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Somalia

Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, stretches along the Indian Ocean with Mogadishu as its war-torn capital, a once-thriving port now scarred by decades of clan strife and piracy. Known for camels, frankincense, and a resilient Somali diaspora, its economy stumbles on livestock, remittances, and telecoms amid Al-Shabaab’s shadow. Its ancient trade hubs like Zeila whisper past glories. Somalia’s chaotic spirit endures.

Somalia

Featured Dishes from Somalia

Beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle . Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers. Beef contains protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed. Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product. In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity of their meat. Today, beef is the third most widely consumed meat in the world, after pork and poultry. As of 2018, the United States, Brazil, and China were the largest producers of beef.

Cambabuur

Cambabuur

Spiced flatbread or crepe, similar to injera, serve with sugar and ghee

Camel

Camel

A camel from Ancient Semitic: gāmāl) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (camel milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from camel hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 individuals. The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini. Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.

Canjeero

Canjeero

Spongy flatbread, similar to, but smaller than, Ethiopian injera, serve with butter and sugar

Hilib ari

Hilib ari

Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat . The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat. The culinary name "chevon", a blend of chèvre "goat" in French and mouton "sheep" in French, was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1928,: 19 however the term never caught on and is not encountered in the United States. "Cabrito", a word in Spanish and Portuguese, is the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. It is also known as chivo meat. Goat meat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world's cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Abruzzese, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), Haitian cuisine, Dominican cuisine and Ecuadorian. Cabrito, which is baby goat, is a typical food of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; in Italy it is called "capretto". Goat meat can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as being stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried, or made into sausage. Goat jerky is another popular variety.

Lahoh

Lahoh

Lahoh or canjeero (𐒋𐒖𐒒𐒃𐒜𐒇𐒙)), is a spongy, flat pancake-like bread. It is a type of flatbread eaten regularly in Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Yemenite Jewish immigrants popularized the dish in Israel. It is called canjeero/canjeelo in southern Somalia and also called laxoox/lahoh in Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Lahoh is traditionally and typically prepared from a thick batter of sorghum flour (preferred flour for making Laxoox), White cornmeal/cornflour, warm water, yeast, and a pinch of salt. The mixture is beaten by hand until soft and creamy. The batter is then left to ferment overnight to cook and then eat for breakfast. There is a sweet-tasting variety of the dish, one made with eggs, as well as another variety that is spiced and typically eaten in Somali households at breakfast during Eid called Cambaabuur (Ambaabuur). It is traditionally baked on a metallic circular stove called a taawa. Lacking that, it can also be baked in an ordinary pan. Somali laxoox/canjeero is a pancake-like flatbread, i.e., made from a batter comprised typically of legumes or cereals other than wheat, usually due to a scarcity of wheat production. The modern-day production of Somali laxoox/canjeero is relatively homogenous, but recent research revealed two significant divergences: in bread formulation and in the procedure for structure development. These divergences correspond broadly to regional differences in production methods. An original framework of four production styles ("heritage," "new heritage," "innovative," and "global") illustrates these divergences in detail.

Lamb liver

Lamb liver

Somali lamb liver is a traditional dish often served for breakfast. It is typically sautéed with onions, peppers, and spices, and enjoyed with Somali pancakes or bread.

Macsharo yariis

Macsharo yariis

Small rice and coconut pancakes

Marag

Marag

Hyderabadi marag or marag is a spicy mutton soup served as a starter in Hyderabad, India and part of Hyderabadi cuisine. It is prepared from tender mutton with bone. It is thin soup. The soup has become one of the starters at Hyderabadi weddings. The ingredients include those locally available such as mutton with bone, onions, cashew nuts, curd, coconut powder, boiled milk, cream, ginger-garlic paste, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper powder, green chillies, etc.

Nafaqo

Nafaqo

Egg-stuffed potato croquettes

Odkac

Odkac

Muqmad or oodkac is a Somali dish consisting of preserved meat. The term muqmad is used in Djibouti; the term oodkac is more popular in central and southern parts of Somalia. It is typically eaten with canjeero or lahoh, but sometimes by itself. Although it is usually eaten for breakfast and lunch, it is also sometimes eaten for dinner. Muqmad or oodkac is made by letting the meat cook and soak in melted butter, and then cutting it into cubes.

