(upbeat percussive music) - I'm one of the sisters.

- You're one of the sisters now.

- Finally.

(air whooshing) - Have you ever tasted something that transported you to another world?

Dude, that's so legit.

I'm Chef Yia Vang.

That's what I aim to do every time I cook.

This looks amazing.

As a Hmong refugee from Southeast Asia, I use food as a way to share my culture, my family, and our history.

(blender whirs) (air whooshing) (knife thwacks) Join me (Yia laughing) as we step into the kitchen with local chefs to relish the cuisines and culture of our neighbors.

(singer exclaims) (air whooshing) Have you ever loved a flavor so much you just wanted to bottle it up?

We're meeting siblings who are doing just that.

Blending family foods and traditions with entrepreneurial spirit to preserve their cultural heritage, and give others a taste of it too.

(upbeat groove music) - [Yasameen] Growing up, we spent a lot of time in the kitchen and a lot of time around the dinner table.

And the star of every meal was our mom's cilantro and ginger chutney.

And one day a light bulb went off and we thought, okay, this is it.

It's the cilantro and ginger chutney.

Let's start making this.

(tape whirring) - [Yia] Meet the Sajadys.

Mom, Fatima, is known as the flavor queen.

Always packing on a little more spice.

- Put a little bit more than you think.

- In her traditional Afghan fare.

Daughters, Sheilla and Yasameen, are the entrepreneurs behind the food brand Maazah.

Serving up chutneys, sauces and dips inspired by the flavor queen herself.

(upbeat percussive music) (air whooshing) - She's like a mad scientist in the kitchen.

She is always been the one to try different experiments and things.

She's always, you know, drying certain herbs.

She is very adventurous, I would say, in her cooking.

(oil sizzling) - Fatima, what part of Afghanistan did you grow up in?

- I was born in Kabul and I was raised in Kabul, Afghanistan.

And I came to United States in the late '70s.

- I don't know much about Afghan culture and this is what I love doing, is sitting down and eating food with people because I, you know, really believe that our culture is, you know, ingrained in the food that we make.

(water sloshing) (mellow soothing music) (air whooshing) Hello, friends.

I'll start over.

What is chutney?

- Chutney is a condiment that we grew up eating at our house.

It was something that was always on the kitchen table.

We call it the magic green sauce.

(ethereal harp music) It's made up of all these elements.

So we have the cilantro, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, lemon and jalapeHo.

- How did you get your recipe for your chutney?

- I was drinking ginger tea and I bought this is really beautiful ginger and it just looks so great.

And I said, "What if I put some in the chutney?"

So I add ginger to mine.

And it was just like, voila, this is so good.

It just made such a big difference.

(dramatic classical music) (herbs crunching) (knife thuds) (mellow groove music) - [Yia] Is there a certain way just chopping it?

- [Sheilla] Yes, so it's just a rough chop.

So we're gonna put everything in the food processor.

- Rough Chop, that's my nickname.

(mellow groove music) - So we started making it in her kitchen, 25 tiny jars at a time and selling 'em at farmers' markets.

- How did people react to it?

- A lot of people didn't know what chutney was.

They were wondering if it was spicy, is there curry in it.

What are the different flavor components in it?

(herbs crunching) (knife thudding) It was very important to get people to try it.

When we would give out samples, people would just be so surprised.

And so like, "Oh my gosh, we've never had anything taste like this before.

This is so delicious."

(air whooshing) - [Yia] Though some may be unfamiliar.

Chutney is a very popular condiment in much of the world.

Chutney can be chunky or smooth, sweet, savory or spicy- - Yummy.

- And can contain a variety of different ingredients.

Fruits, nuts, vinegar, herbs and spices.

Most often linked to India, it also has a rich history in Afghanistan where chutney is a mealtime staple.

(air whooshing) (mellow synth music) (herbs crunching) (person laughing) - You don't have this memorized?

- You don't measure stuff?

- It's not about recipe, it's about relationships.

