Name : Femy Chandra Winata

Class : PIA 2
Subject : Reading Comprehension
NPM : 2301030072

Food from the heart: A hidden Afghan

restaurant in Yogyakarta
During my visit to Yogyakarta back in October 2021, a friend, who is an art
curator, told me that her artist husband was holding scheduled naan (leavened,
oven-baked flatbread) workshops at the Jogja Biennale XVI as a collaborative
project with another artist, who happened to be an Afghan refugee that had been
living in Yogyakarta for a couple of years then.
Sadly, the steel tanoor (the artists referred to the apparatus this way), or tandoor,
which is the naan oven that the artists DIY-ed together, was sitting idly as an
installation at the exhibition when I was there. “It was not meant to be,” I thought.
I left the city without meeting the Afghan artist, let alone tasting the naan bread he
made.

Under the drooping branches

In August last year, I found myself back in Yogyakarta with my wife, soaking in
the sun’s warmth in our curator friend’s backyard as we stared at whatever plants
were growing on a row of three plant beds made of iron sheeting. I noticed the
steel, three-wheeled tanoor sitting idly underneath the shades next to the kitchen’s
entrance. It had the word naan spray-painted in Arabic on its side. “Alright,” said
my curator friend as she pulled out her phone and started messaging someone. She
was making a dinner reservation at a place called The Tannoor, an Afghan cuisine
restaurant where the Afghan artist sometimes helped out.
As it turned out, the restaurant might be one of the lesser-known, best-kept secrets
of today’s Yogyakarta dining scene. A short walk south from the junction where Jl.
Prawirotaman and Jl. Tirtodipuran branched away, The Tannoor is a well-hidden
place located near one end of Jl. Sartono. On top of the nonexistent signage board,
in exchange for stacks of stone blocks underneath a towering tree to serve as a
gate, its entrance was further nestled through a stone-paved alley lined with fairly
lush greenery around a wooden, walled gazebo.
As I made my way around the pavilion, a stocky, bearded man in shorts and
sandals stood at the entrance. He waved his hands with a hint of unsureness,
seemingly uncertain of the unfamiliar face approaching the entrance. “Ah, a friend
of Timbil and Riksa!” he said. Neither of them had arrived. The man was Mumtaz
Khan Chopan, an Afghan artist and a refugee. Mumtaz spent most of his life as a
refugee living in Pakistan since 1996, then moved to Indonesia in 2013.

Gustatory bliss
Mumtaz served a pot of sheer chai, a sweet, thick milk tea with a decent tang of
cardamom and cinnamon but not overwhelmingly spicy. “Have you tried Afghan
cuisine before?” he asked. I was raised in a family that fonded Middle Eastern
food, but reckoned that the term would not fit Afghan cuisine well. “Qabuli palav
[kabuli rice], maybe? But that’s about it,” I said.
The menu? I was entirely at the mercy of Riksa’s ordering ahead of our arrival,
utterly unaware of anything I would eat before each of the dishes was neatly
served, bow-tied, metaphorically, of course, in front of me. A pair of chicken
shawarmas arrived in tandem with a pair of potato samosas as hors d’oeuvre on
rectangular plates. The sauce, served in a dessert glass, towered over the
shawarmas and samosas. I was expecting a mint chutney to come with the
samosas, but I realized it might be outside of the Afghan configuration.
Plates of beef qabuli palav and chicken biryani then arrived in turn. The
presentation was relatively simple and humble, but the flavor was complex and
foreign enough to the Indonesian tongue, due to the contrasting set of spices that
Afghan cuisine uses compared to Indonesian cuisine. Everything that arrived on
the table was delightfully piquant.
“This one here is mantu,” said Mumtaz as he served a finely arranged plate of what
seemed to be dumplings. The mantu is ground beef dumplings filled with minced
tomato and split peas. A gyoza-like dish drenched in tomato red struck me as
remarkably Eastern Asian and European at the same time.
I pondered the origins of dumplings and how the dish may be an offspring of the
Eurasian trade route Silk Road when Mumtaz served another, this time chive-based
dumplings and a tall glass of salted yogurt that was blended with cucumber and
mint called doogh. The dish was not experimental, however, nor was the gustatory
experience unique, outside the well-defined notion of Afghan cuisine. It was
simply authentic Afghan recipes delivered in an almost no-frills approach.

