical borders.

Food

An integral part of the daily lives of Afghans revolves around food. Everyday, families gather around a dastarkhan or a sofreh, a tablecloth laid on the ground for their lunch. As a guest to an Afghan family, you will be offered the “best seat” at the head of the table or the tablecloth. It is common practice to repeatedly offer different dishes to a guest. Even if the guest says no, the host still might continue to offer it to you as a courtesy.

For the food itself, in my experience, Afghan food relies on 3 components: a rice dish, a main course (like kabobs or a meat based stew), and potentially a side dish (such as a vegetable stew or a salad). If you are in an area with a robust Afghan population, consider visiting an Afghan restaurant.

At a restaurant, here are some of my favorite dishes to consider trying:

Kabuli pulao, the national dish of Afghanistan, is steamed rice with lamb topped with carrots and raisins.
Bolani gandana, a flatbread dish with Afghan leeks (not to be confused with leeks found in U.S. grocery stores). Afghan leeks are thinner and smaller than large scale leeks, they look almost similar to the tops of a green onion. This is often served alongside Afghan chutney and yogurt.
Chapli kabob, a spicy and seasoned ground beef patty — cooked thin and crispy. This is my go to order every time!
Chicken kabobs, juicy seasoned chicken served alongside white rice. A regular order for my family at a restaurant.
Mantoo, seasoned meat filled dumplings covered with a tomato sauce (which may have peas or meat) and a garlic yogurt sauce.
Sheer yakh, a creamy Afghan ice cream, which does not even compare to any other ice cream found in the United States! We are always sure to order this when going out.

There are many amazing Afghan restaurants in the Bay Area, I encourage you to try what is local to you!

If there aren’t Afghan restaurants in your area, you might try to cook a meal at home. If you’d like to learn more about cooking Afghan food at home, there are many great videos on YouTube. Here are some videos and channels that can help:

I also love reading cookbooks, “Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen” by Durkhanai Ayubi provides great recipes and an amazing story about an Afghan family’s resettlement journey.

Art

Pictured is Parwana Amiri, Refugees Human’s rights activist, Author, and Poet

To learn more about the Afghan community, you can turn to the art of the Afghan diaspora. On YouTube or other social media platforms, consider following and supporting Afghan creators. Through vlogs of Afghanistan, witness the beauty of Afghan architecture and the buzzing street markets. Social media has allowed me to experience Afghanistan’s most beautiful cities.

I urge you to connect with Afghan creators on social media, view and engage with Afghanistan from their perspective. With ever changing political tensions, it’s important to uplift the perspective of Afghans living in Afghanistan. Furthermore, while I appreciate Western or foreign tourists recording their ventures through Afghanistan, I want to ensure that you do not assume that their experiences are universal for everyone living in Afghanistan. The perspective and experience of a non-Afghan tourist will not be the same as the daily lives and lived realities of Afghans living in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, connect with Afghan creators — especially when it comes to activism. When sharing posts to raise awareness about the state of Afghanistan, be sure to center Afghans and their personal narrative. Let’s uplift their voices, lived realities, and perspectives. Use social media as a forum to engage with the beauty of Afghanistan, Afghan culture, but especially Afghan voices and sociopolitical identities.

Within literature, there are numerous books by Afghan authors that give a glimpse into the daily lives and rituals of Afghans. My personal favorite authors are Nadia Hashimi and Khaled Hosseini. All of their novels are some of my favorite works of literature to date.

If there is an opportunity to visit a local exhibit or museum that centers and uplifts Afghan art, consider attending. You can find Afghan art at your local universities and Asian art museums. For example, I stay updated with the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s current exhibitions, and keep up with the Afghan American Artists and Writers Association on social media.

For music, there are many Afghan artists you can enjoy and engage with online. A good introduction to Afghan artists and the beauty of live music is this series by the Afghan TV Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRz35cLqtEQ&list=PLL-67kOONlabMOUosyjOlEfLxGjvBgW7z

Many Afghan artists regularly tour the United States. Keep up with them on social media and feel free to check out a show. Our culture is lively and colorful, and art is one sphere where it all comes to life.

Community

To experience the culture and hospitality of the Afghan community, it is best found in its community. Every year for Afghan new year, you may find a local Nowruz festival in your area. These are great places to shop, eat local food, and listen to Afghan artists. It is usually an all day affair where people picnic from morning until the evening, spending time with friends and family! Nowruz is celebrated on the first day of Spring of the Solar Hijri calendar, which typically falls on the 20th or 21st of March of the Gregorian calendar we use in the United States.

You may also find that a university’s Afghan Student Association (ASA) is hosting events or having fundraisers. Universities around the country have been home for Afghan communities to congregate and celebrate. For example, our very own UC Berkeley yearly banquet is an opportunity to see dance performances, enjoy great food, and experience live music! It is worth following your local ASA chapter on social media to keep up with local events.

Conclusion

This is just a small glimpse into experiencing the beauty of the Afghan people. I hope this guide provides you with some starting points of learning more about Afghanistan. When you want to appreciate a culture outside of your own, learn from the community and its people.

About the Author

Nilufar Kayhani graduated with her bachelors in public health from UC Berkeley in May 2022. She is the child of Afghan refugees and is committed to resolving health inequities among forcibly displaced communities. Motivated to address the health needs she witnessed growing up, Nilufar decided to pursue a career in public health. During her time at UC Berkeley, she initiated multiple community-based participatory research projects with historically marginalized populations. Nilufar is passionate about health equity and ensuring all communities have access to the resources they need. Outside of academics, Nilufar loves cooking, photography, and is recently learning pottery.

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The Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative (BIMI) is a partnership of migration experts at UC Berkeley who investigate the social, political, legal and economic dynamics of migration globally as well as locally. We strive to advance thoughtful and substantive conversations on migration that leverage the university’s cutting-edge scholarship and its public mission to educate current and future generations. We embrace new data- gathering technologies as well as embedded, on-the-ground fieldwork, drawing from the interdisciplinary expertise of faculty, students and the communities with which we engage. Bringing together research, training and public engagement, BIMI aspires to inform, educate and transform knowledge to improve the well-being of immigrants and the communities they live in.

Experiencing Afghanistan Beyond the Borders

Written by BIMI at UC Berkeley