Haboaba's Kitchen

SUDAN 🇸🇩

If you ever happen to travel the country of Sudan, it will be almost certain that you receive an invitation into someone's home. Hospitality is part of everyday life, and Sudanese people will risk life and limb (even if they say it is not any trouble) to make sure any guest is treated with the full arsenal of the kitchen. It is also expected to frequently drop by (often unannounced) the homes of your neighbors, friends, and family to pay respects and catch up on any news.

To make sure to always be prepared for these occasions, every house will have a selection of small treats to serve with tea. Most popular in the country are the sweet biscuits known as baskaweet al-shai, the product offered by brand new Haboaba's Kitchen. Each home has a slightly different recipe and design for the cookies, which can be of many shapes and sizes.

The distinctive shape and taste found in these cookies is of course the famous recipe of grandma, or "haboaba," a term of endearment used in Sudan when speaking to or about a grandmother. The proprietor of Haboaba's Kitchen, Sulafa Bashir, has named her business in honor of her grandmother, who was well known for making this style of unmistakable baskaweet al-shai.

As Eid al-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast approaches at the coming end of Ramadan, now would be the time to traditionally stock up on these biscuits, by baking a large batch or of course purchasing some to have around. Typically these are enjoyed around breakfast in the morning and later in the afternoon as a tea time snack, but during Ramadan of course these options are not available as most Sudanese are fasting. After Eid al-Fitr, everyone can go back to delighting in their baskaweet al-shai at proper hours.

[DISCLAIMER]
While this article reads much like an advertisement, it is not. I reached out to the business after finding it on Instagram, and was immediately treated as an old friend much like the hospitality described above. This business is not a restaurant, so I was invited to the home of the proprietor after inquiring to learn more and offered tea and biscuits (and an entire iftar feast with a couple other friends). The box below is offered for sale on Haboaba's Kitchen's Etsy page, which we purchased to bring home.

If you are interested, you can find this and their other products here:
Haboaba's Kitchen Etsy page

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Online Orders Only

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Sambuxa NYC

SUDAN 🇸🇩

[UPDATE 01 APRIL 2019: Samosa NYC has changed their name to Sambuxa NYC, a name more representative of its Sudanese roots. In 2019, find them at the outdoor Smorgasburg market.]

Sometimes new countries take years to find, hidden in plain sight in their communities until the right keyword or walking route uncovers their locations. At other times, a new place will metaphorically just fall from the sky as a surprise. Samosa NYC and its Sudanese snacks falls directly into the latter category, a new food vendor on the scene in 2018.

The easiest place to find them will be the Queens International Night Market, where they will be a weekly vendor at the Saturday night affair when they open April 21st. In the meantime, we caught up with them at a small handicrafts market in Park Slope where they provided the only food available.

The wonderfully friendly proprietor was offering two choices on this day, her namesake samosas in three varieties as well as mahshi, which was new to me. This is a dish of various stuffed vegetables, on offer today were green and orange bell peppers and zucchini. Rice, tomatoes, and onions create a savory interior with some spicing that is slightly sweet and herbal.

She told me that eggplant is often used as well, which would have also been good. The arrangement itself with the different colors is so pleasant.

Next to this was a tray of three different samosas, filled with beef, vegetables, or feta cheese. My curiosity must have been appreciated, for after my questions I was awarded all three types as part of my order.

In other East African countries, this pastry often takes the name sambusa, but is usually triangular like this. While it is small enough to fit into your mouth, take your time and have a few bites. Each one of the three had a very different taste, making the assortment quite good.

As I discussed the lack of Sudanese food with the proprietor, she mentioned eventually wanting to open a restaurant. We can only hope! Denver has a really good Sudanese restaurant, maybe one day we can too.

[UPDATE 09 APRIL 2019]: As mentioned above, Sambuxa NYC is spending weekends during 2019 at the two Smorgasburg markets. Taking advantage of good weather on the first weekend, we caught back up with the proprietor to see what was new and found the beef agashe ($10, below) was in order.

On the streets of Khartoum you can find skewers of beef, lamb, and chicken, while some seafood restaurants are starting to make fish versions more prevalent. If you have ever had Nigerian suya and see the resemblance, you are not crazy for agashe is actually a descendent of this dish from further west, brought by Northern Nigerian Hausa people. On their trips back and forth to Mecca to perform the hajj, some settled in Sudan and of course brought their customs and traditions with them.

The skewers are simple but pack a lot of flavor, relying on the marinade and a coating of ground peanuts. An order comes with a side of either the "black" eggplant salad called aswad or a tomato-centric version of dakwa (which means peanut butter dip and is a common side for agashe). If you smile pretty, you might get a little bit of each (recommended).

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