Hawa Makes Digaag Qumbe (Somali Stew)

[Cameraman] So what do we got here?

We got the basbaas.

Are these the only two that you have?

Yep.

We've got four more coming out later on in the year.

[Cameraman] So that's gonna be.

Ooh!

That's VC!

[spunky music]

This is my first day at the test kitchen.

I'm here to share my family's favorite recipe,

coconut chicken yogurt from

the wonderful country of Somalia, my home country.

Because we have the longest coastline in Africa,

in Somalia, we use a lot of warm spices.

The way the Indian Ocean and the spice trade

flowed through Somalia, carrying on to Tanzania,

going down to Zanzibar, and on and on to

Mozambique and Madagascar,

the way that cinnamon is used in Somalia

is very different than the way cinnamon

is used in Mozambique.

One is savory, one is sweet,

and I think that's what's really special about

the countries that border the Indian Ocean.

It's a vast place that also served

as a flavor gateway into so many different places.

On top of that, then you have the colonization,

so Somalia was an Italian colony until 1960,

which my parents grew up in Italy Somalia,

and a lot of our stuff is pasta and sugo,

which is, you know, pasta sauce.

I like to really say that anything in this recipe

can be found in your everyday pantry.

So there's cumin, cardamom, tumeric, ginger, yogurt,

tomato paste, pepper, more tomatoes.

So I'm gonna just cut up the jalapeños,

take the membranes out.

I do that just to adjust the heat level,

sometimes I want it a little bit hotter,

I'll keep more of the insides in.

Obviously, if I'm making it for a friend

who doesn't like heat as much as I do

then I'll take some out.

If I'm making it for a large group,

I'll allow them to adjust by putting

their own sauces on top of it.

I like a little heat.

Don't we all?

[Cameraman] Yeah!

We're gonna add the bell peppers

along to the puree before we set it aside.

This is where really the base of the stew comes from.

Ooh, they're juicy.

These are good ones.

You guys shop at the farmer's market?

[blender grinding]

This is my favorite thing in my house.

All right.

We're gonna just

heat some olive oil before I throw the onions and garlic in.

[Cameraman] I love the way the apron says Brooklyn,

like, the way it's framed in the B-Cam.

It's amazing.

Oh, yay!

If I look cray-cray, y'all will tell me?

[Cameraman] That's right, that's our job.

Okay.

Don't let me get lost in the sauce.

I'm gonna just throw in the onions

and the garlic.

We're gonna sweat them out, stir often.

Should take about five minutes.

So while I let this cook down,

I'm gonna go over and get my ginger together,

which is the next thing I'm gonna throw in here

along with the spices.

I just use a spoon to take the skin off,

this way I don't lose a lot of the meat.

Also, too, where I come from,

where I come from, I come from Brooklyn,

but in Somalia, we use ginger for everything.

We have in the morning with our tea,

we use it in our rice.

Ginger is a big part of my everyday life.

I told Tommy, I said,

The only thing I didn't want to do was chop on camera.

[Cameraman] And here we are.

Here we are, chopping.

I was born in Mogadishu in 1986.

When the war happened in 1991, my family and I

moved to Nairobi.

I was like four or five years old

being my mother's helper in the kitchen,

and like, in the middle of the war

and learning how to be an independent child.

And then I moved to Seattle in 1993.

[Cameraman] Can we talk about your shoes?

Yes!

Oh my God.

Do my feet look a little rough?

[laughter]

[Cameraman] What's the name of the polish?

My polish is called A Good Mandarin is Hard to Find.

[cameraman laughing]

'Cause I live in New York City

and I don't know where they are.

Can you smell that?

[Cameraman] Yeah.

So good.

I'm gonna dump my roughly-chopped ginger in.

Cumin.

Cardamom.

Look how pretty this tumeric gets.

We're gonna fold all of this together,

let it go for about one to two minutes

until it's fragrant.

And then we're gonna add our puree.

Ooh!

Smells like my mother's house.

[Cameraman] Is this a recipe from when you were a kid?

Yeah, so this is a recipe that my sisters

and my mother cook all the time.

More my sisters than my mom,

my mom is into shouting instructions

while sitting on the kitchen floor.

Every person in my family makes it

a little bit different.

My mother uses ghee, I don't use ghee.

Just 'cause, like, obviously I live in New York City

and I don't want to add extra fat where I don't need it.

All right, so it's starting to brown,

it's getting sticky at the bottom.

This is a good time to throw in what we pureed earlier.

Gonna mix everything together,

and I'm gonna let this come to a boil

for about 10 minutes.