Porridge

Porridge

Somali porridge is made with grains such as sorghum, millet, wheat, cornmeal, oats

Qahwe

Qahwe

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Rooti

Rooti

Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, combined into a dough with added water. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened. Naan from the Indian subcontinent, by contrast, is a yeast-leavened bread, as is kulcha. Like breads around the world, roti is a staple accompaniment to other foods.

Sabaayad

Sabaayad

Sabayad, also known as Kimis, is a chewy type of square Somali flatbread eaten in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. A very commonly served bread in Somali cuisine, Sabayad is usually eaten during breakfast or dinner. It is made from a dough of plain flour, water and salt. It is generally rolled into rough squares and briefly fried in a pan.[clarification needed]

Shaah

Shaah

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Shakshouka

Shakshouka

Shakshouka , also spelled shakshuka or chakchouka, is a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, commonly spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Shakshouka is a popular dish throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Shakshuka is a word for "mixture" in Algerian Arabic and "mixed" in Tunisian Arabic. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as being of multiple origins, an onomatopoeic Maghribi Arabic word, related to the verb shakshaka meaning "to bubble, to sizzle, to be mixed up, to be beaten together," and the French word Chakchouka, which was borrowed into English in the nineteenth century. Chakchouka was borrowed into French from Algerian Arabic. Gil Marks, while noting some similarities with the Ottoman dish menemen, suggests that shakshouka evolved from şakşuka which spread to the Maghreb through the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Anthony Buccini noted similarities between a wider range of vegetable stews. He and Noam Sienna conclude that both shakshouka and menemen, among other dishes like piperade and ratatouille, are members of a wider family of vegetable stews of common ancestry appearing throughout the western Mediterranean.

Soor

Soor

Cornmeal porridge, serve with stews

Aano baraawe

Aano baraawe

Adriyad

Adriyad

Sweet vermicelli noodles, made with sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, raisins, toasted almonds

Baklava

Baklava

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of the pre-Ottoman version of the dish. In modern times, it is a common dessert among cuisines of countries in West Asia, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa. It is also enjoyed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, although not a traditional sweet, it has carved out a niche in urban centers. The word baklava is first attested in English in 1650, a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish: باقلاوه /bɑːklɑvɑː/. The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations. The earliest known reference to baklava is in a poem by the 15th century mystic Kaygusuz Abdal.

Basbousa

Basbousa

Basbousa is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina dessert that is typically associated with cuisines of Egyptian cuisine, Similar but slightly different dishes are also popular in the wider region. The semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with sugar syrup and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squares. The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd edition) suggests that basbousa might have developed from a dish called ma'mounia, which was created around the 10th century. Ma'mounia was made by cooking rice in fat and syrup. This recipe was later adapted to use semolina, with the batter being cooked first and then soaked in syrup. Another take on its origin suggests that basbousa was first made during the 16th century in the Ottoman Empire, likely in what is modern-day Turkey, to celebrate the conquest of Armenia.

Buskud

Buskud

Biscuits, cookies

Cambabuur

Cambabuur

Spiced flatbread or crepe, similar to injera, serve with sugar and ghee

Doolshe

Doolshe

Cake, for example, sponge cake, pound cake, cake made with cardamom

Halawatu laws

Halawatu laws

Icun

Icun

Shortbread cookies with cardamom, almonds

Jalaato

Jalaato

Kac kac

Kac kac

Doughnuts, fried dough

Kashata

Kashata

Coconut confection, made with grated coconut, sugar, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, peanuts

