Despite Somali cuisine’s prevalence of meat, there is a strong focus on cooking meals quickly. Even the use of joints that would traditionally be used in Western cookery for slow cooking, the Somali methods allow for tenderising the meat in half the usual time.
Suqaar recipes epitomise this speed - a quick fried dish of meat to go with rice, pasta or bread. You can use beef or chicken, and it is the latter that we are sharing today. It can be eaten for any meal of the day, but we prefer it for brunch, often alongside ful or breakfast eggs.
To make this dish you should use chicken off the bone (breast or thighs) and dice into small chunks.
Serve alongside chilli sauce, spiced yoghurt and with bread to mop up the juices.
Cooking time: Approx 30 minutes
Serves: 3 - 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
Cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2- 3 cardamom pods
500g chicken (cut into small chunks)
1½ tbsp Xawaash
Pinch of salt
3 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 large banana chilli
Juice from ½ a lemon
½ tsp brown sugar
A small handful of chopped coriander
A few fresh mint leaves
Method
Put a wide-based frying pan on a medium to high heat with half of the olive oil to heat up. Bash the cardamom pods to open them and then add them along with the star anise and cinnamon stick to the oil. Leave for a few minutes until the whole spices release their smell.
Add the chicken breast to the pan and stir until all sides of the chicken is browned. Add the Xawaash and salt and stir to cover the chicken in the spice mix. Add the remainder of the olive oil and stir to keep the ingredients lubricated.
Slice the onion into slivers and add to the chicken. Cook for a few minutes until the onion is developing a deep brown colour. Crush and dice the garlic and add this into the pan, stirring to combine.
Add the dark soy sauce and chop the banana chilli into rings adding to the pan with a splash of water and the lemon juice.
Put a lid on the pan and allow it to cook for a further five minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Turn up the heat to maximum for a final blast to reduce any remaining liquid, adding the brown sugar as you do.
Scatter with the fresh leaves and serve immediately.
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