(people laughing) - [Fatima] You guys are such good friends, you sound like your siblings.

(people laughing) (upbeat percussive music) - [Yia] Ooh, smells really good already.

- Nice.

- Tell me a little bit about the Afghan culture.

- Whatever we do, we need to have food.

Even if we play a game of sports, we bring food.

- Am I doing this right?

- It's great.

- I get so nervous.

There's three women looking at me.

(people laughing) Blitz it up?

- Blitz it up.

(food processor whirring) (upbeat groove music) - We have a really big family, so there's always a reason to get together and have a meal.

And when you cook for that many people, you can't cook alone.

(food processor whirring) - What kind of consistency are we looking for?

- Just a little more.

- Oh.

(food processor whirring) - Every Sunday it's a standing day that our family would get together at the lake.

They bring like a giant flat top in the back of a truck and they grill beef kebabs, chicken kebabs.

- And that's the thing with our culture, it's like all about abundance.

(mellow groove music) It's not just one small meal.

It's like five different kinds of rice and then two different meats and veggies and bread.

Always.

(food processor whirring) - Now maybe it's just a little more.

(food processor whirring) (laughing) - And my uncles all fly kites and my cousins fly kites.

- You're talking about flying kites.

- It gets really serious.

(mellow groove music) They use kite string that has glass in it to cut the kites of the other people flying a kite- - Like fighting kite?

- Yes.

- Kite fight, that's what they call it, kite fighting.

- Oh, okay.

- So when they fight, how long does it take to make the other person lose their kite.

- When you lose your kite, that person has - [Yasameen] Has to like walk and retreat.

- [Sheilla] The walk of shame.

- [Yasameen] Yeah.

(Yia laughing) - Yeah.

(food processor whirring) - That looks good.

Put it in the Vitamix next.

- Quick question.

Why don't we just put it all in the Vitamix right away?

- The ginger is really tough and then the garlic sometimes doesn't break down, like the consistency of the pepper and the cilantro.

(bright classical music) (food processor whirring) - It looks beautiful.

- Looks great.

- Yes.

- Good job.

- Thanks.

- It's made with all raw ingredients, so everything is really fresh tasting, really flavorful.

Gives it that nice, really vibrant color too, because it is a fresh condiment.

(mellow groove music) (utensils scarping) - [Yasameen] I love to put chutney on rice, korma.

Add this to your fish tacos, or add this to your eggs and- - [Sheilla] Oh, I love putting it on mantu.

- [Yia] Talk to me more about the mantu.

- [Fatima] Mantu is like a dumpling.

It used to be like a weekend food, and then it became a street food because everybody just loves it.

- Mom, what are the directions?

- We need to chop stuff.

Yasameen can do the ginger, and Sheilla, the cilantro, and you can do the onions.

- [Yia] Great.

(air whooshing) This ginger smells so good.

(mellow groove music) Do you use a lot of fresh ginger?

- Absolutely.

- Fresh herbs?

- My mom too, she grows her own ginger.

It's like this young ginger that, you know, it's not as spicy.

- [Yasameen] I love that.

- [Sheilla] It looks delicious.

- I feel kind of like I'm in your kitchen now.

I'm one of the sisters.

- You're one of the sisters now.

- Finally.

(mellow groove music) - Love it.

- Yeah.

- [Fatima] Can I get some stuff from you guys?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Sure, what do you need?

- [Fatima] I need a little bit of garlic.

- What else?

- Who's on the garlic?

- Who's on the garlic?

Who's supposed to be on the garlic?

- [Fatima] I'll take ginger.

- Sorry, Mom, I'll get the garlic going.

(burner clicking) (mellow classical music) (water sloshing) (food bubbling) (upbeat groove music) (food sizzling) - It's my favorite dish because the smell of the dumplings cooking, it just reminds me of being at home.

- [Yasameen] And it's one of those dishes where you need a lot of people to help.

- Mm-hmm.

