It all starts years ago in our grandmother’s kitchen…

For our founder and owner Nazie Sidiq, food has always been deeply meaningful, and she views each meal she prepares as special. She grew up embracing the flavors, recipes and traditions of her homeland, Afghanistan, through her family’s own cooking.

As a girl, she watched her grandmother harvest vegetables and spices from her home garden, and use them in her family’s meals. Squash, pumpkin, onions, and more — all of these fresh vegetables were grown by her grandmother, and used in their meals they enjoyed so much. It was in that kitchen in Afghanistan that she learned how to make bolani flatbreads from her grandmother, a traditional dish in her culture. She remembers seeing her grandmother stuff each flatbread with potato and spices, and cooking them in her clay oven. Little did she know that her grandmother’s recipe she loved would allow her to create her own business and succeed in her new home country, America — “the land of opportunity,” she says — over thirty years later.

After war broke out in Afghanistan in the 1970s, her family decided to seek a new opportunity in America. She and her parents moved to New York City, where she worked in fast food restaurants to make ends meet — all while learning a new way of life: language, culture, and food. It was incredibly difficult, but her family worked exceptionally hard to take advantage of their new life in the United States.

She saw cultures making their food from their homelands across New York City, but never could find the home-cooked, simple but delicious food from her family’s homeland. That always stuck with her — where was her heritage, she wondered?

Years went by. She met her future husband in New York. They married, and decided to make a new start out West. The couple moved to California, and settled outside San Francisco. Her husband grew his own career in chemical engineering, and Nazie wondered what was in store for her. She continued to make her family, now having grown to include children, her traditional Afghani recipes. She worked in a farmer’s market with her oldest son, Billal Sidiq, selling other products, and began to see what kinds of food where being embraced by her American neighbors.

She looked around and saw the fresh produce and local ingredients, and the myriad of cultures represented, and wondered, “Where is my food? Where is my culture?”

So she began to make her own flatbreads for friends, just to see what they thought. Having never heard of such a dish, people raved. She looked to farmer’s markets and applied for her own booth, thinking, “If others can do it, why can’t I?” It was met with immediate success — selling out every weekend, before other vendors. Lines formed for her fresh flatbreads, and her mother-in-law’s recipe for vegan basil pesto.

She finally had an opportunity to teach her new culture what true Afghani food was like. It was a hit.

From there, what started as a little stand selling flatbreads took off, and she expanded her offerings to include spreads and sauces that she recreated from her own family’s history, rooted in tradition with delicious flavors. Nazie knew she was onto something, and told her family , “This is going to work!”

With the help of her husband and children Bolani continued to grow, first to other farmers’ markets around the Bay Area, and then beyond, ultimately being at farmer’s markets all across California. Then came deals with major retailers and Bolani grew to what it is today: more readily available, but still at its heart, a family company. Nazie’s son now continues the family legacy and runs the day-to-day operations at Bolani, staying true to their products, but with an eye on growth for the future.

“We still make our flatbreads by hand, fresh, every day,” Nazie says.

“Others have tried replicating them and making them with machines, but it is just not the same product. It has to be handmade.”

Today, you can find Bolani at many major retailers, as well as farmers’ markets across the West. Despite growth, our approach hasn’t changed: using wholesome, organic, non-gmo ingredients from our friends at the farmers markets to create the best, most delicious Bolani flatbreads, dips, and sauces we can.

We use local farmers and growers to source our products, from the olive oil, spinach, herbs, and flour we use, we know where our food comes from. It’s the ethos of Nazie’s family, going back generations, and for the company’s future, that will always be their first priority.

Bolani makes all of our products with love from our home base in the Bay Area, so we can ensure each and every flatbread and all of our sauces meet our exceptionally high standards. We can’t wait to share our products and culinary traditions with you, and become a part of your kitchen.

We hope you can incorporate our products into your kitchen, and prepare your food with love, just as we do!