Halal market serving fresh Afghan-inspired meals to-go opens in Essex Junction
A previous version of this article stated the incorrect year for Wazir Hashimi's arrival in Vermont.
ESSEX JUNCTION ― A native of Afghanistan who worked to welcome hundreds of refugees from his homeland to Vermont has opened a fresh halal market in this Chittenden County city.
What is the place?
Named for an ancient region that included Afghanistan, the Ariana Natural Market debuted Nov. 7 near Five Corners in Essex Junction. The store run by Wazir Hashimi carries grass-fed halal meat, including fresh beef, goat and chicken slaughtered and prepared in accordance with Muslim law. Hashimi said he has found frozen halal meat in Vermont, but before opening his market had to go to Canada or Albany, New York, to get fresh halal meat.
The market also carries dried fruit and nuts imported from Afghanistan; fresh coffee and pastries; a selection of Turkish-style coffee and coffee cups; organic natural food from around the world or sourced in Vermont; over-the-counter drug-store items; and a selection of mainstream groceries and snacks ranging from Cheez-Its to Pop-Tarts. None of those categories necessarily represent the most sought-after items at Ariana Natural Market, however, according to Hashimi.
“Mostly people are looking for the hot food to-go,” he said. “It’s coming fresh and at a very reasonable price and good quality.” Those dishes – including chicken, lamb or kofta (meatballs) over rice, as well as Bolani, a stuffed Afghani flatbread – are provided to the market by Hashimi’s brother, Awran Hashimi, who last year opened the area’s first Afghan restaurant, Bamyan Kebab House in Winooski.
What’s the story behind it?
The Hashimi brothers are from Bamyan, a mountainous, four-seasons region in central Afghanistan that Wazir Hashimi said is not unlike Vermont. (Vermont is snowier and colder, according to Hashimi.) His brother was already in the state attending now-defunct Green Mountain College in Poultney when Wazir Hashimi arrived in 2013 to attend high school.
“When I was younger,” Hashimi said, “I always wanted to study abroad.” He began his academic career at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington before moving on to the Long Trail School in Dorset. He attended college at Castleton University, which is now part of Vermont State University.
Hashimi, 27, who lives in Colchester, helped refugees from Afghanistan settle in Vermont after the Taliban took over leadership in his homeland in 2021. Nearly 300 people from Afghanistan settled in communities such as Rutland, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington and Winooski. To help with that resettlement, Hashimi and Dr. Dan Barkhuff of the University of Vermont Medical Center created the nonprofit Vermont Afghan Alliance, which is led by former Vermont lieutenant governor Molly Gray (Hashimi serves as president of the organization’s board of directors).
Hashimi said his store is frequented several of those former residents of Afghanistan and other natives of that region. Some customers, he said, are drawn by the market’s gluten-free or non-GMO foods.
Business in the first few weeks has been “OK,” according to Hashimi.
“It would be great for people to come and support a local business,” he said.
Hours and location
Ariana Natural Market, 4 Pearl St., Essex Junction. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. (802) 662-4162, www.ariananaturalmarket.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Halal market serves fresh, Afghan-inspired food in Essex Junction