Khamiir

Khamiir

Fried dough, serve with beans, curry, tea

Luqaimat

Luqaimat

Lokma is a dessert made of leavened and deep fried dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with cinnamon or other ingredients. The dish was described as early as the 13th century by al-Baghdadi as luqmat al-qādi , "judge's morsels". The Arabic word luqma (لُقْمَةٌ) (plural luqmāt), means morsel, mouthful, or bite. The dish was known as luqmat al-qādi (لُقْمَةُ ٱلْقَاضِيِ) or "judge's morsels" in 13th-century Arabic cookery books, and the word luqma or loqma by itself has come to refer to it. The Turkish name for the dish, lokma, is derived from the Arabic, as is the Greek name loukoumádes (λουκουμάδες). The recipe for Luqmat al-Qadi, yeast-leavened dough boiled in oil and doused in honey or sugar syrup with rosewater, dates back to at least the early medieval period and the 13th-century Abbasid Caliphate, where it is mentioned in several of the existent cookery books of the time. It is also mentioned in the One Thousand and One Nights, in the story The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. The explorer and scholar Ibn Battuta in the 14th century encountered the dish he knew as Luqaymat al-Qadi at a dinner in Multan, during his travels in medieval India, where his hosts called it al-Hashimi.

Qureebaad

Qureebaad

Butter cookies, shorbread cookies

Shushumow

Shushumow

Glazed pastry shells, rolled and deep-fried pastry shells glazed with sugar syrup, serve with tea

Sisin

Sisin

Xalwo

Xalwo

Halva is a type of confectionery that is widely spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia, and South Asia. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, liquid oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sweetened with sugar. The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from Romanian, which came from Ottoman Turkish: حلوى, romanized: helva, itself ultimately derived from Arabic: حلوى, romanized: ḥalwā, a sweet confection. The root in Arabic: ح ل و, romanized: ḥ-l-w, means "sweet". The original name for the confection was Persian: روغن خورديگ, romanized: rōɣn khordīg, meaning "oil food".

Apple juice

Apple juice

Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurized for packaging in glass, metal, or aseptic processing system containers, or further treated by dehydration processes to a concentrate. Due to the complex and costly equipment required to extract and clarify juice from apples in large volume, apple juice is normally produced commercially. In the United States, unfiltered fresh apple juice is made by smaller operations in areas of high apple production, in the form of unclarified apple cider. Apple juice is one of the most common fruit juices globally, with world production led by China, Poland, the United States, and Germany. Apples used for apple juice are usually harvested between September and mid-November in the Northern Hemisphere and between February and mid-April in the Southern Hemisphere. A common cultivar used for apple juice is the McIntosh. Approximately two medium McIntosh apples produce around 200 millilitres of juice. After the apples are picked, they are washed and transported to the processing facility. The apples are then pressed and juiced right away to avoid spoilage. Depending on the company and end-product, the apples can be processed in different ways before pressing. Apple juice is then filtered, with the number of solid particles remaining partly defining the difference between apple juice and apple cider. In cases where the apple juice is treated enzymatically, the typical class of enzymes used are pectinases.

Caano

Caano

Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, as well as lactose and saturated fat. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies and immune-modulating components that strengthen the immune system against many diseases. The US CDC agency recommends that children over the age of 12 months (the minimum age to stop giving breast milk or formula) should have two servings of dairy (milk) products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products. As an agricultural product, dairy milk is collected from farm animals, mostly cattle. In 2011, dairy farms produced around 730 million tonnes (800 million short tons) of milk from 260 million dairy cows. India is the world's largest producer of milk and the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder. New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands are the largest exporters of milk products. Between 750 and 900 million people live in dairy-farming households.

Grapefruit juice

Grapefruit juice

Grapefruit juice is the juice from grapefruits. It is rich in vitamin C and ranges from sweet-tart to very sour. Variations include white grapefruit, pink grapefruit and ruby red grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice is important in medicine because of its interactions with many common drugs including caffeine and medications, which can alter how they behave in the body. Grapefruit juice is a common breakfast beverage in the United States.

Guava juice

Guava juice

Guava is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava Psidium guajava (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus Psidium such as strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) and to the pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries. The term guava appears to have been in use since the mid-16th century. The name derived from the Taíno, a language of the Arawaks as guayabo for guava tree via the Spanish for guayaba. It has been adapted in many European and Asian languages, having a similar form. Guavas originated from an area thought to extend from Mexico, Central America or northern South America throughout the Caribbean region. Archaeological sites in Peru yielded evidence of guava cultivation as early as 2500 BC.

Lassi

Lassi

Lassi is a yogurt–based beverage with a smoothie-like consistency. It has been called "the most popular and traditional yogurt-based drink" in India. It has also been described as the form in which yogurt "is most cherished and unbeatably popular in [...] Punjab", its "best-loved summer drink", and "the air conditioner of the Punjab".

