www.simplysomali.com

[Dawoco]

Being the youngest, I was never actually deciplined in household chores and had my way most of the time. Because I am lucky (or unlucky) to have been left alone to roam the world and do what ever I wanted, I lead the ultimate tomboy lifestyle (I can work magic with kashawiito but will cut myself with butter knife)

So anyway, I never actually learned to cook It just seems like this big unclimable mountain and I'm now coming to grips to using the oven, let alone put together receipes. It just doesnt hold any intrest for me, and I don't have that inbuildt drive to get on with it and crack it. So I thought, since there are many of you who can actually cook, you can give misfits like me simple receipes to follow, along with necesary preparation tips and so on...Anyone got a nice tip for those who can't cook or refuse to?
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I am not vengeful, I just like to repay unkind acts in kind!

[jacaylbaro]

You only need to open the oven and put some food inside ,,,,,,, it will tell you when ready ,,,,, and you take it out ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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[Kastuumo]

I'm one of those won't cook person....i mean it's fine when you cook for others (ONCE IN A BLUE MOON) but when you live alone it gets kinda boring....sometimes I wake up in the morning and think...wow today ama make me some pasta with mushrooms...followed by cotelette alla milanese with some salad and then to top it off...some brownies...then i think...hmm it would involve me getting out of bed...going into a the kitchen....filling up a pot with some water...turning on the stove...putting the pot on the stove...cutting some chicken...getting the egg and flour and then on top of all that...theres the washing up to do! No thank you...i prefer to stay in my bed and shouting out I'm hungry at twenty minutes intervals

Yep life is grand...but I tell you though...you can't survive on microwavable food...that's just wrong

and why exactly is it called fast food...i mean you put it in the oven and you gotta wait a whole 25-30 minutes...you can make a two course meal in that time!

[Ashley]

I can make a deadly Pancake and Coffee ............I simply wont cook.....I was once told breakfast is the best meal of the day.........and I can fix that...Maxaa kale la iga rabaa

Chill with the still

[jacaylbaro]

Anastazia ,,,, i'm worring about your man now ,,, it is Ok that u can prepare some nice breakfast ,, but what about dinner coz he should be ready for the big fight and can't do it without nice dinner ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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[Ashley]

Macho man........now why would he require dinner when he has me?

[jacaylbaro]

he has to make sure first if the fuel tank is full ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, then he can smile at you while u making some is jejebis ,,,,,,,,,
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[Cadaan]

Geez, what's wrong with all you chicks in here? Cooking is not hard to do.....You just have to follow the recipe, or if you don't have a recipe, then just cook baasto!! Simple.....

a medium/large onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup oil(I use lots of oil)
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced(This cooking jargon is kool!!)
a bunch of suqaar or shishiid(I'm not sure how much I use, but it's a lot!)
Whatever seasoning you want(I use Italiano and Roasted Garlic and Peppers)
A can of tomato sauce or pasta sauce(like Ragu)


Put the oil in first and heat it up(on medium-high heat)
Throw in the rest and cook until meat is cooked all the way through(cover up the pot, it'll cook faster)
Throw in the can of tomato sauce(I mean empty the can, don't actually throw the whole can in)
Add seasoning to taste(more jargon)
Cook on med/low heat for 1/2 hour for seasoning to soak in(or something like that)

[Miriam]

Cooking wasn't my favoured thing to do. Because simply I did not need it. My mom was and still best cook ever!. Was no need me to cook. But I discovered that I can also cook and all depends on my mood.

The basic foods i know like Sabayad, rice, chichen, meat, all kind of salad and soup. My guests wont be hungry


Salam
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Life is tough, but I’m tougher!

"You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who say it." Malcolm X

[Lily]

I'm an excellent cook and I like cooking, I don't think it's cute to be a grown up (male or female) and not be able to cook. Dawoco, I'll gladly teach you, it’s a piece of cake. Now if you are just figuring out how to work an oven, let’s start very simple. This doesn't include so much cooking. Here it goes:

Ingredients

*2 or 3 pieces of boneless chicken breast
*1 whole red onion
*1 green pepper
*2 fresh tomatoes
*4-5 full table spoons of sweet corn
*half of cucumber
*you will also need wraps, these are kind of like japaties but you can buy them from stores, kind of like the chicken wraps you buy from fast food shops.
*favourite sauces, either garlic, spicy tomatoes, the type you use as dips for Doritos or even ketchup (yuck though)

Cooking instructions
1) Get a nice pan or saucepan and pour little olive oil
2) Chop the chicken into small cubes, small as sugar cubes
3) Put the chicken cubes into the frying pan, add xawash, lemon and any other general spices you like. Let it cook for 30 mins.
4) Chop all the onions, cucumber, green pepper, tomatoes and add the sweet corn and any other vegetable you like.
5) Get the wrap, put the chicken in, followed by the cut up vegetables, and add the sauce, wrap around the food. Voila! Easy meal

[mysam]

If you let me hijack Waterlily's ingredients and cook it differently.


Cooking instructions
1. Add the cooking oil n put to heat in a saucepan.
2.Finely chop the onions into small cubes, let them turn golden in the frying pan.
3.Add chopped n cubed green/red pepper(ur choice), carrots and sweetcorn.
4. Add the cooked chicken to this mixture with the xawash, dont forget garlic and anyother seasoning let them fry together then either add tomato paste or chopped tomatoes and let cook.
5. Add a little water to let simmer and the chicken cook yani make it tender.
6. Let the water evaporate, u get this saucy,spicy chicken with a reddish colouration. can add more lemon if u like.
7. You can make a side dish of salad. You then wrap the sauce up in the fajitas, or have it with rice or have it with chapati.( so u can have it differently) Its a life saver, instead of the chicken u can cook meat the same way just dont add sweetcorn)

Bon Apetite.


