Kisra is one of the most common types of traditional Chadian cuisine you'll come across. It is a large, thin pancake-like fermented flatbread typically made from sorghum flour. Kisra is also known as kisra rhaheefa when eaten as a flatbread, which distinguishes it from kisra aseeda, a type of savory porridge made from the bread. This is typically served alongside moulah, a slow-cooked meat and vegetable stew.

In either case, the kisra is cooked in the same way. The kisra batter is spread very thinly on a large flat griddle with a diameter of up to a metre, and it is sometimes spread out across the griddle with a credit card. To keep the kisra from sticking to the hot metal, the griddle is traditionally greased with fat-rich cow brains, though vegetable oil is now just as common.

Cooks must work quickly because kisra is so thin that it can be ready in as little as a minute after taking on a filling, tasty flavor similar to wholemeal bread.

La bouillie is a Chadian breakfast made of rice or wheat, milk, flour, and peanut butter. Although it is typically made with the aforementioned ingredients, la bouillie is frequently modified with other ingredients, depending on what is available in each household.

La bouillie is a filling breakfast served hot, which helps warm the body after the country's surprisingly chilly desert nights. La Bouillie can be found at breakfast tables all over Chad. La bouillie, like kisra aseeda, is the closest thing to a porridge. It can be made with either whole wheat grains or rice, in which case it resembles rice puddings found all over the world.

La bouillie is similar to rice pudding in that it is made by boiling the rice or grain in milk. The natural sugars in milk provide sweetness. Flour is used to thicken the dish, and freshly prepared peanut butter is frequently added for flavor.

Another traditional Chadian dish, jarret de boeuf, is now known by a French name given to it during France's 40-year colonization of Chad from 1920 to 1960. Jarret de boeuf, which translates as "shin of beef," is a stew made with beef and vegetables grown in the country's more fertile south.

The tough beef shin is simmered in water for up to two hours over high heat to ensure that it is tender and flaking into pieces that can be separated with a diner's fingers. The dish's light sauce has a rich flavor of chopped tomatoes, onion, crushed garlic, and coriander. Vegetables such as carrots, leeks, or potatoes are added halfway through the cooking of the beef so that they cook through and absorb the flavor of the developing sauce.

The resulting meal can be eaten with rice or other carbohydrate-based staples like aiyash, which is described further below.

Aiyash is a deep-fried, mouthwatering plain millet flour ball. Aiyash has a simple flavor, which is why locals eat it with sauces. The most popular and widely used sauces are harrisa lime sauce, peanut sauce, and saka saka sauce.

Aiyash are simple balls of deep-fried millet flour paste that can be compared to a dumpling or a type of croquette. While aiyash lacks any real flavor when eaten alone, this changes dramatically when dipped into the sauces with which they are typically served.

The exact flavors vary from chef to chef and household to household, but a thick peanut sauce is a popular dip because the nut is commonly grown in the country and thus readily available. Saka saka, a sauce of crushed or very finely chopped spinach and okra emulsified with vegetable oils, is another dipping sauce served with aiyash.

Okra is also used in daraba, which is a vegetable stew with a peanut flavoring. To achieve this, ground peanuts are mixed into the liquid while the stew is cooking.

The vegetables used in daraba vary greatly, with ingredients largely dependent on seasonal availability and what can be found in the country's southern food markets. In addition to okra, common ingredients include tomatoes, sweet potato, aubergine (eggplant), and leafy greens like spinach. The mild flavor profile of these vegetables is boosted by the addition of cayenne pepper for spicy heat and a bouillon cube (usually a Maggie brand cube) for umami moreishness.

If you intend to travel to Chad, Daraba is one of the must-try dishes for you.

Maharagwe, which simply means "bean," is a dish made with the red beans or seeds of the French bean plant, though haricot and other beans can also be used.

This dish is made with maharagwe or simply beans, i.e., red beans or French bean plant seeds. Kenya, Burundi, and a few other countries also consume it. This dish is popular among locals due to its flavor and high protein content. Raw beans, onions, tomatoes, coriander, garlic, coriander, and other ingredients are required.

It is thought to have evolved from the spice trade of the East African coast before making its way inland with traders. It is a popular dish in several countries in and around Chad. Maharagwe is made by stewing these beans in a coconut milk sauce seasoned with onion, cardamom, cinnamon, garlic, and chili.

Stews are one of the most common main meals in Chad, and it may appear that there is no way to avoid them. Cooking in this manner allows even the most bland ingredients to take on enormous amounts of flavor, and it allows the women of Chad to get on with other tasks while dinner is being prepared.

Although this dish is simply known as peanut and squash stew, it is well worth your time, and your taste buds will thank you for seeking it out.

It probably goes without saying that the main ingredients of this stew are peanuts and locally grown squashes.

Peanut and Squash Stew is typically served as a vegetarian dish, with tomatoes, red peppers, and spinach enhancing the flavor. Chunks of beef or other meats will be added on special occasions (such as when welcoming an important guest).

All of these ingredients are slowly stewed with coconut milk and spices such as turmeric and ginger to create a dish that encompasses all of Chad's traditional flavors.

If you're in the mood for some meat, look no further than bangaou. Bangaou, another stew, is derived from the traditions of the Arab north of Chad. It's made with lamb, bouillon cubes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes, among other things.

Bite-sized pieces of lamb are first browned in a pan of oil, which helps to retain moisture within the meat and prevents it from drying out during cooking. At this point, water, tomatoes, and a bouillon cube are added to the pot. Later, sweet potatoes are added to the pot. Peas (in the south) or beans or chickpeas (in the drier north) are occasionally used.

The stew is served with either couscous or rice.

When it comes to fish, no species is more important than the capitaine, also known as Nile perch or giwun ruwa, which means "water elephant" in Hausa.

This fish is eaten in a variety of ways and is native to Lake Chad as well as many of the region's other natural and man-made bodies of water (where capitaine has been introduced to improve food security). On the banks of Lake Chad and smaller waterways, it's common to see whole fish or fillets drying in the sun, but capitaine is also eaten fresh. It can be grilled on an open grill with oil and chili marinades, or deep-fried whole once gutted, giving it a crisp outer exterior but soft moist flesh inside.