(upbeat music) - I'm really, really excited to learn something new today.

- Do Piyaza is a Persian word meaning two onions.

(upbeat music) - It's a family affair today in the Linney Studio at Lynhall.

(upbeat music) As Masooda Sherzad and her daughter Mashal, make Do Piyaza, a traditional Afghan dish.

- We use a lot of onions cooking this dish, and then also at the end we garnish it with marinated onions.

- [Vang] Okay.

- Onions are like the base for a lot of dishes in our cuisine.

Afghan cuisine.

- [Vang] Okay.

- So do you want me to start cutting?

- What you wanna do sweetheart just help me with this, just peel.

- This one?

- Yeah.

- How do you want me to... - You will just cut, you know, this part.

Watch your fingers.

Make sure you hold onions firmly.

- [Vang] So Mashal, are you still learning to cook?

- I am, still clearly learning how to cook, but I mean I have great guidance.

Both my parents are amazing in the kitchen but really I just eat well.

- Yeah.

Do you want me to cut them?

Like how would you like me to do that?

- Oh, so we use the white onions, sorry.

(all laughing) - It's okay.

- We don't use the red one for... That would be for salad but okay.

(Mashal laughs) - Where did you learn how to cook?

- So I actually learned cooking, when I came to America.

- [Vang] Okay.

- I grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan and when you watch people cooking, you know, you learn.

But once I moved to USA, just for the past 30 years or so I learned how to cook when I came here.

With anything, you know, cooking is just like, you learn.

and then you get better and better.

- We have the onions cut up.

What's the next step we're doing?

- Okay, pour some oil like half a cup or maybe more.

Then just put the onions there.

- I love the smell of like onions right in the oil.

- Yes.

So we just stir it.

I'm gonna turn this off because, you know, we wanna have the lamb, to put on the top of this.

- And these are the lamb shanks.

- These are beautiful, just... - [Vang] You need to trim it up a little bit?

- Trim a little bit.

If there's any like fat that-- - [Vang] Yep.

- You don't like you wanna get rid of that.

- I think sometimes lamb shank, people are really afraid to use it.

It's not something that a lot of households are familiar with it.

I love lamb shank, I think it's one of the most delicious.

- It's delicious.

Yeah.

- Just 'cause it's on that bone right in the middle there.

- [Masooda] The bone, yeah.

- And that's where all the flavor is.

- The broth just that, it's just amazing.

- I'm a huge fan of-- - I think this much is good.

Add the meat here.

- We're gonna throw some garlic in.

- Yes.

- Yep.

- So four to five cloves for now.

- [Vang] We could smell that garlic, that onion and even that lamb searing.

Smells so delicious.

- Yeah, our house growing up was very fragrant.

- Yeah.

- Every day we came home from school and I knew exactly what was on the stove.

- [Vang] Yeah.

- Based on how it smelled.

- Yeah, definitely.

Everything you're saying it's just like, my childhood is like-- - [Mashal] Yeah.

- Going trough my head too.

I'm like, Oh yeah.

Sometimes you're just embarrassed to have friends over 'cause you're like, "they might think it's weird."

(Masooda laughs) You know?

- I definitely can relate to that.

Growing up a little bit though, then it's like, Oh, I have this amazing facet of my culture, and that is like, I didn't eat mac and cheese growing up.

I really didn't.

- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after school.

Yeah.

Now you're gonna throw it in some spices.

- Yeah, we'd start with salt.

- Okay.

- Salt is like something that you keep adding-- - [Vang] Okay.

- And you taste, you know, the salt.

There's not that exact amount, that you should put one spoon or two spoons.

This is ground coriander.

It just adds so much flavor.

Black pepper.

- Yep.

- Just a little bit.

The cayenne is just optional.

You do not wanna put a lot just a tiny bit.

You wanna turn the heat a little bit up.

You see all of the spices kinda if you can just smell that.

- [Vang] Yeah.

- Aroma.

- [Vang] So it's like toasting it?

- Yeah, yeah toasting, exactly.

- And then also we're browning that shank too.

- Yes, yeah.

- We're creating that sear It has all that flavor in it.

- Yeah.

You wanna get to that, you know, like it smells.

- It's called the lamb smell.

(Masooda chuckles) - Yeah.

No, I love that.

- Chicken smell, chicken has it.

