Suqaar Digaag (Somali Chicken Stir-Fry.)
Suqaar is a very flexible Somali stir-fry dish with a ton of flavor. You can make it with different kinds of meat. Goat is the most traditional, but we are using chicken today, with vibrant yellow basmati rice made with turmeric and other spices! We eat it with bananas, and for most of the savory Somali food, we also eat a banana with it. (Some of us don't like bananas, which is ok.) Suqaar is a simple meal, but it has several steps. It is a good idea to prep all your ingredients before you start cooking.
Ingredients
6 Skinless, boneless, thinly sliced chicken thighs
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
½ green bell pepper, sliced thinly
½ yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
7 garlic cloves, peeled + ½ cup cilantro, grind/minced them together
½ cup water
Spices
2 tsp toasted cumin and 1 tsp coriander seed, then grind them to powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Add the oil and chicken to a large pan set on medium heat. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.
Stir all the dry spices together, add ½ of them to the chicken, stir them, and put the lid on. Let them cook for about 10 minutes. Ensuring they don’t burn.
Add the onion, stir them together, wait for 3 minutes, and add the tomatoes and the potatoes. Stir them well and add the rest of the spice mixture and the cilantro garlic mix. Stir them again.
Using the cilantro garlic container, pour 2 tbsp of the water and add to the pan. Stir again, cover them. Turn the heat to low and let them simmer for 10 minutes, ensuring they don’t burn.
Add the rest of water and stir well. Taste to see if you need to add any extra spices or salt, then cover and cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the peppers and cook for few more minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Break one of the potato slices to see if the potatoes are soft enough. When that happens, it is ready, then turn the heat off.
I served it with turmeric rice.(The recipe of my Baked Turmeric Basmati Rice is on my website) You can choose what you want to serve with. We also eat with canjeero (Somali pancake-like) Different kind of flatbreads, bread, etc.
Enjoy!
Categories: Chicken, dinner, entree, gluten free, main dishes, Rice, Somali Food, Suqaar, Suqaar Digaag
Tags: #somalifood, #somalisuqaar, #suqaar