- So whenever we make it, all the aunties come over, they each help, they each have a job.

- Fatima, have the garlic, whenever you're ready.

- All right, thank you.

- Making sure the filling is spiced enough, each aunt will taste the filling and be like, "No, it needs more of this."

And then it'll go down the line and then someone else will add to it and then someone else will add to it.

And then it'll be the most amazing thing because all of these hands touched it in the kitchen.

(mellow groove music) - So we're gonna grab one of the dumplings and we're gonna add a teaspoon of filling inside.

You want to grab a little bit of water and trace the outside of the dumpling.

- So when you guys are making these, what do you guys talk about?

- Gossip, I'm just kidding.

- Mmm.

What kind gossiping do you guys gossip about?

- When is the next party?

Who's getting married?

This guy doesn't have any kids.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, back off, Mom, okay.

I'm working on that, kind of.

- I'm joking.

(people laughing) - I think the other thing about this dish that's sometimes surprising to people is it's a dumpling, which isn't typically something that people would associate to like Afghan cuisine.

- [Yia] Hmm, why do you think?

- [Sheilla] It has a lot of different influences from other cultures, which I think is really interesting.

- [Yia] I mean, just think where the country is too, right.

- [Sheilla] Mm-hmm.

- [Yia] It was like this epicenter of all these business and trades that would come through.

They leave a little bit of themselves there.

- Exactly.

- That's what I really love about food, right.

- Yeah.

- [Yia] It is like this canvas that we use to kind of paint this picture of how we're all connected together.

- [Sheilla] Yeah, I love that.

- [Yasameen] The greatest hack for this dumpling dish is using wonton wrappers.

- [Yia] Oh.

- [Yasameen] That's what we use.

And then you don't have to make your own dough.

It saves a lot of time.

- Is there any special pleating?

- Everyone kind of has their own little folding techniques.

- Okay.

- [Sheilla] She makes it really beautiful with her folding techniques.

- [Fatima] Here you go.

- Oh, okay, oh boy.

- [Sheilla] Or you can just fold it in half.

- Yes, we call it- - Yup.

- [Fatima] Or you can fold it whichever way you like.

(mellow groove music) - That was so fast.

And we used all of the filling and all of the wrappers.

- That never happens.

It's really impressive.

- It was meant to be.

- We named our company Maazah, has a dual meaning in Farsi, so that meant a lot to us.

That means like perfect moment, or that golden hour when you're hanging out with your friends.

It also means flavor.

And our mom is the queen of flavor, and we wanted to make sure that that came through in everything that we create.

I feel like when people hear about Afghanistan, or if we are from Afghanistan, they go to a place of war, or turmoil, or a sad place, which there is all those things, but then there's also a really beautiful part of the culture that not a lot of people know about.

And I think that's part of Maazah is sharing that piece of our beautiful culture with other people through food.

- That was the same experience we grew up with.

You know, I think with like even refugees, immigrant families, like the first thing that we get to share with people is our food.

- [Sheilla] Yeah.

(upbeat groove music) - [Yia] This looks amazing.

- I'm ready to eat.

- Thank you.

- How do we start?

- The guest always eats first.

- Oh.

- So let's start with the rice.

- For the chutney, like, do you put it just to the side then slowly incorporate it in, or you just, how do you do it?

- Everyone has their own kinda way of incorporating it.

- Okay.

- [Sheilla] You can have fun with it.

- Let's eat, Try it, see if you like.

- I love it, this is delicious.

- Thank you (speaks in Farsi.

- (speaks in Farsi) Means bon appétit, basically.

- [Yia] Mm.

- May it nourish your soul.

- You are so right when it's like you're saying flavor.

I mean, I'm having a flavor bomb in my mouth, right.

- It's like a hug on a plate.

Whenever my mom cooks for me, that's what it feels like.

(mellow groove music) - I get a little emotional, think about what, you know, you ladies are doing, and it's like you're taking your mom's legacy and now you're passing it down.