Lemonade

Lemonade

Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink.

Mango juice

Mango juice

Mango juice is a refreshing drink made primarily from ripe mangoes, which are blended with water to achieve a juice-like consistency. It is naturally sweet, nutritious, and can be enjoyed fresh or made with frozen mango pulp year-round.

Milk with cardamom

Milk with cardamom

Somali milk tea, often called "Shaah," is a comforting beverage made with black tea, milk, and spices like cardamom and sometimes cinnamon. It combines rich flavors and is a staple in Somali culture, perfect for warming up on chilly days.

Qahwe

Qahwe

Coffee, commonly mixed with milk, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon

Shaah

Shaah

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Soft drinks

Soft drinks

A soft drink is any water-based flavored drink, usually but not necessarily carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used can be natural or artificial. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute (in the case of diet sodas), or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives and other ingredients. Soft drinks are called "soft" in contrast with "hard" alcoholic drinks. Small amounts of alcohol may be present in a soft drink, but the alcohol content must be less than 0.5% of the total volume of the drink in many countries and localities if the drink is to be considered non-alcoholic. Types of soft drinks include lemon-lime drinks, orange soda, cola, grape soda, cream soda, ginger ale and root beer.

Tamarind juice

Tamarind juice

Tamarind is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae. The tamarind tree produces brown, pod-like fruits that contain a sweet, tangy pulp, which is used in cuisines around the world. The pulp is also used in traditional medicine and as a metal polish. The tree's wood can be used for woodworking and tamarind seed oil can be extracted from the seeds. Tamarind's tender young leaves are used in South Indian and Filipino cuisine. Because tamarind has multiple uses, it is cultivated around the world in tropical and subtropical zones.

Baasto

Baasto

Pasta is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally only made with durum, although the definition has been expanded to include alternatives for a gluten-free diet, such as rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils. Pasta is believed to have developed independently in Italy and is a staple food of Italian cuisine, with evidence of Etruscans making pasta as early as 400 BCE in Italy. Pastas are divided into two broad categories: dried (Italian: pasta secca) and fresh (Italian: pasta fresca). Most dried pasta is produced commercially via an extrusion process, although it can be produced at home. Fresh pasta is traditionally produced by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple machines. Fresh pastas available in grocery stores are produced commercially by large-scale machines.

Baasto forno

Baasto forno

Layered pasta, meat sauce, bechamel sauce, similar to lasagna

Baasto iyo sugo hilib shiidan

Baasto iyo sugo hilib shiidan

Pasta with a spiced bolognese sauce

Bariis

Bariis

Rice, especially rice pilaf or mixed rice with herbs, spices, onions, raisins, meat, for example, bariis surbiyan, bariis fahfah, bariis huruud, bariis iskukaris, bariis maraq

Beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle . Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers. Beef contains protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed. Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product. In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity of their meat. Today, beef is the third most widely consumed meat in the world, after pork and poultry. As of 2018, the United States, Brazil, and China were the largest producers of beef.

Bocor katiitow

Bocor katiitow

Cold squash salad with sugar, butter, cardamom and cinnamon

Cambuulo

Cambuulo

A mix of azuki beans, corn, rice, wheat, lentils, serve with oil and sugar

Camel

Camel

A camel from Ancient Semitic: gāmāl) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (camel milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from camel hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 individuals. The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini. Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.

Digaag duban

Digaag duban

Spicy baked chicken

Fried fish

Fried fish

Fried fish is any fish or shellfish that has been prepared by frying. Often, the fish is covered in batter, egg and breadcrumbs, flour, or herbs and spices before being fried and served, often with a slice of lemon. Fish is fried in many parts of the world, and fried fish is an important food in many cuisines. For many cultures, fried fish is historically derived from pescado frito, and the traditional fish and chips dish of England which it may have inspired. The latter remains a staple take-out dish of the UK and its former and present colonies. Fried fishcakes made of cod are widely available in the frozen food sections of U.S. grocery stores. Long John Silver's, Skippers, Captain D's, and Arthur Treacher's are well-known North American chain restaurants that serve fried fish as their main food offering. Catfish are also a prevalent farm-raised type of fish that is often served fried throughout the world. A classic fried fish recipe from France is sole meunière. Community fish fries are popular in the southern region of the United States. These social gatherings may center around a church, a civic organization or serve as a fundraiser for a club, volunteer fire department, a school or other organization. In the U.S., especially the Upper Midwest, the New England states, and the Mid-Atlantic states, community fish fries are somewhat popular, sometimes held in church basements or lots in observation of Lent. A fish fry is generally informal. A "shore lunch" is a tradition in the northern U.S. and Canada, where outdoor enthusiasts cook their catch on the shores of the ocean, or lake where the fish was caught.

