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Somali Comfort Food You’ll Break Your Diet For

Somali Comfort Food You’ll Break Your Diet For

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Somali cuisine often revolves around pancake-like flatbreads, pastas and rice, so it’s made of all the stuff you want in your comfort food. You’d break your diet for these delicious dishes.

yelp.com
yelp.com

Steak and Cheese Rolls

If you’re a fan of egg rolls, churros and steak, you may be surprised nobody told you about this fried, fluffy dish. The steak mixture is added with a flour paste to the inside of pieces of flattened bread, which are then rolled up and fried in breadcrumbs. Dip these in your favorite hot sauce, ketchup, ranch—you really can’t go wrong with any dip. Here’s an easy recipe.

babble.com
babble.com

Somali Samosas

Here’s another delicious, deep-fried item, but in a fun, hand-held shape. Samosas are considered a pastry because their dough is sweet, but they’re usually filled with savory ingredients like ground meat, chopped vegetables and onions. The outside becomes flaky and crispy, but the inside remains slightly undercooked, doughy and so delectable. We like this recipe for ground beef or lamb samosas.

 

 

nathanfelmore.com
nathanfelmore.com

 

Anjero

Anjero is like a cross between a crepe and a pancake in fluffiness and thickness, but it’s more savory in flavor and meant to be wrapped around other food like chickpeas or vegetable stews. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with rolling one of these up and eating it solo. We love this detailed blog on how to make vegan anjero.

shebafoods.com
shebafoods.com

 

Bur Saliid (aka the Somali Puff-Puff)

These are Somalia’s doughnuts, but they can be eaten as savories. For breakfast, Somalians eat them with beans in coconut sauce. For lunch or dinner they may eat them with a curry. They’re fluffy and delicious when hot out of the oven. This site offers several instructional videos on the Somali puff-puff along with an egg and no-egg recipe.

somalikitchen.com
somalikitchen.com

 

Black Eyed-Beans Bhajia

These delicious little fried balls are great as a snack and often sold as street food in Somalia. They’re full of great spices like green and red chili, coriander and curry powder. They’re so easy to pop in your mouth, and taste delicious dipped into cold sauces—anything from barbecue to marinara sauce tastes great with these. Even though they’re deep fried, their high fiber content redeems them a little. Here’s an easy recipe.

somalikitchen.com
somalikitchen.com

 

Green Coriander Chicken

This is Somali’s version of fried chicken, but it’s so succulent, you’ll never return to plain old fried chicken again. The drumsticks are saturated in a delicious yogurt sauce that keeps the meat moist. Ginger, fresh coriander, lemon and garlic cook all the way through so every bite is bursting with flavor. Here’s the recipe.

food.com
food.com

 

Somali Stew

This will warm you on a cold night and make you feel thoroughly nourished. It’s the type of dish that looks like it could have been cooking for days in a giant iron pot in a mountain cabin, but actually takes much less time to make in your kitchen. It has all the fixings of a traditional winter stew plus some Somali staples like okra, squash and cumin. Here’s the recipe.

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yourepeat.com

Mashmash

Another Somali food with an undeniably cute name, mashmash is a traditional Somali dish and it’s delightfully greasy. Originally, Somalians would use mashmash as a sandwich filling so if you have a serious craving for carbs, you could copy that. Mashmash has a great savory and sweet flavor. We like this YouTube instructional video for these little flat treats.

somalikitchen.com
somalikitchen.com

 

Chickpea and Potato Bhajia

Bhajia makes it twice on this list because it’s such a yummy way to make almost anything. We particularly like this recipes because the crispy, crunchy dough tastes amazing against the soft potato inside. Here’s an easy recipe for this savory snack.

whatscookinginyourworld.blogspot.com
whatscookinginyourworld.blogspot.com

 

Date-Filled Sambusas

This dessert has everything you could want: a cakey dough that’s slightly crunchy on the outside, gooey, sweet filling from the dates and a hand-held final product. These are a showstopper if you’re having guests, but are also great for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Here’s an easy recipe.