Hilib ari

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.5 kggoat meat, on the bone
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• water, to cover

To boil with

• 1onion, halved
• 4garlic cloves
• 3cm ginger, sliced
• 1cinnamon stick
• 4cardamom pods
• 2bay leaves
• 1 teaspoonblack peppercorns

To fry

• 2onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoonsxawaash spice mix
• or 1 teaspoon each cumin, coriander and black pepper
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric
• 1green chilli, chopped, optional
• a handful of coriander, chopped

To serve

• bariis, Somali spiced rice
• 1ripe banana per person
• basbaas, chilli sauce
• salad and lime

Directions

1. Cut it into large pieces for boiling. Rinse the goat thoroughly in cold water. Rinse that off after ten minutes. Pat the pieces dry before they go in. Put the goat into a large pot. Cover it well with cold water. Bring it up slowly to a simmer. Skim it off with a large spoon.
2. Keep skimming until no more appears. That keeps the broth clean tasting. Add the halved onion and the garlic. Add the ginger and the whole spices. Add the bay leaves and the salt.
3. Cover it and let it simmer gently. Cooking it takes genuinely real time. Spoon it off carefully into a bowl. Keep every bit of it for the frying. There should be a good amount of it. Lift the meat out of the broth. Let it drain thoroughly in a colander.
4. Keep the broth for cooking the rice. Pat the pieces dry with kitchen paper. Heat the reserved fat in a wide pan. Add the sliced onions to the pan. Cook them for about six minutes.
5. Add the spices and fry them briefly. Add the drained meat to the pan. Fry it hard over a medium high heat. Turn the pieces as they colour. Give it about twelve minutes in total. Add the chopped chilli if you want heat. Scatter the chopped coriander over it.
6. Taste it and adjust the salt now. Cooking the rice is done in the broth. Use the reserved goat broth for the rice. Strain it first to remove the aromatics. Cook the rice in it as you normally would. Serving it is done hot on a platter. Spoon the rice onto a large platter. Pile the fried meat over the top of it.
7. Pour any fat left in the pan over the rice. Set a whole banana beside each place. Put basbaas on the table for those who want heat. It keeps three days refrigerated. Fry it again briefly to reheat it.

Technique

• The meat is boiled until tender and then fried in its own rendered fat, and neither stage alone gives the same result; the fat is skimmed from the pot, used for frying, and any left over is poured over the rice.
• A whole ripe banana is served alongside as part of the meal rather than as a dessert, eaten in pieces with mouthfuls of the savoury food, and the sweetness against the spiced meat is the point.
• Hilib ari means goat meat, suqaar is a related dish of small diced meat and hilib duban means grilled meat; the three are distinct preparations.

Substitutions

• Lamb or mutton stand in for goat and cook the same way.
• A mixed ground spice blend replaces bought xawaash.

Variations

• Suqaar uses the same meat cut small and fried without the long boil.
• Some cooks add potato to the frying pan alongside the meat.
• The goat broth is used to cook the rice as a matter of course.

History

Goat is the everyday festive meat; the boil-then-fry method, called suqaar or hilib duban, renders fat that is poured back over the rice.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hilib ari?

Hilib ari is a main from Somalia: goat meat boiled then fried in its own fat, piled on rice with banana. Goat is the everyday festive meat; the boil-then-fry method, called suqaar or hilib duban, renders fat that is poured back over the rice.

How long does Hilib ari take to make?

Hilib ari takes 25 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Hilib ari?

Yes, within limits. Lamb or mutton stand in for goat and cook the same way. A mixed ground spice blend replaces bought xawaash.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hilib ari?

Keep skimming until no more appears. That keeps the broth clean tasting. Add the halved onion and the garlic. Add the ginger and the whole spices. Add the bay leaves and the salt.