Dawoco, dont sweat it, I was tomboy too and I learnt the tricks of the trade. I come from a family of cooks, but I havent been one for a while blame it on boarding schools,M always doing the cooking (love her food ) living alone and not wanting to be bothered with it. It all comes down to interest, once in a while force yourself. I get into moods , feel like cooking mood and u fine me in the kitchen trying something weird. But whenever I have guests around, I make sure I have my recipe books around or give ma a call, that is if i want to make something unique. Hey ma, give me the ingredients of this dish and Im done. Otherwise its basto with either tuna/ turkey or chicken mincemeat, bariis with sauce, chapati with either cocunut spinach/peas or meat sauce, u know the somali type. Or just basto, salad with cubed cheese. Homemade caramel pudding, carrot and cinnamon cake. Im too lazy these days, need 2 be pushed, I guess.

My advice find urself someone u can call for ASAP recipes and reliable dishes. And before you try something new, make sure uve tried the recipe n tasted it urself first before having freinds around. As sometimes may not come out the way u like it. Plus get urself som cook books>Debenhams had some ranges on different countries, I liked their indian one. teaches how 2 make a sambusa, lassi....... and has pictures step by step approach.

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"And hold fast, all of u 2gether, 2 the Rope of Allah n b not divided among urselves, n remember Allah's Favor on u, 4 u were enemies one2 another but He joined ur hearts 2gether, so that, by His Grace, u became brethren ..." 3:103.

[Batuulo]

Dawaco sis... Wax kasto wexee u baahantahay time and effort. I learnt how to cook by experiencing alot, sometimes it was awful and sometimes it was good, i always made sure the family hadn't eaten for hours and when aan wax isku walaaqo they appreciated it after all it was food. whether lug mesa gacan lugu kariyey. and since making food was expected from me, i gradually became better to the point that my mom tells me to cook for martida.( thats the second highest level) the highest level is making food for sab.
So my advice is if you are barbarat , start with making sure you audience havent eaten for at least 7 hours
Then by the time you have cooked for them they will definately like your food, soomalida wexeey dhahdaa "cusbadaa ku badan dhereg ayaa leh" Look at recipes and use your imagination. I hope you reach the "sab" level.

[cadani]

QAMAR mardhaw amuur aan qabnaa ama sab...reer SS DUCEYSANAYO CAMAL MARKA manoo karin kartaa adi sabta oo bariiska kor sabiib kafuulo oo lashu shuteyey camal
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Shirxun qofkii socdo iyo shaneemo ruux aaday shar waa la kulmaa sheydaan ma waahaayo

[Bilan]

dawaco kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk mac sokor, all that spoiling waa umalaynayay.

i am good cook, and i dont like sharing my recipes with yous!

over n out

ps: get a man who can cook, it helps
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I do admire your devotion to ME!!

[Tuujiye]

ok as a grown man..... ......I know how to cook anything been ma aha...BUT....

when I get my Wife, she will do all the cooking..maybe I will cook on the weekends and do the food on the bed thing, and sweets under the sheets thing but I will not COOK like if I was the cook of the house...

Wareer Badanaa!!!!
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The things life teaches you is what makes you a better person!!

[Pacifist]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Xasiidaad

Don't worry Dawoco you can always sms me and will send you recipes for emergencys.

Cooking is all practice sis. I was in the same boat as you. All my life I had my sisters an cousin always at home until they alllllllllllllllllllll got married and left home. I mean also we had cooks who cooked every kind of meal. But the problem was that on sundays in Zambia they are all off. So as I grew up and my mother being very traditionalists. At first she did the cooking on sundays but then i felt shame because of my mother waking up and cooking for us. And then feeding me like a baby soo that was it. Next sunday at the age of 11 I woke up and started cooking what I knew best eggs and French toast for the whole family. My mom laughed so hard I still remember. At first I hated cooking because there were so many people in my house. That was also the time that the civil war broke out and people were coming from Somalia non stops sleeping every where. My older brothers loved suqaar and malawax for dinner so it was a must for that to be cooked and believe me cooking malawax for almost 30+ people who are mostly guys. So I would be sitting there cooking malawax all night until each of them had dinner. After that I told my hooyo i don't mind cooking but its crazy i can't make malawax for all these people. My mother would be like waking me up 6am for me to cook breakfast and she was like girls don't sleep in. naa kaac baan ku iri. After that I woke just mix things and see how they turned out. My brothers were very supportive of me. Sometimes although they hated it they still said cool its yummy. So I started watching mom cook and then next day I would try what ever she did.

Best way mix things and then see how they turn. You will probably throw it sometimes but then you will see what kinds of ingrediants they are missing.


So Dawoco for me to help you I want to know what you can work with and then we will go from there

[Tuujiye]

Waraa cadaani..Zab uris kaa tahay waaxid.. Qamar aa Zab ka raadinee yaah?..dhuuni adiga oo kale waa kasaa.. ciyaalka Zubatul wiido ahaa yaah...Godkoo la qoday hadaa aragtid waa gaadee waxa lagu qali rabo yaah!! mise waxaa aheed zabatul shaash saarun?

Wareer Badanaa!!!
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The things life teaches you is what makes you a better person!!

[Pacifist]

[Bilan]

loooooooooooooooooooool ghazalah

waraa feebaro that is so sweet, i never knew you had it in you

please welcome mr sensitive and loving
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I do admire your devotion to ME!!

[Lily]

Erm, ladies, you seem to have overlooked the I'm never going to cook part.