::Introducing Sudan::: Cuisine: Overview

Sudanese food is basic and simple (yet undisputably tasty). Our ancestors depended on meat, dried crops and grains and fermented foods given the dry climate and limited agriculture in some regions.
Throughout the ages and as a result of invasions, the sudanese cuisine has been heavily influenced by other countries like Egypt, Turkey and even Greece, which introduced a variety of dishes now inseparable from our culture.
Our basic bread , called 'Kisra' eaten all over the country, is made from fermented white sorghum flour, cooked on a flat pan into almost paper thin sheets. This is usually served alongside a wide array of meat and okra based broths known as 'Mulah', of which there are many variations, or even vegetable stews such as brinjal and rijla (spinach-like vegetable), Khodra/Molokhiya (jew mellow).
Alternatively , 'Mulah' is also eaten with a porridge (Asida) made of the same fermented sorghum flour. This is usually seen on dining tables in the muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The northern regions like Dongola and halfa, have a wheat based bread (Goraasa) that closely resembles a thick pancake only it is salty and leavened with yeast.
The most popular staple in Sudan is fava beans, also known as 'Fool', found at every canteen, food vendor, restaurant and simmering away in special cookin pots (Gidra) and is served along many condiments such as tahini, chili and lime, falafils (better known as ta'miya) sesame oil and fresh salad.Foul is usually eaten at breakfast or dinner.
A sudanese dining table is not complete without a meat dish. As Sudanese people, we are very fond of our meat. A popular traditional meat dish is 'Dal'a' which is a large chunk of lamb meat, marinated in tomato paste, vinegar, yoghurt and spices such as pepper, cinnamon and cardamon, and then roasted into a tender perfection, served usually on a bed of rice that is soaked in garlicky beef broth (Fatta), also not complete without a peanut butter, lime and chilli sauce (Dakwa) on the side.
Other meat dishes include 'lahmat saaj' (tender pan fried lamb) and 'Shayya' (Charcoal barbecued meat, ribs, chicken) that usually make their appearances in Eid ul Adha.
Also enjoyed are vegetable dishes like 'Mahshi' (stuffed vegetables) and vegetable stews of all kinds of seasonal vegetables, pastas, fried fish etc.
'Agashe' is originally eastern Sudanese, is barbecued meat which is quite popular all over the country that follows an intricate preparation process and barbequed in rods over a bed of sand and charcoals resulting in a tender meat (even chicken or fish) coated in a crunchy spicy peanut coating.