Sunday 13 October 2019

Learn Swahili Food and Drinks

Tanzania is a country with approximate 100% Swahili speakers scattered all over the country. When you come, you will see that we do have our own traditional food and drinks that we enjoy a lot. Let's start with some few food names:


  1. Ugali - ugali 
  2. uji - porridge
  3. uji wa ulezi - millet porridge 
  4. mtori - this is like green banana soup/porridge; normally mixed with small pieces of meat.
  5. ndizi - banana (can be just cooked as potatoes/sometimes is mixed with mead), can also be fried
  6. mihogo - cassava. can be fried, when you walk on Dar es salaam streets in the morning and late evening you will find many are being prepared just along the street roads. or cooked with water but when ready we dry out the water. also, some prefer it with its soup, so they do add some salt, onion and even tomatoes.
  7. kachumbari - is like chutney. we cut small pieces of tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, pepper, cucumber and we add salt and little water as well as a lemon if you have. you mix and leave it for a while before eating. we use it mostly when eating with pilau or mostly fried foods.
  8. viazi vitamu - sweet potatoes. normally boiled or fried. we use as a part of breakfast together with a cup of tea
  9. viazi mviringo - Irish potatoes. It can be cooked with soup, which can be mixed with meat. Eaten anytime. Normally it is used for chips.
  10. bamia - ladyfingers. used as something to eat with ugali and can be added in any vegetable to be eaten with ugali or rice.
  11. majimbi - they are like taro plants. resembling to sweet potatoes and normally are cooked for breakfast
  12. karanga - groundnuts. Can be eaten as they are anytime. can be ground and mixed in vegetables, cooked bananas, porridge, etc
  13. mbaazi - pigeon peas. Normally eaten with ugali.
  14. uwele - bullrush millet.
  15. nyanya - tomatoes
  16. matembele - sweet potato leaves, used as a vegetable.
  17. mchicha - spinach-like plant, used as a vegetable
  18. kabichi - cabbage. It is used as a vegetable, and for making the kachumbari
  19. wali/ubwabwa - rice (already cooked)
  20. Biriani - the rice, with yellow colour because of the ingredients put, normally added with meat. Most of the people in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) do eat a lot on Fridays, holidays, celebrations etc
  21. pilau - pilau
  22. chipsi - chips 
  23. chipsi mayai - the chips added with some eggs to make it look like big chapati. Very very very famous in Tanzania.
  24. mishikaki - pieces of meat on spit/skewer, kebab, shish kebab.
  25. mchemsho/supu - meat/fish soup. sometimes added with green banana/Irish potatoes
  26. bumunda - It is like a fried bun. made up of the mixture of ripe banana and flour (normally maize or millet flour). It is mostly made in some rural areas, unlikely to be found in towns. 
  27. maharage - beans. Normally used as a vegetable to eat with the ugali
  28. nyama - meat.
  29. mahindi ya kuchoma - Mahindi is Corns/maize. the green corn is being fried on charcoal, then we eat. very tasty
  30. sambusa - samosa 
  31. vitumbua - rice/maize bun
  32. dagaa - sardines, anchovy. Eaten with ugali or rice
  33. urojo - the steaf soup with lots of ingredients. mostly eaten in Zanzibar 
  34. mrenda - a type of green vegetable that is used to eat with rice or ugali, but it is very slippery when u eat


Also, apart from the modern bear, we do have some drinks too:
  1. Mnazi - the beer obtained from the young coconut tree
  2. Ulanzi - the beer obtained from a young bamboo tree
  3. Komoni - alcohol made from maize
  4. chimpum - alcohol made from maize end products, normally is best when is being taken while still hot
  5. mbege -  made from ripe bananas
  6. wanzuki - normally is made from honey, or sometimes the mixture of sugar, water, and yeast

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