So you're literally bottling it up and making sure that when people look back, they remember that, you know, this came from mom.

Fatima, what does it mean to you to see your family, to see your girls working together?

- I didn't think they will do it when they said they're gonna do it.

- What?

- But they did it.

(people laughing) You know, you have that doubt that you can't say it out loud, but it's amazing.

- To have something this special to us and our family, just means a lot to keep it going and have the new generation know what that is, what our culture is, and just keep it alive within our community.

- What does it feel for you to know that this was a sauce or a dip you make for your family, and now across the country people are eating this?

- It just gives you that closeness.

The more people eat it, you know, the more you feel like they're part of you.

They're part of your family.

I'm very happy, very proud.

- [Yasameen] Thank you.

- Oh.

(lips smack) - From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for opening your story to me, and then opening your family, and having me come along.

So this means so much to me.

I'm not gonna ever forget this.

(air whooshing) With Maazah's chutneys on the scene, more folks can savor a bit of Afghan culture.

Finding familiar foods and ingredients at the store is a big deal.

And markets themselves hold a special place in many cultures like the Mexican mercado.

(upbeat guitar music) Hi, Milissa.

- Hey, hi, Yia.

How are you?

- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Welcome to El Burrito.

- Hey, nice to meet you.

- My brother Tomás.

- Tomas, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- My sister, Suzanne.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- [Yia] Meet the Silvas, the second generation behind the iconic El Burrito Mercado on St. Paul's West Side.

Milissa is the CEO.

- I'm the boss.

(people laughing) - [Yia] Suzanne runs the numbers.

You make sure- - I make sure it keeps going.

- [Yia] Everything keeps running.

Tomas operates the food truck.

- So I've got the food truck, I've got a trailer.

- And together with her niece, Analita, and a huge team, they bring Mexicans and Latinos a taste of home.

(air whooshing) (mellow groove music) Milissa, how long have you had this place?

- This location, we've been here for about 27 years.

- Oh.

- My parents actually started the mercado across the street in a small 800 square foot location.

And then, in 1995 they moved here.

They implemented kind of a whole mercado concept.

- What's a mercado?

- It's a market.

So in Mexico they have a market, basically a giant, usually indoor, sometimes they're outdoor markets.

And that's kind of what we wanted this to, I guess, you know, reflect.

- Represent, yeah.

In a mercado is included, you know, restaurant, meats, lots of produce, bakery, home supplies and- - [Yia] It's like a one stop shop.

- Yeah.

- There you go.

- Yeah.

- Right, you know, it's like you take Target, Home Depot, Cub Food- - Yeah.

- And it like all becomes one, right.

- Yeah.

- And you're like, I don't really have to go anywhere.

It's like everything I can do is right here.

- Yeah.

- Right.

- What does it mean to the community for you guys to be here?

- I think it's convenient for them to be able to come here and get the products that they need, and even, you know, non-Hispanic people also.

- And back when my parents started 1979, accessibility to products and ingredients for home cooking was minimal.

And so when they did this, my dad, even to get the products, was taking trips to Chicago and filling up, you know, what started out as a station wagon, then a minivan, then a van, then a little truck.

You know, now we're shipping in truckloads of tortillas, and frijoles, and rice and all this other stuff.

So it's been really cool to see the evolution and being a part of that.

(upbeat groove music) - [Yia] Tell me about the food here.

- It's everyday basic Mexican food is what I like to say.

It's nothing elevated.

(upbeat groove music) We've got a huge variety of things in the deli and in the grab and go that people can take home and give their family a meal that feels like my mom cooked it for them.

- Yeah.

- Or like a tia, an auntie cooked it for them.

- In essence, if you strip everything down, it's still a mom taking care of her kids.

- Yeah.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- And now her kids is the community.

- When my parents started the food, they did just tamales and carnitas.

And then my mom started doing little small pre-wrapped burritos that you could just heat up in a microwave, you know, take home and eat it at home.

From there, of course, we've grown.

