Hawa Makes Suugo Suqaar (Somali Pasta)

Oh, it's so good.

Yum! [laughing]

I'm gonna wash my hands.

[Cameraman] Great.

[upbeat music]

Hi, I'm Hawa Hassan, I'm back with

all my Somalianess.

Today we're making Suugo,

which is one of the main meals in Somalia.

It's our pasta sauce,

which we graciously inherited from the Italians,

but we've obviously put our own twist on it

because we're Somalis, and that's that we do.

We love warm spices.

Xawaash happens to just be the backbone

of a lot of our dishes.

This is what it ends up being,

but I wanna introduce you guys to what it originally is.

So we've got coriander, cinnamon, cardamon ponds,

peppercorn, cloves, and just some tumeric.

We toast everything except for the tumeric.

Grind everything, then it ends up being this

which is used in a lot of our rice, our pastas,

in our stews.

In terms of flavors, this is not very far off

from the spices we used in our Digaag Qumbe.

If you're familiar with garam masala,

this is literally the garam masala of Somalia.

I'm excited to make this because it just takes up the flavor

of our pasta sauce, and it turns it into

something that is traditionally Somali.

We make ours with ground turkey, so that is special

because it's the way that it's made in our household,

and that's what I'm here to share today.

In Somali cooking, oftentimes we use red onion.

We have this saying where we say we don't trust you

unless you use a red onion in your cooking.

So I'm gonna start with chopping this.

So you cut the onion.

You can cut it however you want.

You can chop it, or you can have big chunks.

So we're getting the base of the sauce ready.

Let's head over, so we can do the olive oil

and start combining the sauce.

I'm gonna turn this on medium heat.

I'm gonna have about a half a cup of olive oil.

First of all, I'm gonna let the olive oil heat a bit,

gonna add the onions,

then I'm gonna add my garlic and Xawaash.

Let that all come together and build.

From there I'll put the ground turkey in.

I'll add my tomatoes,

and we'll let it sit for about 30 minutes.

I'm gonna throw the onions in now.

I'm gonna sweat this out a little bit

and then let them brown.

Shortly after that I'll add my garlic and Xawaash.

What is this?

You've got this!

All the encouragement I need.

Can I use this?

[Cameraman] Yes.

All right.

We'll do that.

Follow me back, so we can get the spices.

I'm getting my workout in today.

The main difference in our pasta sauce

really is the fact that we use

as I was saying earlier the Xawaash,

and what the Xawaash really does

is it gives it a different flavor, and it makes it warmer.

And it gives it just like an earthy, aromatic flavor,

and that's honestly what makes this so good.

So a tablespoon of this will as you'll soon smell,

will change the whole dish

because nothing here is out of the ordinary.

All these things are things you can find

in any grocery store.

This is the only difference.

We blend that on our own.

I'm gonna throw in the garlic along with that.

It's pretty.

Just for the culture I'm gonna add a bit more Xawaash.

It won't change it.

It maybe will be a stronger taste,

but it won't change the flavor at all.

It's not gonna be too salty or too sweet

or anything like that.

I'm gonna then throw in our green bell pepper.

I like to use green bell pepper,

but you could use red pepper if that's of interest to you.

So this is gonna add a bit more water to the dish,

which is getting it ready for our tomatoes.

This is my favorite meal.

I make this every Sunday for myself.

I often eat it over a sweet potato, a baked sweet potato.

It reminds me of my childhood.

The smell of it, and whenever I'm missing my mother,

it's my go to.

I'm gonna put two tablespoons of tomato paste.

I'm gonna let it all come together.

So everything is brown, and it's come together.

I'm gonna throw in our ground turkey

to bring it all together.

Let the turkey brown.

It's weird because it come so natural for me to make it.

I'm from a family of 10 kids, and I'm the second eldest.

I'm the eldest daughter, so it was something

that you would make for the group when everyone is together.

