Since Ramadan is around the corner I’m going to do a thread on my favourite Swahili dishes

1) Vitumbua - coconut rice mini pancakes

2) Matobosha- dumplings cooked in a sweet coconut milk sauce with cardamon

3) Kaimati - fried dumpling with a sugar and cardamom coating

4) Chapati and maharagwe - red kidney bean stew with flatbread

5) Biriyani - this doesn’t even need any further explanation other than…

Swahili biriyani >>> Asian biriyani

6) Visheti/kokoto - crunchy fried pieces of dough coated in sugar and cardamon

7) Mkate wa sinia - rice and coconut cake

8) Mkate wa nyama - seasoned meat in a flatbread

9) Bhajia za kunde - deep fried black eyed pea snack, accompanied with either a coconut chilli or tamarind chilli.

10) Viazi za karai - potatoes in gram flour batter and chilli masala inside. Accompanied by a tamarind sauce.

11) Tambi - vermicelli cooked in sweetened coconut milk, ghee and cardamon.

12) Viazi vya nazi - potatoes in a coconut milk curried meat stew

13) Mahambri/mandaazi - on its own, with chai or with mbaazi. This sweet bread right here is very versatile ♡

14) Donasi - doughnuts sprinkled with icing sugar (personal favourite)

15) Mitai - mini diamond shaped doughnuts with a sugar and cardamom coating.

16) Mhogo - fried cassava with chilli masala, lime and tamarind

17) Wali wa pilau -

18) Labania za kopa - milk fudge shaped as a heart

19) Ndizi za tamu - Plantain cooked in a sweet cardamom infused coconut milk sauce

20) Mchuzi wa nazi - coconut curry

This is by far the most elite mchuzi that exists.

21) Katlesi - mince meat in a potato patty

22) Boko boko/hareesa- This here is a traditional Swahili coastal dish made from wheat and shredded meat. Then topped with butter/ghee and sugar

23) Mkate wa mayai - sponge cake infused with cardamom.

This cake right here paired with chai ya maziwa

24) Mbaazi paired with mahambri - an elite breakfast

25) Babu kachri - thick tangy potato gravy sprinkled with crushed potato crisps and crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour.

the best snack to come out of Mombasa

And that’s all folks! If I didn’t mention a food that means it’s not my favourite :)

Also shout out to all you guys from the Comoros islands telling me how similar all our foods are