What Is Digaag? The Somali Chicken Dish Explained
Digaag is Somali chicken cooked as a stew or suqaar with onions, tomato and the spice blend xawaash. Here is what it is and how it is made.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
Digaag is the Somali word for chicken, and as a dish it means chicken cooked in the Somali style, often as a stew or as suqaar, a dish of small pieces sauteed with onions, garlic, tomato and the warm spice blend xawaash. The xawaash gives it a fragrant, gently spiced depth, and the chicken is cooked until tender in a rich, savoury sauce. It is usually served with rice, known as bariis, or with flatbread, and it is a much loved main across Somali homes. In the UK the chicken, tomatoes and spices to make it are sold by African food shops, which you can find near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Digaag is the Somali word for chicken, and the dish is chicken cooked in the Somali style.
- It is often made as a stew or as suqaar, small pieces sauteed with onion, garlic and tomato.
- Its signature flavour comes from xawaash, a warm Somali spice blend.
- It is usually served with rice, called bariis, or with flatbread.
- The chicken, tomatoes and spices to make it are sold by African food shops in the UK.
A pot of digaag simmering away, xawaash and tomato filling the kitchen, is pure comfort for many Somalis abroad. It is the taste of a proper dinner, of chicken and a mound of bariis, of family gathered round a generous table. Reaching for xawaash and a chicken far from home is reaching for that warm, fragrant meal that always meant you were among your own.
There is quiet heritage in it, in the spice blend carried through Somali cooking for generations, in the way onion, tomato and xawaash turn simple chicken into something rich and welcoming. To make digaag in Britain is to keep that everyday tradition going, and to serve a friend their first plate of Somali chicken and rice is to share it. That warm, fragrant, savoury taste of home is the quiet gift of digaag.
What Digaag Actually Is
Digaag simply means chicken in Somali, and as a dish it refers to chicken cooked the Somali way, most often either as a stew or as suqaar, a popular style in which the meat is cut into small pieces and sauteed quickly with aromatics. Either way, the chicken is cooked with a base of onions, garlic and tomato and seasoned with xawaash, the warm, fragrant spice blend that is central to Somali cooking. The result is tender chicken in a rich, savoury, gently spiced sauce.
Xawaash is what gives digaag its signature character, a blend that typically brings together spices such as cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon among others, lending warmth and aroma rather than fierce heat. The dish is savoury and comforting, the tomato and onion melting into a sauce that coats the meat. Digaag sits among the well loved main dishes of Somali food, a homely, satisfying way with chicken that families cook again and again.
How Digaag Is Made and Served
Making digaag begins with building a base, onions and garlic softened in oil, tomato added and cooked down, and xawaash stirred in so the spices bloom and perfume the pot. The chicken is then added, either as pieces on the bone for a stew or cut small for suqaar, and cooked until tender and coated in the rich, savoury sauce. Cooks adjust the spicing to taste, and some add a little chilli for heat or a squeeze of lemon to brighten it, while fresh coriander is a common finish.
Digaag is most often served with rice, the Somali bariis that so frequently accompanies a main, letting the sauce soak in, or with flatbread for scooping. The suqaar version, with its quick-cooked small pieces, is especially popular and versatile, good for a family dinner or served as part of a larger spread. Whether stewed slowly or sauteed as suqaar, digaag is warming, savoury and satisfying, the kind of chicken dish that anchors a Somali meal.
Why Digaag Matters in Somalia
Chicken is a favourite across Somali kitchens, and digaag is one of the most familiar ways to cook it, a dependable main that turns up at family dinners and gatherings alike. Its flavour rests on xawaash, and in that sense digaag carries the taste of Somali cooking itself, the warm, fragrant spice blend that runs through so many of the country's dishes. For many it is comfort food, the chicken and rice that meant a good meal at home.
It also shows the character of Somali cooking more broadly, the love of aromatic spice tempered into warmth rather than heat, and the influences of Indian Ocean trade woven into everyday food. Served with a mound of bariis, digaag is a complete, satisfying meal, generous and welcoming. To cook digaag is to make a dish that Somali families rely on, homely in spirit yet rich and fragrant on the plate.
Where to Buy Digaag Ingredients in the UK
Digaag is a homemade dish, and its ingredients are easy to gather in Britain from African food shops that serve Somali and East African customers. You will want chicken, onions, garlic and tomatoes, and above all xawaash, the spice blend that gives the dish its flavour, which Somali shops carry ready-made or as the individual spices to blend yourself; rice for bariis and a suitable flatbread are easy to find alongside. If you buy fresh or frozen chicken, handle and cook it thoroughly in the usual way.
If you want digaag to taste the way it does back home, an African food shop that serves Somali customers is the natural place to find the right xawaash and spices, and often a helpful suggestion. You can find African food stores near you or look up Caribbean food stores near you to see what is nearby. Cooked with onion, tomato and xawaash and served with rice, homemade digaag brings the warm, fragrant taste of a Somali kitchen to your table.
Frequently asked questions
What is digaag?
Digaag is the Somali word for chicken, and as a dish it means chicken cooked in the Somali style, often as a stew or as suqaar, small pieces sauteed with onions, garlic and tomato. Its signature flavour comes from xawaash, a warm Somali spice blend, and the chicken is cooked until tender in a rich, savoury sauce. It is usually served with rice, called bariis, or with flatbread.
What does digaag taste like?
Digaag is warm, savoury and gently spiced, its flavour built on xawaash, a blend of spices such as cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon that brings aroma and warmth rather than fierce heat. The onion and tomato melt into a rich sauce that coats the tender chicken. Some cooks add chilli for heat or lemon and coriander to brighten it.
How is digaag made?
Onions and garlic are softened, tomato is added and cooked down, and xawaash is stirred in so the spices bloom. The chicken is then added, either as pieces on the bone for a stew or cut small for suqaar, and cooked until tender in the rich sauce. It is often finished with coriander and served with rice, bariis, or flatbread.
What is xawaash in digaag?
Xawaash is the warm Somali spice blend that gives digaag its signature flavour. It typically combines spices such as cumin, coriander, black pepper and cinnamon among others, lending fragrance and gentle warmth rather than strong heat. It is central to much Somali cooking, and it is what makes digaag taste distinctly Somali.
Where can I buy digaag ingredients in the UK?
Digaag is made at home, so African food shops that serve Somali and East African customers are the place to buy the ingredients: chicken, onions, garlic, tomatoes and above all xawaash, ready-made or as spices to blend, with rice and flatbread alongside. African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks them.