Breakfast food
FUL
Ful is a dish, that will never be missing from a Sudanese breakfast. Made from cooked fava beans (sometimes completely mashed, other times in clumps); there is only salt and sprinkled fennel over it.
TAMÍA
Similar to falafel, main ingredient is chick peas, which are cooked and then minced with added variety of herbs and watered bread. Different shapes (from round to sticks) are sometimes coated with sesame seeds. Deep fried. I was told they on occasion substitute chick peas with fava beans.
BREAD
Sudanese do not play around when it comes to bread. It goes with every meal and there’s always plenty of it.
MADÍDA
Sudanese style porridge: main ingredients are flour, milk and sugar, fenugreek seeds give it a special taste. This dish is usually served warm, early in the morning during winter.
Main dishes
RÍJLA
Tasty savoury dish of cooked purslane with red lentil. One of my favorites.
FÁTA
It’s a combination of rice and bread; once they pour soup over it — it becomes a whole new, yummy mushy dish. Soup can be from lentil, or just plain chicken/beef stock.
DÀMA
Simply put: it’s a one pot stew, made from meat and veggies. Lots of fried onions to start with, then added beef and veggies, that you have on hand. Usually potatoes, carrots and zucchini, sometimes string beans … Yum.
ASÍDA
Famous in other regions as well, but Sudanese take their pride in their very own asida, which is not made every day, rather on special occasions like Eid, or when your daughter in law, who by chance loves it, comes to visit. Rye flour and yeast are to be cooked and mixed in salted water. Once thick, the mixture is poured into a bowl to cool down. It is served outside of that shaping dish, always with the side of either okra sauce, minced meat or yoghurt.
KHOODRA MAFROOKA
Green sticky dish made of cooked jute/mulukiyah; spinach can serve as substitute. Usually served with kisra.
KÍSRA
Thinly fried batter of wheat and rye flour, mixed with water; depending on the ratio between flours, it can be very sour in taste.
RIVER NILE FISH
Tasty by itself, simple frying of the fish coated in flour; squeezed lime over it upon serving.
SHÀTA
Very spicey condiment: peanut butter with chopped chilli pepper. Goes with anything and is served on regular bases.
BREAD
Goes with every lunch too. There isn’t a single meal without bread, since it is customary to eat with one’s hand and reach for food with a piece of bread.
Salads
SALAD ÁSWAD
Fried or cooked eggplants dressed with peanut butter, lime, pepper and salt.
TOMATO SALAD
Upon asking Tamer and his family, how they differentiate between salads — I did not receive a definitive answer. This one for example can just be called a salad, but it presents such an interesting twist! It was my first time tasting peanut butter with fresh tomatoes and onions, and I must say … I loved it!
MIXED SALAD
Simple mix of tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; dressing of salt and lime.
ROCKET LEAVES SALAD
Sometimes combined with mixed salad; salt and lime for dressing.
Sweet dishes
SHA’ARÍA
A single dish, that is not considered a dessert. Pasta nests which get fried and cooked, coated with sugar in the end. Served for breakfast and sometimes dinner.
ZALÁBYA
Simply put, these are Sudanese fritters, made out of yeasted dough, fried and then coated with sugar. Sometimes they add some spice or ginger in the dough mix for a special twist. Zalabya is usually served with milk tea in the morning, but can be a delicious snack in any other time of the day.
Dinners
Last meal of the day usually consists of similar dishes that were served in the household for breakfast or simply put: anything storred in the kitchen fridge.
Festive food
After Ramadan (Eid Al Fitr) and for Eid Al Adha there are more meaty dishes than usual. It is also customary to share all the rich foods with the less fortunate. There is more mutton and beef on the menu, unlike the rest of the year when chicken is more common.
Disclaimer:
Since I am not an enthusiastic carnivore, I paid more attention to vegetarian dishes and lucky for me – there are plenty. Because of my taste in veggies, my family in law served more salads and rice, but in the first days of my stay I noticed, that is not something usual and it was very different from habits of my own family back home, since we eat A LOT of salads every lunch. I try not to eat large quantities of bread myself, so Sudanese meals presented another different challenge for me.