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National treasures: An Afghan experience at Kishmish

"WE WANT TO teach people about Afghan culture," said Kishmish co-founder Fatima Rabbani as we sat down for lunch at the Dar Al Wasl mall eatery. This was a positive beginning, we thought to ourselves, as beside one or two meals at a couple of eateries in Dubai, we knew embarrassingly little about the country's rich culinary traditions and even less about its fantastically dense national heritage. For us, and probably for many, Afghanistan has always been a constant presence on the news and a few mentions in a distantly-remembered history class. How misguided! Over the course of one afternoon meal, tucking into a menu which purveys ancient, modern, regional and nationwide recipes, and talking to two out of the three of the establishment's passionately patriotic restaurateurs, our eyes were opened, curiosity piqued and taste buds genuinely astounded.
It was a lovely day outside, but the unique shopping destination's serene vibes and Kishmish's cool interior meant for once we had no desire to take things al fresco. Thus, we sat down with the aforementioned Fatima and friend and business partner Iman Nazemi next to the open kitchen and began to discuss how in nine months they, along with fellow entrepreneur Homaira Nasser-Zia who couldn't be there on the day, opened their dream restaurant's doors.
Close family friends, Fatima describes the strong bond between the three Afghan women as "very natural," given the length of time their relatives have been acquainted - many years of that time spent in Dubai.  
"It sounds cliché, but I believe in following your passion," Fatima said. "The three of us wanted to do something for Afghanistan.
"Iman and I, we love to cook. For a lot of gatherings, we'd always rather cook than order.
"So when we all wanted to do something we figured out it would be a restaurant."
Having sampled many approximations around the UAE, the trio decided there was a gap in the market for 100 per cent authentic Afghan flavours.
"They [other restaurants] created their own versions of Afghan food. There was a lot of spice to make it hot," said Iman. "We have a lot of traditional dishes such as kitchree kourout (a rice and mince concoction). We have a lot of street food - most of the starters, for example. We have dishes from villages and dishes that the high society would eat. We made the menu to represent Afghanistan as a whole."
This all-encompassing festival of aromas, grand as they may sound, are in fact delivered, according to Fatima and Iman, to evoke a sense of homeliness and reflect Afghanistan's notorious hospitality.
"People tell us, 'it just felt like we had a meal at our mum's house.' We love hearing that," Fatima said.
"Two guys told me our portions are very big. They asked if it was because we had just opened. It's not. We want people to feel how they would feel in an Afghan home. We're very generous people!"
During our conversation, both Fatima and Iman's fervent affection for their homeland was palpable. Given the surroundings including the large quotation adorning a wall from Afghan poet Rumi, the artwork supplied by an Afghan artist residing in Germany, glasses handmade in a Herat province workshop, and the name itself, Kishmish, meaning raisin (an Afghan specialty), it was difficult not to be swept along. As it turns out, enthusiasm, leading the pack and building one's vision is somewhat of a family tradition for all the founders.
Fatima explained: "Iman's mum has an orphanage in Kabul, my mum has an orphanage in my region of Afghanistan, Homaira's mother was the president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society. They were our role models at home - to see all these powerful women do these big things back in Afghanistan was normal.
"At the moment it wouldn't be feasible for us to go and live there. As Afghan women our thoughts are quite different. If we were there we would be restricted. But I hope one day we could. One day I hope we can franchise out to Kabul! At the moment, though, we want to focus on making everyone who visits our restaurant happy.
"So many of our dishes have stories behind them or they come from a specific region nobody knows about. We want to share them here. We want people to come in and see three Afghan women doing this."

THE REVIEW
Unsurprisingly the meal at Kishmish was not only hearty, but one-of-a-kind in that our two favourite items ended up being vegetarian and contained two vegetables we'd usually avoid. As they were both starters we can also highlight them to kick-off this review. A portion of fried okra is pretty self-explanatory, but it is the way it was prepared, which had us scraping the bottom of the bowl. Finely chopped with onion, coriander, tomato and chili, the delicate balance of flavours were only bettered by the second dish: barta. Barta consists of mashed aubergine (yep, aubergine), spring onion, coriander, garlic, yoghurt and kourout. It was a revelation. The creamy though light texture, the bold and refreshing zest and the unbelievable fact that we were enjoying aubergines means a return to the restaurant is a top priority. The third starter of shoor nakhud, or chickpea and potato salad topped with coriander and chili chutney was also superb.
Reverting to type, the highlight of the main was meat. Lots of meat. The item being labeled 'straight from the charcoal' on the menu, a huge platter of yoghurt marinated chicken cooked on skewers alongside kofta and lamb skewers was enough to feed us for two days. Not that it stopped us polishing off the lot in one sitting. Wrapping a tender and aromatic cut of meat in a piece of freshly baked naan was a treat every time. The masala fries, despite being well made, could only be picked at, such was our rapidly advancing food coma.
Washed down with a cucumber and mint dough (a yoghurt drink) and topped off with a spoonful of Afghan ice cream with almond and pistachio for dessert, there's only one word which can sum up the experience: exquisite.
david@khaleejtimes.com