- Yeah, chicken, pork, you know?

They all have a different smell.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I love that.

Yeah.

- Now like the next step is to just add water.

Turmeric, and this adds color.

So I'm going to add a little more because you want the color to be vibrant.

Deep yellow, and you always keep adding, you know?

- [Vang] Yeah.

- Spices or anything that you feel like, you know?

- It's anything you're braising or stewing, I've always learned that you have to keep tasting as it goes, 'cause when it's braising - Exactly.

- [Vang] The stew and the flavor changes, you know?

- Exactly.

- So I'm gonna just, you know, taste a little bit.

- You know, I think this is what makes this kind of cooking so beautiful.

It's like, it's very interactive.

You know, you can't just set it and forget it and kinda go on.

I call it soul food.

It's very soulful, 'cause you tend to it.

- Open the dish, you stir it and you smell it.

You can add more spices if you need to.

So then we gonna close the pot, we let this to basically cook.

So while this gets ready, we can boil the split peas.

Make the salad.

- And we're gonna chop some cilantro to put on top of everything at the end.

And we also are gonna make the marinated onions that go on top of the dish as a garnish and for the marinated onions, all you really need is the white vinegar and salt.

- In Afghan culture, is it a communal event when it comes to cooking?

- It's a big thing cooking, you know?

It bring people together and so you share stories, and you're having basically fun.

It's not like, "Oh my God, I have to go cook."

- You know?

So that's why it makes it so much fun.

- Afghan cooking is vibrant, it's loud, it's a lot of activity.

It's never like a lull, it's never like calmly waiting for like a crock-pot.

It's very hands-on.

- So we add the split yellow peas - When you add the yellow peas in there is it gonna keep cooking a little bit too?

- Uh, we're gonna just leave it for a few minutes.

- So to get the flavors from the broth.

Our just final taste as far as the seasoning and especially the salt.

It's great.

All done, and we put the cover so it stays warm.

And then we make the salad.

(soft music) - What is the role of food in your family?

- It bring, you know, people together.

- My partner and I will come every Sunday night, to come break bread.

The focal point of that gathering, is the food, and it's, you know, every week it's something different.

It's my mom cooks and dad cooks, - And not to pit them against one another, but my partner-- - Oh no, I love his cooking.

- But my partner loves when my mom cooks because she brings these flavors that my partner is so unfamiliar with it.

And it's like the way she cooks-- - you know, is different.

You can tell that it came from the homeland, from the motherland.

I think you should see my dad, when he takes one bite out of a meal that she's prepared.

- [Vang] Yeah.

(Masooda chuckling) - And it's just like, they look at each other across the table and he just like, you know, that praise and that love and the appreciation.

- [Vang] So this next part, you're gonna put the marinated... - Marinated onions.

- [Vang] Okay.

And you just put it right on top.

- And we'd keep some for the garnish.

- [Vang] Okay.

That looks so delicious.

- Do Pizaya is ready, so now we are going to dish it up.

The bread first, this is Afghani bread.

(soft music) So we have the lamb shanks and the Afghani salad, then we have the marinated onions.

- This is so, so amazing.

That's so delicious.

So tender, like it just kind of breaks apart.

- Yeah.

That's how you want it.

So this kind of the meat will just detach from the bone.

- And that onion really cuts through it, you know?

I think one of the greatest testament to what you guys are doing, is having a restaurant for 32 years is unheard of.

Like that-- - That is a long time.

I mean, can't believe it myself.

- What does it mean for you, to share your food and your culture?

- It has been a beautiful journey.

to own a restaurant is not easy, but totally worth it because you, like give them something that you cook with lots of love.

And you share that with everybody that comes at your place.

That's very satisfying.

- Yeah, food is important and it's on me really to like pursue that learning process because it's something I wanna be able to pass it down to my kids someday too.

Whenever I cook at home, all right, then just call on Mashal over.

Just look, you know, this is very easy, you just do it this way, or these are the steps and I want them to carry on the legacy.

- Yeah.

- So how do I wash the meat?

- Grab each piece, you know, kind of probably you want them, get through the, if you see any blood on either sides - Obviously no soap, just... - Oh no, just water - I'm like wash the meat.

(all laughing) - You're like, "yeah, a little Dawn in there."

(Mashal laughs)