Never changing kind of those recipes.

And if we do, we hear about it from our mom.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

(Milissa laughing) She'll walk right in that kitchen with her plate and be like, this is not my recipe.

- Did you change this recipe?

- Yeah.

I'd be like, no español.

That's what would happened, be like, oh, no.

- When they moved to this location, they implemented a full kitchen and that's when she went all out with her mole, the tamales and guisados.

And guisado is basically a food that is made of either a combination of beef, pork, chicken, sometimes seafood, a lot of vegetables.

And it's cooked like a stew.

It's made with chilies, spices, red, green.

(food sizzling) (spoon tapping) (air whooshing) And then you can use that as a base, or you can just eat it with rice and beans, or just by itself.

(chimes twinkling) - Well, that sounds delicious.

Let's go cook.

(air whooshing) (upbeat percussive music) (mellow classical music) We're cooking a guisado with cactus.

- Nopal, nopalitos.

- Okay.

- Some people think cactus is just the plant in the middle of your coffee table.

(Milissa laughing) So talk us through this.

- We're gonna work with the cactus paddle.

We're gonna make it in a guisado.

It also comes prepared in cans, in jars.

You would rinse that and strain it and then it's also ready to eat just like that in a salad.

Fry it up with eggs and you've got a great meal.

I love it fresh and part of my connection with it, and I love it, is it's historic.

I mean, it's cactus.

So have you done this before?

- Kind of, yeah.

- Yeah, me too, kind of.

- Yeah.

(Milissa laughing) - Okay and whoa, whoa, whoa.

Okay, wait.

- So grab it carefully- - Okay.

- From the knob.

There we go.

- Okay.

- Try and avoid the slivers, the little pricklies.

- And then how do you clean this?

- So a very sharp knife.

You do it away from you.

- [Yia] Oh, you scrape it?

- [Milissa] I kind of start scraping first- - Okay.

- To see if I can get anything out because there's all these little black points.

(knife scraping) (mellow percussive music) - This makes me just think of like itching my back, like, oh yeah, that's the spot, oh yeah.

- [Milissa] You can find it at most mercados already peeled and chopped up, it's- - [Yia] Somebody already went through the pain.

- [Milissa] Yeah, I (indistinct).

- [Yia] Well, you smell it right away.

- Mm.

- Oh yeah.

- Smells so fresh, right?

- Yeah.

So Milissa, like, you went to college.

- Mm-hmm.

- Kind of had this pathway of like, I got out, right?

- Yeah.

- No more stuffing beans in bags anymore, no more- - Yeah (laughing), I know.

- Late night, you know, deliveries.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Like, you got out.

- Yeah.

- What made you come back?

- So I tried corporate, in politics, and I did nonprofits.

And I'm glad I all of those experiences, but there's something that was always missing.

So if you were gonna grill this, we would just slice it like this.

- [Yia] Okay.

- Like make like little fingers on it.

And this way, it just cooks easier into all the way inside and you'll start to see that slimy, mucusy baba.

- Baba because it sounds better to say baba.

- [Milissa] Yes, let's just say baba.

- It's cute, it's like a little kid.

- It's cute.

- Baba, you know.

(Milissa laughing) - And it was that, that being connected to my culture, Even though I was first generation born here, but I was raised in a mercado, I was raised in a community where we spoke Spanish, and I was working with Latinos every day.

- It makes me think a lot of Hmong Village, when my mom goes there, and the fact that she went in and she could speak her own language and she didn't feel like a stranger anymore.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

It's that connection with the people, and the food, and the community.

And I love that part.

I just love the experience part and the teaching part about our culture.

You know, I'm not an expert on everything by any means, but I love what I know about my culture, and I wanna learn more, and I love sharing that with people.

And I love that the business provides that opportunity.

I remember like my grandma used to make guisados and she would like, she always put nopal in it.

We're introducing it to my daughters and they introduce it to their friends now, and it's an ingredient that I think we're just really proud of.

