Liat Ohana, mother of the late Ariel Ohana's Chicken Shoula (Afghan-Bukharian Risotto) Recipe

A Place at the Table” is a commemorative project that documents the favorite dishes of those lost on October 7 with the help of their families. 

Liat Ohana distinctly remembers when her son Ariel was a baby and first started eating solid foods. She made him the usual pumpkin soup for babies, but to her surprise, he has interested in what was on her plate — a Bukharian rice dish. She let him try it, and he was so excited that he immediately abandoned his soup and kept asking for more of the rice, which is cooked with tomatoes and chicken.  

Liat learned the recipe for shoula from her grandmother, carefully writing it down on a recipe card now marked with the stains of time. Grandma Osnat, who emigrated from Afghanistan when she was three, still cooks for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at 91 in her Tel Aviv apartment. “Her food is cherished,” says Liat. “All the children in the family dream of it.”

Ariel always loved bold flavors. “He was a child of many ethnicities,” his mother says, with Moroccan grandparents on one side and Iraqi and Afghan and Bukharan grandparents on the other. Like his grandmothers, Ariel loved to cook and feed everyone. When he did, the spices from all those cultures blended into one pot, creating new flavors.

“He would always enter the kitchen happily, eager to create something new, and I would step aside and become his sous chef,” Liat says. From him, she learned not only to be organized and efficient in the kitchen but also to focus on presentation. He went through phases — stuffed vegetables, shawarma, ktzitzot, and sandwiches — and each was always beautifully presented. 

Ariel was born 19 years ago to Liat and Yaniv Ohana, and was the brother of Yoav, Gili, and Shaked. His mother recalls him as an easygoing baby who became an independent and charismatic child. Growing up in the open spaces of Kibbutz Revadim, he was surrounded by close friends who felt like brothers. At Zafit High School, he was the captain of the basketball team and majored in theater. In 10^th grade, he met Amit Zacharish from Kibbutz Hatzor, and they became a couple.

From a young age, Ariel had an entrepreneurial spirit. He organized parties, sold masks during the COVID lockdown, and ran a popular pop-up called “Pizza Schneller” with his kibbutz friends.

He was funny and well known for his comedic ability to imitate people, paying attention to the nuances that made them unique. This same sensitivity allowed him to connect deeply with those around him, making them feel understood and supported.

After high school, Ariel enlisted in the 890th paratrooper battalion. On October 7, at 8 a.m., shortly after the sirens began echoing across the country, he was flown by helicopter along with his fellow fighters to the settlements surrounding Gaza. Their mission was to clear the houses on Kibbutz Be’eri of terrorists and rescue the residents trapped inside.

On October 9, Liat’s birthday, she sat with a friend under the pergola, on the balcony of their kibbutz home. Her daughters Gili and Shaked joined them, followed by Ariel’s friends, who happened to pass by, wanting to say hello and check if there was any news from him. A friend, carrying a birthday cake, joined the gathering. Then, the casualty officers arrived with the news that shattered everything; the world as she knew changed forever.

At 3 p.m., Ariel’s commander first entered the house in Be’eri where Yuval and Ma’ayan Bar had been murdered the day before. A terrorist hiding in the house fired and struck him. Ariel, a front-line Negev gunner in the Special Forces, entered immediately afterward to neutralize the terrorist and rescue his wounded commander, but was shot in the waist at point-blank range.

Until she saw him in the cemetery, Liat hoped it was all a mistake and refused to believe the worst had happened. When she finally saw him, with a smile on his lips, she found solace in knowing he had not suffered.

Now, she is trying to figure out how to move forward and live with the loss; how to get up every day, how to continue to care for her remaining children, and how to honor Ariel’s life. In his memory, she now prepares the shoula rice that he loved so much — a complete meal in one pot, typically enjoyed in the middle of the week when there’s little time for complicated cooking. Liat recalls that her own grandmother, Osnat, used to make shoula for her when she was a child. During times of austerity, when chicken was scarce, she prepared a vegetarian version.

When the dish is ready, Liat places it on a large serving plate at the center of the table like her grandmother. “First, you eat from the edge of the plate where the dish has cooled slightly, and only then move toward the middle,” she explains. “It’s important to me that we keep the joy of life at home, just as Ariel did with his laughter and energy.” 

Did you prepare the dish? Share a photo of it and tag it #A_Place_at_the_Table  to honor the memory of the late Ariel Ohana.