Hilib ari

Hilib ari

Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat . The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat. The culinary name "chevon", a blend of chèvre "goat" in French and mouton "sheep" in French, was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1928,: 19 however the term never caught on and is not encountered in the United States. "Cabrito", a word in Spanish and Portuguese, is the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. It is also known as chivo meat. Goat meat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world's cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Abruzzese, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), Haitian cuisine, Dominican cuisine and Ecuadorian. Cabrito, which is baby goat, is a typical food of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; in Italy it is called "capretto". Goat meat can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as being stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried, or made into sausage. Goat jerky is another popular variety.

Hilib geel

Hilib geel

Stewed camel meat

Iskudheh karis

Iskudheh karis

Bariis Iskukaris, also called Isku-dheh karis , or simply referred to as Bariis is a traditional rice dish from Somali cuisine. The name Isku-dheh karis literally means "cooked mixed together", therefore it is sometimes used to more broadly refer to other grain-derived crops that require similar cooking. Hence the more specific term for this dish is bariis isku-dheh karis which means "rice (bariis) cooked mixed together". Bariis iskukaris is made from basmati rice, and is typically topped with raisins, peas, and fried potatoes, onions and peppers, and served with roasted lamb, beef, goat, camel, or chicken. It is a national dish of Somalia and is especially popular at weddings and is a staple dish which is almost universally served as part of a Somali daily meal. It is almost always accompanied with a roasted meat dish, the most common being lamb or goat meat, and served with fresh bananas. The dish incorporates a spice mixture called xawaash which literally translates as "spices" in the Somali language and which is made from a mixture of ground cumin, turmeric, coriander, paprika, cardamon, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Either saffron or orange or red food coloring are added to the dish after the rice has finished cooking to give the dish an orange color.

Kaluun iyo bariis

Kaluun iyo bariis

Stewed fish and rice

Kebab

Kebab

Kebab , kebap, (North American) kabob, kebob, or (Kashmiri) kabab,[a] is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East.

Lamb liver

Lamb liver

Somali lamb liver is a traditional dish often served for breakfast. It is typically sautéed with onions, peppers, and spices, and enjoyed with Somali pancakes or bread.

Marag

Marag

Hyderabadi marag or marag is a spicy mutton soup served as a starter in Hyderabad, India and part of Hyderabadi cuisine. It is prepared from tender mutton with bone. It is thin soup. The soup has become one of the starters at Hyderabadi weddings. The ingredients include those locally available such as mutton with bone, onions, cashew nuts, curd, coconut powder, boiled milk, cream, ginger-garlic paste, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper powder, green chillies, etc.

Maraq baamiye

Maraq baamiye

Stewed okra with vegetables, potatoes

Maraq bocor

Maraq bocor

Maraq fahfah

Maraq fahfah

Meat and vegetable soup, made with beef, lamb, carrots, potatoes

Otka

Otka

Dried meat such as camel or beef that is fried in butter and spices

Porridge

Porridge

Somali porridge is made with grains such as sorghum, millet, wheat, cornmeal, oats

Shurbad

Shurbad

Oat and meat soup

Soor

Soor

Cornmeal porridge, serve with stews

Suqaar

Suqaar

Seasoned and sauteed diced meat, made with beef, chicken, lamb, vegetables, potatoes, okra, used in pasta sauce

Surbiyaan

Surbiyaan

Biryani, mixed rice with lamb, chicken, vegetables, yogurt, spices

Zab

Zab

Roast lamb or goat, serve with rice, commonly served at ceremonies called zab or alla bari, hence the name for this dish

