Padma Lakshmi, an award-winning author and host of Top chef, has returned with the second season of her hit show on Hulu, Taste the Nation. The second season showcases a plurality of immigrant communities in the United States, including an episode about the Afghan-Americans, that also features the Hazara-American community in Washington DC area.

Chef Homayon Karimy, whose cooking and recipes are featured in Washington Post, along with his wife Marzia Karimy and their daughter Farah, invited Padma and her team to cook together and enjoy a feast in their home for the episode.

Homayon, who fled Afghanistan in the mid-1980s to neighboring Pakistan, highlighted his source of inspiration and the food fusion that he has been creating in light of his experiences living in different parts of Pakistan and in the United States. Homayon, who collaborated with the Lebanese Taverna restaurant groups and chef Jose Andre’s World Central Kitchen during the chaotic weeks of Afghan evacuation to serve food for the new Afghan evacuees at Washington Dulles Airport, says that he is deeply honored to be featured in the show.  

“Having Padma at our home and having an opportunity to cook with her was one of my greatest honors. Though I was nervous leading up to the filming but Padma was so kind that she made me feel like I was cooking with a longtime friend rather than a celebrity.  It was absolutely incredible and I hope the episode will give an awareness about the Hazara community.”

During the elaborate dinner that featured Chef Homayon’s Aush, Ashak, Qabuli Palow, Lamb stew, Sabzi and salad - Padma showed genuine curiosity and interest in learning about the Hazara experience in Afghanistan and in the diaspora. Timor Karimy, founder and president of Bamyan Foundation, a Hazara-American nonprofit organization based in Washington DC, provided background on the endemic racism and religious intolerance towards the Hazaras within the Afghan society from prior to the inception of the state of Afghanistan. The conversation covered the Hazara genocide of 1880s, enslavement and state-sponsored marginalization and discrimination against the Hazaras from 1920s to modern times, including Taliban’s atrocities in the late 1990s and since the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021. Hussein Mahrammi of Hazara-American Association was also present, and further explained the Hazara progress during the democracy experiment (2002-2021) despite the exclusionary and discriminatory policies of the Karzai and Ghani regimes towards the Hazaras.

It turned out to be a truly fun event. After dinner, everyone danced to Dawood Sarkhosh’s evergreen Jarajo and Parijo tunes. Hussein played some dambora, a Hazara stringed musical instrument, that triggered a mixed emotion of joy and nostalgia. The following day, Hussein and his son, Shahid, met up with Padma and her team to show one of Afghanistan’s favorite pastime - kite flying.

You can watch Season 2, Episode 2 of Taste the Nation on Hulu.