Learn how to make it spicy, but not too spicy, at Sami’s Kabab House
Sami Zaman, the charming owner and chef at Sami’s Kabab House in Astoria, invited Cooking with Granny’s Caroline Shin to learn how to make a fresh chutney the Afghani way. His chutney features a menagerie of green peppers, jalapeños, cilantro, tomatoes, garlic, fresh lemon and mint plucked from his garden, a potted plant outside the front door of his restaurant.
Between chopping and mincing his ingredients, he tells the story of his American hustle, how he fled his home country at a young age and came to the United States as a refugee when Russia invaded Afghanistan. He worked as a streetside bookseller; ice cream, fruit and coffee peddler; and then as a taxi driver before fulfilling his longtime dream of opening his own restaurant. “I did all the work. I’m hardworking, you know,” he says with a smile.
“I love spicy, but not too spicy,” says Zaman as he chops jalapeños, “so I am in the middle. I am in between.”
Zaman recommends a hearty spoonful of chutney atop your kebab or on your rice. We think it would go nicely on just about anything.
