Breakfast (quraac) is an important meal for Somalis. who often start the day with some style of tea (shaah). The main dish is typically a pancake-like bread (canjeero) similar to Ethiopian injera but smaller and thinner.Canjeero is eaten in different ways, it may be broken into small pieces and ghee (subag) and sugar added. For children it is mixed with tea and sesame oil (macsaaro) until mushy. There may be a side-dish of liver (beer), goat meat (hilib ari), diced beef cooked in a bed of soup (suqaar) or jerky (oodkac or muqmad), which consists of small dried pieces of beef, or goat or camel meat, boiled in ghee. Polenta (mishaari or boorash [porridge]) with butter and sugar is popular in Mogadishu.In the north, bread (rooti) is popular. In Somalia a sweeter and oilier version of canjeero called malawax is a staple of most home-cooked meals. [edit] LunchBarris iyo digaag suqar, a melange of rice, stewed chicken and vegetables.Lunch (qado) is often an elaborated main dish of rice (bariis) spiced with cumin (kamuun), cardamom (heyl), cloves {qaranfuul) and sage.In the south, a hotpot of rice, vegetables, and sometimes meat, called Iskudhexkaris is common. Beyond the many styles of stew (maraq), rice is also served with meat on the side. In Mogadishu, steak (busteeki) and fish (kaluun) are widely eaten.Cornmeal (soor) is popular. Unlike the ugali of Kenya, Somalis have a softer cornmeal mashed with fresh milk, butter and sugar or with a well in the soor filled with maraq.A variation of the Indian chapati is the sabaayad. Like the rice, it is served with maraq and meat on the side. The sabaayad of Somalia is often somewhat sweet, and is cooked in a little oil. Pasta (baasto) is popular often served with a heavier stew than the Italian pasta sauce, more distinctively, it is often served with a banana.The most popular drinks at lunch are balbeelmo (grapefruit), raqey (tamarind) and isbarmuunto (lemonade). In Mogadishu, cambe (mango), seytuun (guava) and laas (Lassi) are popular as well. In Hargeisa in the north, the preferred drinks are fiimto (Vimto) and tufaax (apple).[edit] DinnerVarious types of popular Somali dishes.Somali people serve dinner as late as 9 pm. During Ramadan, supper-time often follows Tarawih prayers, sometimes even as late as 11 pm. Cambuulo, a favorite dish come dinnertime, is made of well-cooked azuki beans mixed with butter and sugar. The beans, which on their own are referred to as digir, can take up to five hours to finish cooking when left on the stove at a low temperature.In 1988, the Somali newspaper Xiddigta Oktoober conducted a survey in which it found that 83% of Mogadishu’s residents preferred cambuulo as their main dinnertime meal. It was a startling discovery since the dish is considered to be somewhat “low class” due to its flatulence-inducing after-effects caused by the natural sugars (known as oligosaccharides) in its beans.Likewise, qamadi (wheat) is used. Cracked or uncracked, it is cooked and served just like the azuki beans.Rooti iyo xalwo, slices of bread served with a gelatinous confection, is another popular dinnertime dish.Muufo, a variation of cornbread, is a dish made of maize and is baked in a foorno (clay oven). It is eaten by cutting it into small pieces , adding macsaro (sesame oil), sugar and then mashing the whole with black tea.And before bed, a glass of milk spiced with cardamom is often consumed....
Show More