Koosto iyo baamiye (silverbeet and okra stew)

This earthy and flavourful vegetarian dish can be served as a side to meats and starches. While people sometimes mistranslate koosto as “spinach,” the heart of this dish is definitely silverbeet (Swiss chard). This recipe pairs koosto with baamiye (okra), and features tomato, onion, garlic and coriander in supporting roles.

Koosto iyo baamiye (Swiss chard and okra stew). Credit: Hardie Grant Books / Doaa Elkady

• serves

  3

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Feel free to customise the dish by adding more vegetables, like cabbage or carrots. Serve for lunch or as a light dinner with soor (corn grits), rice or flatbread.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
• ½ red onion, diced
• 8 large okra pods, stemmed and sliced
• 4 large tomatoes, diced
• 3 tsp Vegeta seasoning
• ¾ cup (12 g) coriander (cilantro) leaves, coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 bunches silverbeet (Swiss chard), leafy part and midrib coarsely chopped
• ½ cup (125 ml) water

Soor (see Note)

• 3⅓ cups + 1 tsp (840 ml) cold water
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup (125 g) fine white cornmeal

Instructions

1. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil for 1 minute. Add the onions and cook for 4 minutes, then add the okra and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything has softened slightly. Add the tomatoes and Vegeta seasoning; stir, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are broken down and begin to thicken.
2. Add the coriander (cilantro), garlic, silverbeet (Swiss chard) and water to the pot, cover, and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, until the silverbeet turns a darker green, the okra is tender, and a little liquid remains in the pot.
3. Meanwhile, for the soor, in a medium pot over medium-high heat, combine the water and salt and bring to a boil. Slowly add in the cornmeal, whisking continuously as the soor thickens, 7 to 8 minutes.
4. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 25 more minutes, until thick with no sign of grittiness. If the soor begins sticking, add a splash of water. Once it is creamy, take the pot off the burner. Serve hot.

Note

While rice and pasta have become the most common starchy foods in the Somali diet, corn dates back to precolonial times. Ground corn, or grits (soor), remains a staple in agricultural areas today as a go-to lunch for workers. It’s very filling, and it’s a perfect canvas for whatever you’d like to serve it with – whether that’s stew, soup, or a simple topping of buttermilk and sugar. While it shares some similarities with Kenyan ugali, soor’s texture is a bit looser. This is a basic recipe for soor, but there are many variations. Soor furfur is grits made with a broth or sauce, in a method that cooks the grain kernels separately. Soor can also be made from sorghum instead of corn.

This is an edited extract from Soomaaliya by Ifrah F. Ahmed (Hardie Grant Books). Food photography copyright © 2026 by Doaa Elkady

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.