Baajiye

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Baajiye

A bhaji or bajji is a type of fritter originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is made from spicy hot vegetables, commonly onion, and has several variants. It is a popular snack food in India and is also very popular in Pakistan. It can be found for sale in street-side stalls, especially in tapris and dhabas (on highways). It is also a common starter or side dish in Anglo-Indian cuisine across the United Kingdom. The Guinness World Record for the largest onion bhaji is held by one weighing 175.48 kilograms (386 lb 13+3⁄4 oz) made by Oli Khan and Team of Surma Takeaway Stevenage on 4 February 2020. Outside Southern and Western India, such preparations are often known as pakora. Its variations include the chili bajji, potato bajji, onion bajji, plantain bajji and the bread bajji (or bread pakora). Another version is called bonda (in south India), vada (in Maharashtra) and gota (in Gujarat). Bonda has potato or mixed-vegetable filling while gota is made with green fenugreek leaves.

Banana

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Banana

A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a peel, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. It grows upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless cultivated bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, or hybrids of them. Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia; they were probably domesticated in New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make banana paper and textiles, while some are grown as ornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas in 2022 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 26% of total production. Bananas are eaten raw or cooked in recipes varying from curries to banana chips, fritters, fruit preserves, or simply baked or steamed.

Bariis

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Bariis

Rice, especially rice pilaf or mixed rice with herbs, spices, onions, raisins, meat, for example, bariis surbiyan, bariis fahfah, bariis huruud, bariis iskukaris, bariis maraq

Bariis cad

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Bariis cad

White rice with lemon juice and vinegar

Bun

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Bun

Fried coffee beans in oil, commonly used in religious rituals and ceremonies

Cadriyad iyo bariis

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Cadriyad iyo bariis

Vermicelli noodles with rice

Cambabuur

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Cambabuur

Spiced flatbread or crepe, similar to injera, serve with sugar and ghee

Canjeero

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Canjeero

Spongy flatbread, similar to, but smaller than, Ethiopian injera, serve with butter and sugar

Dates

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Dates

Fruit from the date palm. A common snack, dessert.

Falafel

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Falafel

Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian origin, featuring in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines, and is made from broad beans, ground chickpeas, or both.

Fruit

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Fruit

Bananas, coconut, grapefruit, guava, mango, watermelon

Ful

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Ful

Vicia faba, commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieties with smaller, harder seeds that are fed to horses or other animals are called field bean, tic bean or tick bean. This legume is very common in Southern European, Northern European, East Asian, Latin American and North African cuisines. Some people suffer from favism, a hemolytic response to the consumption of broad beans, a condition linked to a metabolic disorder known as G6PDD. Otherwise the beans, with the outer seed coat removed, can be eaten raw or cooked. With young seed pods, the outer seed coat can be eaten, and in very young pods, the entire seed pod can be eaten.

Galamudo

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Galamudo

Homemade pasta noodles

Galey iyo qumbo

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Galey iyo qumbo

Corn on the cob in coconut curry

Garow

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Garow

Sorghum bicolor, commonly called sorghum and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the grass genus Sorghum cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, while the plant is used for animal feed and ethanol production. Sorghum originated in Africa, and is now cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Sorghum is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize, and barley. Sorghum is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial. It grows in clumps that may reach over 4 metres (13 ft) high. The grain is small, 2 to 4 millimetres (0.08 to 0.2 in) in diameter. Sweet sorghums are cultivars primarily grown for forage, syrup production, and ethanol. They are taller than those grown for grain.

Hummus

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Hummus

Hummus , is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made from cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. The standard garnish in the Middle East includes olive oil, a few whole chickpeas, parsley, and paprika. The earliest mention of hummus was in a 13th century cookbook attributed to the historian Ibn al-Adim from Aleppo in present-day Syria.