The agent and the refugee

The loft house that The Tannoor resides in was peculiarly decorated. The walls
were aptly lined with Mumtaz’s rather-harrowing paintings and illustrations. A
reclining Buddha figure peeked out of a hole in the horizontal/vertical-patterned
exposed brick wall painted in beige, looking over a golden Ganesh hanging on a
string strewn horizontally across.
At the far end from the entrance was one of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, placed
within a wall niche with ornaments in front of it that made it look like a shrine. I
gawked at the terrifyingly accurate details of the statue, which I pointed out when I
spoke to the owner, Amelia Destari, back in November 2022.
“It was printed fabric, Mas,” Amelia said with a chuckle. Amelia, a member of the
Faculty of Psychology from the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII, class of
2000), who owns the establishment also doubles as The Tannoor’s chef. The
authentic Afghan dish served at The Tannoor are products of Amelia’s self-taught
hands. She ran a travel agency, Tunas Indonesia, and was out of a job when the
pandemic hit in 2020. “I still got dressed and went to work [back then], but only to
[delay] or cancel my clients’ plans and reservations,” Amelia said with a dry laugh.
“I didn’t have anything to do after that.”
Amelia’s run-ins with Mumtaz went as far back as 2015, during an art exhibition in
the city, well before he moved there in 2016. Their communication got more
intense after that. “Why don’t you try cooking?” Amelia imitated what Mumtaz
said to her in 2020 when she had nothing to do. Amelia could cook, but not Afghan
food, and was unsure how they would sell the food they would cook. “Online?”
Mumtaz mused. “But honestly, I never cooked in a professional setting before,”
Amelia laughed.
“[Mumtaz] joined an expatriate community group on Facebook,” remembered
Amelia. Once he posted their new venture there, Amelia immediately started
receiving Whatsapp notifications. “It was a lot. We did it non-stop for a year.”
Amelia initially cooked lunch and dinner twice a week. She prepared at least 40
portions of food each session (lunch or dinner). It ballooned to the point where
people started asking why they had no restaurant.
When Mumtaz was looking for a space for his art studio, Amelia thought it might
be time. They then shared the space, where Mumtaz used the upper story for his art
studio and the lower to accommodate dine-ins. Now she runs The Tannoor as a
restaurant with Mumtaz, who acts as an outside consultant. He gives her Afghan
cuisine recipes that his mother cooked him in the past during his days in Pakistan
and Afghanistan. “He even called his mother and sisters,” Amelia said.

