Somalia – Ndolé (Bitterleaf) Soup

by Tanomba Thati

Somalia is another joy of African continent. It is a country with a lot of cuisines mostly prepared while reflecting Islamic culture. The country is located in the eastern part of African continent being bordered by Ethiopia to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Djibouti to the northwest and Kenya to the southwest parts.

Ndole is a green leaf soup with a lot of ingredients, mostly meaty ingredients like soaked fish, prawns, nuts, dried meat and so on.

The most used veggie is spinach and bitter leaves, these are cooked well with the additional of ingredients to taste better.

The Ingredients;

• About 3 cups spinach
• 3/4 cup Crayfish (ground)
• 1 kg of beef
• 2 Tablespoons Bouillon
• 2 Onions
• 2 cups of Groundnuts/Peanuts
• 1/2 pound shrimp
• 5 garlic cloves
• Oil

Cooking procedures;

• Wash and chop into pieces; onions.
• Prepare spinach and cut into fine pieces.
• Prepare beef into small pieces, wash and marinate with grinned garlic, salt, some salt and oil, boil until well cooked for 30 minutes.
• Peanuts bring an aroma with it to our soup, by preparing it we boil it for about 10-13 minutes.
• Once done, send them to the food processor and blend them soft enough, mix it into the mix of meat.
• Blend remaining onion and grin garlic, add into the mix of meat and peanuts.
• Pour in the crayfish into the mix and let it simmer for 10 minutes less.
• Add spinach and keep mix to not burn the soup.
• Meanwhile prepare shrimps by frying them in a pan with oil until they change color to pink.
• Slice them and add into the mix, mix well.
• Our cuisine is ready for meal, enjoy with friends and family.