Somali grill houses take suqaar — the small-dice cut of meat usually flash-fried with xawaash spices — and thread it onto skewers over charcoal, with hilib ari (goat meat) the most prized version. Common in Mogadishu restaurants and across the Somali diaspora, it is typically eaten with canjeero flatbread or spiced rice and a splash of bisbaas green chili sauce.
Also known as: hilib ari, suqaar, suqar, Somali kabaab, hilib shiilan
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g beef or goat, small 2 cm dice (the suqaar cut)
- 2 tsp xawaash (cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, black pepper, turmeric)
- 1 onion, half grated for the marinade, half in petals for threading
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 green pepper, small squares
- anjero or rice, plus a banana on the side
- green chili sauce (basbaas)
How to make it
- 1
Toss the small dice with xawaash, grated onion, garlic, oil and salt; 2 hours in the cool lets the warm spices settle in.
- 2
Alternate meat, onion petal and pepper square on thin skewers — small cut, small vegetables, same rhythm.
- 3
Grill over hot coals just 6-8 minutes, turning often; suqaar-size dice overcooks the moment you stop paying attention.
- 4
Rest 2 minutes and slide off the sticks.
- 5
Serve with anjero or rice, basbaas, and the customary banana alongside.
Pro tip: Xawaash already contains the whole spice cupboard — resist adding anything else, and toast the blend briefly in a dry pan first if it is shop-bought.
The story of Somali suqaar skewers
Suqaar is the Somali small-dice cut of meat usually flash-fried with xawaash spices, and Somali grill houses thread it onto skewers over charcoal instead. Hilib ari — goat meat — is the most prized version, and it is common in Mogadishu restaurants and across the Somali diaspora.
It is typically eaten with canjeero flatbread or spiced rice and a splash of bisbaas, the green chilli sauce that accompanies almost everything in Somali cooking. The dish sits at the meeting point of Somalia's own pastoral meat tradition and the Indian Ocean spice trade that shaped its seasoning.
The technique that defines it
Xawaash is the defining spice blend — cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, toasted and ground — and it is used as a dry rub here rather than in the wet sauté the pan version uses. Applied dry, it toasts on the grill and the cardamom and cinnamon come forward.
The dice is small, around a centimetre and a half, which is what suqaar means, and the pieces are packed tightly on the skewer so they protect each other. The cook is short and hot, five or six minutes, because pieces this small dry out quickly and goat in particular is lean.
Choosing your ingredients
Goat (hilib ari) is the prized meat and worth seeking out; beef and lamb are the alternatives. Small dice, around a centimetre and a half, with fat included or threaded between.
Xawaash, toasted and ground fresh — it is worth making a jar since it is used across Somali cooking. Garlic, a little oil, salt. Canjeero (the Somali fermented flatbread) or bariis (spiced rice), and bisbaas — blended green chilli, coriander, garlic and lime — on the side.
Mistakes that ruin it
Using xawaash as a wet marinade
For the grilled version it goes on dry so it toasts. The wet application belongs to the pan-fried suqaar.
Dice too large
Suqaar means small dice. Larger pieces make it a different dish.
Loose threading
Pack the pieces tight so they shield each other. Small pieces with gaps dry out fast.
Skipping the bisbaas
It supplies the acid and the heat. Somali grilled meat is mild and the sauce is what completes it.
How it is served
With canjeero or spiced rice, bisbaas, a banana on the side — which is a genuine and much-remarked Somali convention — and sweet tea afterwards. It is restaurant and gathering food and portions are generous.
Questions about Somali suqaar skewers
What is suqaar?
The Somali small-dice cut of meat, usually flash-fried with xawaash spices. Grill houses also thread it onto skewers over charcoal.
What is xawaash?
The Somali spice blend — cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, toasted and ground. It is used across the cuisine.
What is bisbaas?
The Somali green chilli sauce, blended from green chilli, coriander, garlic and lime, served with almost every dish.
Why is a banana served with it?
It is a well-established Somali convention with rice and meat dishes. Visitors find it odd and Somalis find it obvious.