Main Idea
Paragraph 1 : In October 2021, during a visit to Yogyakarta, I learned about a
unique collaboration at Jogja Biennale XVI, where an artist and an Afghan refugee
living in Yogyakarta conducted scheduled naan workshops as a creative and
cultural project.
Paragraph 2 : The artist-created steel tanoor, or tandoor, intended for baking naan
bread, remained unused as an installation at the exhibition, leaving the narrator
disappointed and unable to meet the Afghan artist or savor the naan.
Paragraph 3 : About the narrator’s experience in Yogyakarta, where they visit
their curator friend’s backyard, observe a three-wheeled tanoor with Arabic
writing, and later make a dinner reservation at a restaurant called The Tannoor,
known for Afghan cuisine and where an Afghan artist occasionally assists.
Paragraph 4 : The Tannoor, nestled discreetly in Yogyakarta, stands out as a
hidden gem in the local dining scene, offering a unique experience with its well-
concealed location, absence of signage, and charming entrance through a stone-
paved alley surrounded by lush greenery.
Paragraph 5 : The main idea is the encounter with Mumtaz Khan Chopan, an
Afghan artist and refugee, at a pavilion entrance, where he identifies the visitor as
a friend of Timbil and Riksa, despite their absence. The narrative provides
background on Mumtaz, highlighting his life as a refugee in Pakistan since 1996
and his subsequent move to Indonesia in 2013.
Paragraph 6 : The main idea is Mumtaz serving sheer chai, a sweet and spiced
Afghan milk tea, and the narrator discussing their limited experience with Afghan
cuisine, mentioning Qabuli palav (kabuli rice).
Paragraph 7 : The main idea is the narrator’s experience of being surprised and
uninformed about the menu, relying on someone else’s choices, and being served a
combination of chicken shawarmas and potato samosas, accompanied by an
unexpected sauce, while noting the absence of expected mint chutney in the
Afghan meal configuration.
Paragraph 8 : The main idea is the delightful experience of savoring Afghan
dishes, specifically beef qabuli palav and chicken biryani, with their complex and
foreign flavors that pleasantly contrasted with the usual Indonesian cuisine.
Paragraph 9 : The main idea is Mumtaz serving mantu, a dish of ground beef
dumplings filled with minced tomato and split peas, presenting a unique fusion of
Eastern Asian and European flavors with its gyoza-like appearance and tomato-red
sauce.
Paragraph 10 : The main idea is the exploration of Afghan cuisine’s authenticity,
featuring chive-based dumplings and doogh served in a traditional manner,
potentially tracing their roots to the Silk Road.
Paragraph 11 : The main idea is the unique and eclectic decoration of The
Tannoor’s loft house, featuring Mumtaz’s intense paintings, a reclining Buddha
emerging from a patterned brick wall, and a hanging golden Ganesh, creating a
distinct and intriguing ambiance.
Paragraph 12 : The main idea is the narrator’s awe and fascination with a
Buddha statue in a wall niche at the far end from the entrance, noting its
terrifyingly accurate details and discussing it with the owner, Amelia Destari, in
November 2022.
Paragraph 13 : Amelia, a psychology faculty member from the Islamic
University of Indonesia and chef at The Tannoor, found herself out of a job during
the 2020 pandemic after running a travel agency. Despite dressing up for work, her
only task was to postpone or cancel clients’ plans, leaving her with ample free time
to pursue her passion for Afghan cuisine, which she now skillfully prepares at The
Tannoor.
Paragraph 14 : Amelia and Mumtaz’s relationship, spanning from art exhibitions
in 2015 to intensified communication in 2020, revolves around Mumtaz suggesting
cooking as an activity. Amelia, though capable of cooking, faces uncertainty about
selling Afghan food online due to lack of professional experience.
Paragraph 15 : Amelia’s involvement in an expatriate community group on
Facebook led to a year-long commitment of preparing and sharing large quantities
of homemade meals, prompting inquiries about the possibility of starting a
restaurant.
Paragraph 16 : Amelia and Mumtaz collaborate to create The Tannoor, a unique
establishment blending art and Afghan cuisine, with Mumtaz contributing as an
external consultant, sharing cherished recipes from his past.

Main Topic
Paragraph 1 : Artistic Collaboration in Yogyakarta: Naan Workshops and
Cultural Fusion at Jogja Biennale XVI
Paragraph 2 : Missed Encounters: The Silent Steel Tanoor at the Art Exhibition
Paragraph 3 : Exploring Yogyakarta: A Culinary Adventure at The Tannoor with
Curator Friends
Paragraph 4 : Hidden Gems in Yogyakarta Dining: The Tannoor Experience
Paragraph 5 : Encounter with Mumtaz Khan Chopan, an Afghan Artist and
Refugee
Paragraph 6 : Afghan Cuisine: A Delightful Introduction to Qabuli Palav and
Sheer Chai
Paragraph 7 : Dining Experience at Riksa’s: Unveiling the Culinary Journey
Paragraph 8 : Culinary Fusion: Exploring Afghan and Indonesian Flavors
Paragraph 9 : Mantu: A Fusion of Culinary Influences
Paragraph 10 : Culinary Exploration: Afghan Dumplings and the Authenticity of
Silk Road-Inspired Recipes
Paragraph 11 : The Unique Décor of The Tannoor’s Loft House
Paragraph 12 : Exploring Amelia Destari’s Collection: The Enchanting Buddha of
Bamiyan
Paragraph 13 : Amelia’s Transition: From Psychology Professor to Afghan Chef
Paragraph 14 : Amelia’s Culinary Journey: Building a Thriving Community
Kitchen
Paragraph 15 : Collaborative Art Studio and Restaurant Venture: The Tannoor

