Recipes By Ifrah F. Ahmed
29 recipes found
Fuul (Somali-Style Fava Bean Stew)
Fuul is a beloved fava bean stew that has long been woven into the culinary fabric of East Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. It’s also known as ful medames or foul mudammas. This comforting stew is served in a variety of ways: slow-simmered whole beans topped with juicy tomatoes and olive oil, or simply crushed and spritzed with lemon juice. This recipe is for Somali-style fuul, which consists of smashed fava beans and receives its intoxicating smell from the xawaash mix. Fuul is eaten for breakfast alongside eggs and fresh anjero, and is perfect for suhoor or iftar.
Rooti Farmaajo (Honeycomb Cheese Bread)
Rooti farmaajo is a pillowy and sweet, soft-cheese-stuffed bread that is a popular Ramadan staple in many Somali households. This dish translates from Somali simply as “cheese bread,” but is distinguished by its honeycomb shape and its creamy filling. Rooti farmaajo shares some similarities to khaliat al nahl, Yemeni honeycomb buns, but the similarities end when it comes to toppings: While khaliat al nahl is topped with syrup or honey as well as nigella and sesame seeds, rooti farmaajo is drizzled with condensed milk and topped with shredded coconut. While this bread is a popular treat during Ramadan, it’s worth making year round — and makes a good accompaniment to coffee or tea.
Basbaas Cagaar (Green Hot Sauce)
While Somali cuisine utilizes many fragrant spices, such as coriander, cardamom and cumin, it is not traditionally heat-heavy. But spiciness shows up in the form of basbaas, a hot sauce that is a popular condiment. Heat is optional in Somali cuisine and dishes like sambuus or bariis and hilib ari (rice and goat meat) come with a complementary side of basbaas for those who seek to take their meal to the next level. While there are several kinds of basbaas, basbaas cagaar is a fiery, green hot sauce that pairs beautifully with any meats or roasted vegetables, and especially with hilib sambuus.
Soor iyo Dalac Bilaash (Grits and Tomato Stew)
Thick and comforting like Kenyan ugali or Italian polenta, soor is Somalia’s version of grits. A common staple, it is foundational to many Somali culinary traditions, whether it is served with maraq ari (goat soup) for a simple lunch or dinner, or eaten with buttermilk and sugar for a quick meal during Ramadan. Here, soor is topped with dalac bilaash, a robust tomato stew that can be made easily with just a few simple ingredients. The name of the dish implies that it can be created out of nothing, but, despite its humble ingredient list, its flavors run deep.
Hilib Sambuus (Fried Beef Dumplings)
Sambuus are a Somali relative of Indian samosas; the two fried dumplings are separated by sea and likely related by trade. While hilib generally means meat in Somali, hilib sambuus are often filled with spiced ground beef. But chicken, tuna and more seafood variations exist; salmon sambuus are beloved by the Somali diaspora of the Pacific Northwest. If you have time, making sambuus pastry from scratch is ideal, but you can buy premade wraps at the grocery store, or utilize tortillas, as this recipe does, for an even quicker process. Store-bought tortillas are cheaper, faster and preferred by many working-class diaspora families for getting sambuus made quickly, which is ideal during Ramadan, when they are widely popular. While they are delicious on their own, you can pair them with Somali-style hot sauce, if you’d like some optional heat.