Easy Somali Recipes
If you don’t like sweets then you met your match! Beware, if you try these dumplings you will become addicted. Seriously addicted. They are sweet, crunchy, yeasty, and ‘dare-you-to-stop-at-one’ goodies. We cannot imagine iftar without these dumplings. They are known as skaramati in Brava, Somalia. [Click for Full Recipe]
English Af-Soomaali Français عربي Butter & Yoghurt Cake www.xawaash.com In Somalia, this was the closest thing we had to a fruitcake. Raisins were always special and were reserved for decorating and topping the festive rice as well adding to cakes. Apart from this cake, the [Click for Full Recipe]
English Af-Soomaali Français عربي Pound Cake www.xawaash.com Pound cakes were some of the few cakes that were popular in Somalia. They were second in popularity to sponge cakes. Pound cakes were sold in teashops but they were not baked there. They were sold to the [Click for Full Recipe]
We call these Eid cookies because my mother (Abdullahi’s) used to bake them every Eid back home in Mogadishu, Somalia. On the night before Eid, we would be sent to the neighbourhood bakery to bring a dozen or so cookie sheets. My mother would [Click for Full Recipe]
Sesame snaps make for a great snack and they keep well. In Brava, these treats were always available when we visited relatives. Grandmothers and aunts, in particular, “had” to have them stashed in large tins and they would hand out one or two of [Click for Full Recipe]
For Somalis, Halwa (Xalwo) is synonymous with festive occasions, particularly weddings. When a Somali says, “Xalwaddeeda ma-cunin,” (lit. “I didn’t eat her halwa”) it means “I didn’t attend her wedding.” Made mainly of butter/oil and sugar, halwa is laden with calories. However, it was [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]
This triangular Sweet Fried Bread, known as Qamdi in Somalia, is similar to a doughnut but is less sweet. In cities across Somalia, qamdi as well as bur (Fry Dough) are common fare served in food stalls in marketplaces, in eateries spread along main [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]
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]