About Hasina’s Magic Kitchen

For 21 years, Hasina was a doctor. In Afghanistan she treated patients through years of war and helped establish three hospitals. With such demanding work, there was little time for cooking, and someone else made the meals.

In 2015, Hasina arrived in New Zealand as a refugee with her five children. She had left behind her home, her work and the life she had built, and starting over in a new country with a new language was harder than she ever imagined. She fell into a deep depression. Most days she would drop her children at school, come home and cry until it was time to pick them up again.

Cooking became her escape. She started cooking regularly for her children, and in the kitchen she found calm and a sense of purpose again. Friends and neighbours who tasted her food kept coming back for more, and they kept telling her the same thing: you need to share this. With their encouragement and support, some borrowed money and a lot of courage, she turned her home kitchen into Hasina’s Magic Kitchen.

Today we’re a family-owned catering business based in Avondale, Auckland, with Hasina’s children working alongside her. Our menu brings together the flavours of South and Central Asia, with dishes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and beyond. From fragrant rice and slow-cooked curries to fresh breads and traditional sweets, everything is cooked from scratch using family recipes and quality ingredients.