So in addition to the puree,

I'm gonna add my yogurt now.

Oops!

[Cameraman] Good save.

Then we're gonna add about a tablespoon

of tomato puree, stir it together.

Look how pretty it looks.

So I'm gonna cover and let it simmer for about 10 minutes,

occasionally checking on it and stirring.

Somalia people are very particular

in the way they pronounce things,

and since I've been here by myself

since I was seven, my Somali is Somalian-English?

My little sister was like, What are you gonna cook?

I told her, I was like, I'm gonna make digaag qumbe.

And she was like, Why are you saying it like that?

My family lives in Oslo, they live in Norway.

Here's her sending me how to say digaag qumbe.

[Female Speaker] Digaag qumbe.

My little sister, we call her Kidhogo,

which means small one is Swahili

because she's small but mighty.

She's one of the best cooks in our family.

So it's been about 10 minutes.

We're gonna now add the carrots and potatoes.

Gonna stir it all together,

and I'm gonna let this cook for about 15 to 18 minutes.

Oh, it smells so good.

In my family, like in the mornings,

if you wake up and you get to the kitchen,

you can find my mom with a tumeric mask on her face

almost every day.

It's like a beauty thing that women in Somalia do.

I'm gonna roughly chop about a cup of cilantro.

Chop, chop, chop.

Cilantro just makes everything better.

Even smelling it right now.

[Gaby] We're all cilantro lovers.

I fit right in.

All right, so we're gonna go throw this in.

Oh, there it goes.

Potatoes look ready, here's the cubed chicken.

I'm using chicken breast, two pounds of it.

In my family, too, we use a lot of thigh,

'cause thigh if just juicier

and the bone holds on to the juice

a little bit better than a breast.

Throw the cilantro in.

I let this simmer for about 20 minutes

until the chicken is tender.

And then we'll come back.

[spunky music]

It tastes just like my mom's.

It's so good.

[Tommy] So excited about this.

How is it?

Good.

I love that coconut milk.

This is Beth Linskey, my fairy godmother.

And my business mentor.

Yes.

AKA my BFF.

[laughter]

I invited her here today so she could

have some of this digaag qumbe.

Get blessed by that scent.

[laughs]

By that aroma.

Oh yeah, look at that color.

And if we had some cilantro,

I'd just throw some cilantro over it,

and traditionally, I would eat this with, oh.

[everyone laughing]

Miracles, they happen every day.

[Cameraman] It's pretty cool,

sometimes you say something and it'll just show up.

This is traditionally eaten with a banana.

That's how I like to eat it.

How most Somalians eat it.

Get out!

[laughs]

This kitchen is magic!

All right.

And if you have hot sauce that you want to

throw that on top of there, you can.

We use what's called basbaas,

which means chili in Somali.

We have a coconut and cilantro one

and a tamarind and date one.

I own a business that makes these hot sauces,

so I often throw just a couple of spoons of it

on top of here.

Do you have them here?

I did not bring them,

'cause I didn't think about the crew today.

But I'll bring some next time.

I think about the crew.

[Cameraman] Matt has some.

Yes!

Oh my goodness!

Would you eat your sauces with this?

Oh yeah, so you just put

the green sauce on top. I'm really fast.

The basbaas on top.

Thank you, Tommy.

We got the basbaas.

We got the basbaas.

It's got a bit of a kick.

It's made with a jalapeño, so it really brings

all the flavors together.

I love that basbaas is getting a shout-out.

Oh, yeah!

That's the brand, man.

So what happens with the spinach?

I eat it with spinach sometimes,

especially late at night.

I'll make a pot for myself and then eat it

throughout the week.

Okay.

So I'll use my spinach as the base instead of rice

when I'm going easy on carbs.

Oh!

Yeah, let me make you a plate.

[Molly] And what's with the banana?

It's so good.

This is amazing.

I've never done this before.

Thank you, Molly!

It's crazy because it's

not only savory and sweet,

but it's hot and cold, so there's all sorts of

contrast happening in your mouth at the same time.

Just gonna it right often. What's this dish called?

It's called.

[Female Speaker] Digaag qumbe.

Digaag qumbe.

Yes!

Did I just nail that?

You, I mean, we've been trying in here for a while.

[laughter]

[Female Speaker] Digaag qumbe.

You guys can stop rolling 'cause now

I'm just gonna eat my lunch.

[everyone laughing]

Did you want me to leave?

Mmm. Mmm.

Well there you have it, Somali food on Bon App.

I hope you'll make it.

Tag me in it.

All right.

So here's my little sister.

[Female Speaker] Digaag qumbe.