Lahoh

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Lahoh

Lahoh or canjeero (𐒋𐒖𐒒𐒃𐒜𐒇𐒙)), is a spongy, flat pancake-like bread. It is a type of flatbread eaten regularly in Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Yemenite Jewish immigrants popularized the dish in Israel. It is called canjeero/canjeelo in southern Somalia and also called laxoox/lahoh in Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Lahoh is traditionally and typically prepared from a thick batter of sorghum flour (preferred flour for making Laxoox), White cornmeal/cornflour, warm water, yeast, and a pinch of salt. The mixture is beaten by hand until soft and creamy. The batter is then left to ferment overnight to cook and then eat for breakfast. There is a sweet-tasting variety of the dish, one made with eggs, as well as another variety that is spiced and typically eaten in Somali households at breakfast during Eid called Cambaabuur (Ambaabuur). It is traditionally baked on a metallic circular stove called a taawa. Lacking that, it can also be baked in an ordinary pan. Somali laxoox/canjeero is a pancake-like flatbread, i.e., made from a batter comprised typically of legumes or cereals other than wheat, usually due to a scarcity of wheat production. The modern-day production of Somali laxoox/canjeero is relatively homogenous, but recent research revealed two significant divergences: in bread formulation and in the procedure for structure development. These divergences correspond broadly to regional differences in production methods. An original framework of four production styles ("heritage," "new heritage," "innovative," and "global") illustrates these divergences in detail.

Macsharo

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Macsharo

Coconut rice cake with cardamom and vanilla

Macsharo yariis

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Macsharo yariis

Small rice and coconut pancakes

Malawach

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Malawach

Malawach or Melawwaḥ , is a Jewish Yemenite flatbread that is traditional in Yemeni cuisine as well as Israeli cuisine. The name of the dish comes from the Arabic "ملوح", literally “board-like bread”. It was brought to Israel by Yemenite Jews. Malawach resembles a thick pancake but consists of thin layers of puff pastry brushed with oil or fat and cooked flat in a frying pan. It is traditionally served with hard-boiled eggs, zhug, and a crushed or grated tomato dip. Sometimes it is served with honey. Malawach is made from the same dough as jachnun, a Yemenite Jewish Shabbat bread, and both originated as a variation of puff pastry, brought to Yemen by Jews expelled from Spain. It later became "ajin", an enriched dough only made by the Yemenite Jews, and was not made by the non-Jewish Yemenis, according to Rabbi Gil Marks, a Jewish food historian. Malawach was traditionally prepared at home by the women in the Yemenite Jewish community, and is made out of a laminated dough similar to puff pastry that has been enriched with either butter, Clarified butter, or margarine if pareve; creating a very flaky consistency with many layers, similar to a croissant. The dough is divided into balls, and is rolled out and then commonly placed between wax paper and placed in the freezer. It is then fried in a small amount of oil from a frozen state, as if it is fried fresh the butter or other fat will seep out of the dough, making it harder to work with and not flaky. Freezing the dough helps the butter or other fat remain in solid form once the malawach comes into contact with the hot oil, causing the creation of its signature flaky layers, and causing the bread to rise somewhat. Malawach is typically fried as one large flatbread, though sometimes it is fried in smaller pieces. It is served hot, traditionally with zhoug, resek, and hardboiled egg, although a variety of other pairings and dips are now popular as well such as honey, jam, labneh, shakshouka, baba ghanoush, matbucha, and muhammara, among others.

Nafaqo

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Nafaqo

Egg-stuffed potato croquettes

Odkac

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Odkac

Muqmad or oodkac is a Somali dish consisting of preserved meat. The term muqmad is used in Djibouti; the term oodkac is more popular in central and southern parts of Somalia. It is typically eaten with canjeero or lahoh, but sometimes by itself. Although it is usually eaten for breakfast and lunch, it is also sometimes eaten for dinner. Muqmad or oodkac is made by letting the meat cook and soak in melted butter, and then cutting it into cubes.

Popcorn

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Popcorn

Popcorn is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of popcorn dating back thousands of years in the Americas. It is commonly eaten salted, sweetened, or with artificial flavorings. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the seed's hard, starchy shell endosperm with 14–20% moisture, which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. Pressure from the steam continues to build until the hull ruptures, allowing the kernel to forcefully expand, to 20 to 50 times its original size, and then cool.

Rooti

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Rooti

Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, traditionally known as gehu ka atta, combined into a dough with added water. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened. Naan from the Indian subcontinent, by contrast, is a yeast-leavened bread, as is kulcha. Like breads around the world, roti is a staple accompaniment to other foods.

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