Grocery shopping in Tajikistan is very different from grocery shopping in America. There are no Trader Joe's frozen meals here, so I've had to do more cooking than ever before! Thankfully, when I don't feel like cooking, I buy pumpkin sambusas, delicious triangular pastries filled with pumpkin and baked until golden.
Another thing I absolutely love about Tajikistan is the bread. All around Dushanbe, you'll find small bakeries called nonvoykhonas, where you can buy enormous pieces of freshly baked bread.
I've also discovered some wonderful restaurants in Dushanbe! One of my favorites is Banu Cafe, a Persian restaurant that serves many traditional Persian dishes. My favorite thing to order is kashke bademjan, a dish made with cooked eggplant, onions, and a tangy fermented dairy product called kashk. I love eating it with a big piece of warm Tajik bread and a glass of watermelon juice.
Another one of my favorite foods is crispy eggplant salad, which is served at many restaurants throughout Dushanbe.
Finally, the most interesting dish I've tried in Tajikistan is qurutob! It's a traditional Tajik dish made with flaky bread, a tangy dairy sauce, and vegetables. It has become my favorite Tajik national food!
Trying new foods has been one of my favorite parts of living in Tajikistan, even though being vegetarian has sometimes made eating here challenging. One day, I had four peaches and a bowl of rice for a meal, because my host mom truly did not know what being vegetarian meant! At one restaurant, the "veggie pasta" had chicken in it.
Other experiences have been wonderful surprises.