It's an easy way to feed a large group of people,

but it's also really perfect for me now

because I get to have all these feelings of home,

and I get to feel like I'm in my mother's house,

but I also am able to eat this for like a week.

I might even add more Xawaash.

I'm really loving the smell in here.

I'm not very particular in regards to the way

that I cut my onions or my pepper.

Sometimes I really do like the chunkiness of it.

It makes the meal, or it makes this feel a bit heartier,

so let it go.

All right, we're ready.

We're ready for the tomatoes.

I'm just gonna dump it all.

Cover it a bit so I don't get splashed.

These are just diced tomato.

You can use any version of it.

We do keep the juices of the tomato.

Don't worry.

It'll taste so good on your pasta.

I'm gonna add a bit more Xawaash.

I'm just gonna sprinkle it all over.

Fold everything together before I cover it.

So we're gonna let this sit for 30 minutes

and then come back to it.

All right, so it's been 30 minutes.

It is done.

I'm gonna just give it a bit of a taste.

I want to see if it needs a bit more Xawaash.

It's incredible. [laughing]

Just joking, but it doesn't need anything.

I'm gonna go back over there and start plating.

You see those kitchen hands?

I didn't even need a towel.

All right.

Obviously we've got bananas.

You don't have to eat everything with a banana,

but Somali people do.

And I want to stay true to that.

We have spaghetti.

Obviously Somalis eat a good amount of that.

I'm gonna just plate some here.

I throw the Suugo right on top.

Get some cilantro.

I love cilantro.

And then in the meantime,

I'll get some juice out of this lemon or lime.

I'll get some juice out of this lime.

But if you have a lemon on hand, you could use that as well.

We love sweet, savory, and sour together.

Anyone wanna try this with me?

Gaby?

[Cameraman] Gaby!

Hey, Gaby.

Come on down.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm busy texting at work.

You're texting who?

[Cameraman] You're texting at work?

Yeah I'm texting from work.

Hi!

Hi, happy birthday@

Oh, thank you.

What are we, can you like walk me through

because I see a banana.

I want you to try it all.

Okay.

So this is a recipe.

This is Somalia's pasta sauce.

It's Suugo.

Suugo?

Italian, right?

Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so the only difference is that we use Xawaash

which is all of these spices you see here.

We toast it, ground it, and it turns into this.

Wanna smell it?

Okay, yes, oh, wow!

So that's the base of that.

Nice, nice, all right.

We're going in? I want you

to try it with me, and then yeah.

And then I want you to have it with a bite of banana

for the culture.

Would the banana be like the replacement

of like the bread when you're pushing,

or why the banana?

We eat everything with banana.

We love sweet and savory together.

Right, no, me too, that's a big, big thing.

Okay, let's do it.

Okay.

Oh, I'm the only one eating it?

You're doing the honors.

[Gaby] Do you want to make a different plate?

That's true, I could, I could.

Yes, do you wanna do like Lady and the Tramp, like oooh?

[Cameraman] [singing] This is the night.

Let me know what you think,

and take a bite of banana as well.

[murmuring approval]

That's good amount of spiciness for me.

'Cause sometimes I chicken out, I'm too weird.

I'm going with the banana.

Okay.

So that is tomatoes, and the green is?

[Hawa] Bell pepper, green bell pepper.

Nice.

Garlic.

Nice, we're fans of green pepper,

Brad, myself, not these fancy people here.

They don't like green pepper, okay, here we go.

You got the hang of it.

I like it.

I like this.

Thank you, Gaby.

That's a new thing, banana everywhere.

I love it!

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, I might have some more when you're done.

Yeah, I'll make you a plate.

I appreciate it, thanks.

No worries, happy Friday.

Thank you!

Suugo, spaghetti, Xawaash, banana, cilantro.

You got it.

30 minutes and change and you've got your weekly night meal.

I hope you guys will make it.

I like mine el dente.

Is that, that's a thing right?

Joking.