AURORA – Ariana Kabob Cafe is literally the only Afghani restaurant in the Denver metro area.
Unlike taquerias, pizzerias and pho joints, the eatery has no competition opening in the next strip mall down the street.
There’s just one tiny catch: Very few diners know anything at all about Afghani cuisine.
“But once they come in and taste the kabobs, they will feel at home,” Max Mashkoor insisted. The Kabul-born cook opened the eatery six weeks ago in Aurora dishing authentic chutney, curries, flatbread, dumplings and chai.
He named it “Ariana” from an old term for the region including Afghanistan and parts of Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan. Variations on the same dishes are staples in those nations as well as India, Mashkoor said, and there are more culinary similarities than differences.
Ariana’s location in Aurora’s booming ethnic triangle in the same building as H Mart, the Asian megamarket, means that diners can literally watch the world walk by.
“Everybody is coming in for the mantoo,” he said, sitting in a booth at the restaurant while giving a guided tour of the menu.
They have good reason to rave about these the Afghan steamed dumplings. Pasta-wrapped bundles of spiced beef and onions get served with a thick, tomato-vegetable sauce and a garnish of chaka, a garlic-laced yogurt sauce.
Mashkoor points out the easy-to-love bolani: thin, pan-fried turnovers stuffed with mashed potato and onion. These treats, and almost everything else on the menu, come with yogurt sauce and the house chutney. This is not your common sweet-hot fruity chutney, but rather a potent, verdant blur of mint, cilantro, jalapenos, salt and vinegar.
“In Afghanistan we put it on everything,” he said, noting that “it’s not THAT hot.”
One dish that is spiced but not fiery is the Afghani equivalent of Italian eggplant Parmesan, buranee banjan. Thin eggplant slices are sauteed and served with a thick tomato sauce.
The chutney is a constant companion to the cafe’s signature kabobs. Marinated chunks of grilled chicken and lamb, as well as kobedeh (ground beef) are served Afghani-style, off the skewers, on rice or in a sandwich in the other necessity, Afghan flatbread. It’s similar to naan but a little thinner and chewier, and ideal for scooping up rice, eggplant or sides of potato, chicken or lamb curry.
The bestseller so far is the super kabob platter that earns its name featuring all three kabobs over white rice and qabuli palau, a brown rice pilaf with raisins and carrots.
That pilaf also comes as a platter crowned with lamb meat sauce or sabzi, a vegetarian sauteed spinach sauce. It goes well with doogh, the tart yogurt drink with cucumber and mint.
The palette of flavors came with Mashkoor from the capital city of Kabul as his family moved to the U.S. in 1986 when Russia temporarily ruled Afghanistan. Except for a 3-year stint as a U.S. military translator in Afghanistan, Mashkoor has lived and worked in Aurora for 14 years with his wife and three kids.
Afghanis, like folks from Peru and Nepal, have gravitated toward Colorado in part because the dry climate closely resembles that in their homeland.
“I love Colorado because of the mountains and the snow. There are four seasons here,” he said.
Becoming creative in the kitchen came gradually to Mashkoor over the years.
“I cooked a lot at home and people really liked my food.” When he was in college he catered weddings and other events. In the end, he said, “I just like feeding people. They’ve always said I should open a restaurant.” They didn’t know that Ariana would be the first such cafe in the metro area since the Afghan Cuisine restaurant on Yale Avenue closed a few years ago.
Mashkoor offers a sweet end to the meal matching cups of milky chai with walnut honey baklava, or jalabee, the Indian funnel cakes. The most traditional meal-ender is firnee, cornstarch pudding flavored with cardamom, scented with rosewater and topped with crushed pistachio nuts.
As the cafe is discovered by foodies and kabob lovers of all ethnicities, Ariana may help everyone associate Afghanistan with cuisine, not conflict.
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Glossary: What you’ll find on an Afghan menu
Bolani: Pan-fried potato and onion turnovers
Buranee banjan: Sautéed sliced eggplant with tomato sauce, chakah and chutney
Chai: Brewed black tea and spices including cardamom with milk and sugar
Chakah: Thick (Greek-style) yogurt sauce with fresh minced garlic
Chutney: A thin, spicy green Afghan condiment typically made from peppers, herbs, salt and vinegar
Doogh: Yogurt drink flavored with cucumber and mint
Firnee: Afghani cornstarch pudding flavored with rosewater and cardamom and topped with pistachios
Jalabee: Afghan-style thin fried funnel cakes served in syrup
Mantoo: Steamed dumplings filled with spiced ground meat, topped with a tomato-vegetable sauce and yogurt sauce (above)
Qabuli palau: This Afghani national dish is seasoned brown rice pilaf with raisins and fried carrots, often with meat (lamb or chicken) sauce and/or spinach sauce
Sabzi: Slow-cooked, non-creamy fresh spinach sauce seasoned with onions and spices and served over rice or mixed with lamb
Ariana Kabob Café
2767 S. Parker Road, Aurora
303-745-6262
Hey John… Its “Afghan” cuisine; NOT “Afghani.” An Afghani is a type of currency in Afghanistan. DOH!
This article made me hungry