It's so basic in Mexican cooking and it's like you can't mess it up.

There's no right or wrong way to do what we're doing.

It's, you know, like any vegetable or any fruit.

And even though this is a fruit, we eat it like a vegetable.

Have you tried it raw, just like that?

(mellow synth music) - Oh yeah, like fresh green, - Refreshing, right?

- Yes it is.

I can see what you mean by like it absorbs whatever flavor you're cooking it with.

- Yeah, so.

- Yeah.

(mellow synth music) - I'm a huge believer that when we're talking about addressing racism and discrimination, just by sharing food, talking about our experiences, we find how much we're not so different.

- Yeah, like we just did.

- Yeah, yeah, we just did.

So it's all of those things that kind of brought me back to wanting to be on the West Side in St. Paul in El Burrito where my family immigrated to and placed their roots.

(air whooshing) (mellow classical music) So we're gonna cook the nopalitos now in a pot, no oil, nada.

(flame whooshes) The baba will start bubbling and it'll eventually evaporate.

Some people put a fresh tomatillo peeling in there as well.

I think they think it's gonna cook faster.

But I've tried it and it's the same time.

And my mom said my grandma would put a dime in there when she would cook it.

It's like interesting.

- [Yia] But I think that those are the stories that you don't get from reading a recipe.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

(food sizzling) - [Milissa] I would check it out again.

- Oh.

- So now we're seeing- - The bubblies.

What does baba translate to?

- Slim, goober.

- Oh.

(Milissa laughing) - Goober, is goober a word?

- [Yia] Almost looks like string beans.

- Yeah.

- Or as a French call it, (speaks foreign language).

- I think we're done.

- [Yia] Oh and that's it?

- Congratulations, you made nopales.

(Milissa laughing) Okay, so now we're gonna make the guisado.

We are going to put some oil- - Yeah.

- Saute some onion and add the salsa and then stir the chopped up cactus and- - Oh.

- Dinner's ready.

(oil sizzling) (mellow synth music) And then we're gonna pour that into our little pork ribblets.

- [Yia] I think what's really delicious about this is all that deep rich flavor is because of that pork.

- Yes.

Every family in every region has its own recipe.

Your version of a guisado, a pork in salsa verde, might have potatoes and might have, you know, another vegetable in it, corn or something, and mine won't.

You know, it's just, and to your point, it's because it's what's available to make that meal.

(air whooshing) - It actually really tells the story of the family.

(upbeat groove music) - [Milissa] Buen provecho.

- [Yia] Si.

- That means your health.

- Oh, okay.

- Yes, to your health.

- That means yes.

- Yes, yes, si, si.

(Milissa and Yia laughing) - The cactus texture reminds me of long beans or wax beans.

- [Milissa] Mm-hmm, they have just a tiny bit of crunch.

- Mm-hmm.

Milissa, what does it mean for you to bring a little bit of home to all the people who come through El Burrito?

- I feel like that interaction of family and community and coming in and getting their flavors from home, that they come in, there's people that have broken down crying.

Like, they find an ingredient that they haven't seen in forever and they're like, "Oh my God, I've been looking for this forever.

I'm so glad that you have this."

(mellow groove music) Sorry, and I am paying homage to my parents.

I get emotional even just thinking about stories of my parents helping, you know, young people that were going through hard times, and they gave them food, they gave them jobs.

It's truly family for me being at El Burrito, so.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Hearing your story made me feel not alone.

- Well, you're family now.

(Yia speaks foreign language) - Si.

(Milissa and Yia laughing) We'll work on that.

- Yes.

Family recipes weave into the fabric of our identity, helping us tell our unique stories.

Whether bottled, packaged or prepared, there's something truly special about preserving the legacy of our parents' recipes.

What's your family recipe you wish you could bottle up?

Or the ones you'd love share with the world?

Whether it's a special sauce or a longtime family favorite, every dish really does tell a story.

(upbeat synth music) (mellow soothing music) (mellow synth music)