Vocabulary
1. Curator = Curator
Word Sentence: The museum appointed a skilled curator to manage its art
collection.
Meaning: A curator is a person responsible for the selection, organization,
and care of a collection, such as a museum, library, or exhibition.
2. Refugee = Migrant
Sentence: The war forced thousands to flee their homes, turning them into
refugees seeking safety and shelter.
Meaning: A refugee is an individual who has been forced to leave their
home country due to persecution, war, or natural disasters, seeking refuge
and protection in another place.
3. Apparatus = Device
Word Sentence: The scientist carefully calibrated the apparatus before
conducting the experiment.
Meaning: Apparatus refers to a set of equipment or tools used for a specific
purpose or activity, often in scientific or technical contexts.
4. Drooping = Sagging
Word Sentence: The flowers in the garden were drooping under the weight
of the rain.
 Meaning: Drooping refers to hanging or bending downward, often due to
lack of support or vitality.
5. Reckoned = Considered
Word sentence: She reckoned the consequences before making a decision.
Meaning: To calculate, estimate, or consider something carefully.
6. Utterly = Completely
Word Sentence: She was utterly exhausted after the long journey.
Meaning: Utterly means to the fullest extent or degree, leaving nothing out
or remaining; completely.
7. Configuration = Arrangement
Sentence: The intricate configuration of gears allowed the machine to
operate smoothly.
Meaning: Configuration refers to the arrangement or set-up of elements in a
particular way, often with the intention of achieving a specific result or
functionality.
8. Cuisine = Food
Word Sentence: The restaurant is known for its exquisite cuisine from
various regions.
Meaning: Cuisine refers to a style or method of cooking, especially as
characteristic of a particular country, region, or establishment.
9. Piquant = Zesty
Word Sentence: The piquant flavors of the spicy salsa danced on my taste
buds.
Meaning: Piquant refers to a sharp, pleasantly spicy, or stimulating taste or
flavor that excites the senses.
10.Harrowing = Distressing
Word Sentence: The harrowing experience left her shaken and anxious.
Meaning: Harrowing refers to something extremely distressing, traumatic,
or emotionally disturbing, often causing great anguish or torment.
11.Reclining = Resting
Word Sentence: After a long day, she enjoyed reclining on the comfortable
sofa.
Meaning: Reclining refers to the act of leaning back or resting in a relaxed
and comfortable position, often associated with sitting or lying down.
12.Shrine = Temple
 Word Sentence: People visit the ancient shrine to pay homage to their
ancestors.
Meaning: A shrine is a sacred place or a place of worship, often dedicated to
a specific deity, saint, or revered person.
13.Gawked = Stared
Word Sentence: The crowd gawked at the incredible magic trick.
Meaning: To stare openly in a surprised or rude manner.
14.Establishment = Institution
Word sentence: The new establishment aims to redefine the traditional
approach to education.
Meaning: Establishment refers to the act of establishing or setting up
something, such as an organization, business, or system. It can also refer to a
place, organization, or structure that has been established and is typically
well-established and recognized.
15.Imitated = Emulated
Word sentence: She imitated the dance moves perfectly, showcasing her
impressive skills.
Meaning: To copy or mimic someone or something, often with the intention
of replicating an action, behavior, or style.
16.Expatriate = Exile
Word Sentence: After the political upheaval, many citizens chose to
expatriate to safer countries.
Meaning: An expatriate is someone who lives outside their native country,
either voluntarily for personal or professional reasons, or involuntarily due
to political circumstances.
17.Venture = Enterprise
Word Sentence: She decided to embark on a new venture, starting her own
business.
Meaning: A venture is a risky or daring journey, business, or project with an
uncertain outcome, often undertaken for the potential for profit or success.