Durkhanai Ayubi and her family keep alive the stories and flavours they carried to Australia from Afghanistan, in the dining room of their 'accidental' and thriving restaurant (R)

Durkhanai was two years old when she and her family came to Australia from Afghanistan.

She grew up with stories of the old country from her parents, but her most powerful sensory connection to Afghanistan developed in the kitchen of her mother, Farida.

Both her parents had other professions in their homeland, but in 2009, sensing an opportunity to share their culture's rich tradition of hospitality, they opened a restaurant.

They named it Parwana, meaning butterfly, and serve traditional Afghan food cooked by Farida.

This episode of Conversations explores migration, multiculturalism, cooking, food, history, the Silk Road, trade, refugee, war, civil war, family, parenthood, multicultural Australia, origin stories, epic journeys.

Parwana: Stories and Recipes From an Afghan Kitchen (by Durkhanai Ayubi with recipes by Farida Ayubi) is published by Murdoch Books.