Easy Somali Recipes
Somalis have very few vegetarian dishes. In the southern part of Somalia, where most of the agriculture is concentrated, more vegetables are consumed. For most Somalis, vegetables are added to meat dishes. Potatoes, carrots, green peppers, pumpkins, and plantains are popular. The following is a [Click for Full Recipe]
You wake up one morning feeling alone, blue, and bored. What do you do? First, go to the kitchen and make a large lump of dough. Next, find yourself a quiet, cozy corner and start making tiny little balls with your fingers, all the [Click for Full Recipe]
Somalis have their version of Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! Only it’s not a nursery rhyme, it’s not about buns, and it’s not about something that you give to your daughters or sons. It’s a street cry, it’s about anjero, and you give [Click for Full Recipe]
If you are going to have a dessert that has butter and sugar, you might as well have this dessert. At least the other half of the dessert (the sweet potato) is nutritious. Sweet potatoes pack more nutrition than most other vegetables. They are high [Click for Full Recipe]
Somali salad is very simple: lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, radishes, and a fresh, homemade dressing. The dressing is made of olive oil, lemon juice, white vinegar, salt, black pepper, and minced garlic. The garlic is optional but it enhances the taste quite a bit. The [Click for Full Recipe]
Some people eat a papaya because of its health benefits: for aiding digestion, for balancing stomach acid, for helping prevent colon cancer, and for being a good laxative. We love eating papayas because they are delicious. If anything can embody the tropics, it is [Click for Full Recipe]
Ahh! Bajiya! We just love them. How can you not? Eat them fresh and you will become addicted. Bajiyas, are a regular fixture on iftar tables (breaking the fast in Ramadan), they are part of the Asariyo Quartet (one of the four essential elements [Click for Full Recipe]
Somali rice with toppings evokes old memories of family gatherings, and festive occasions. It reminds me particularly of ziyaras (rememberences) where large numbers of women gather to cook rice and meat in huge pots set on open fires. I remember my grandparents’ house in [Click for Full Recipe]
The following recipe is for sweet bottle gourd known in Brava as Ntaambi ya Maboori. The word Ntaambi means Vermicelli, and Ntaambi ya Mabboori is Vermicelli made of Bottle Gourd. During Ramadan (the month of fasting), this dessert is served after dinner in the majority of households. The bottle gourd must [Click for Full Recipe]
Maanda (Muufo Baraawe in Somali) is the traditional bread of the Bravanese (Brava, Somalia). The story of Maanda is the story of the daily life of the Bravanese. In Brava, Maanda is made from white, dehydrated corn kernels, and making it in the traditional way [Click for Full Recipe]