Hausa Food and Drink Vocabulary: From Tuwo to Kunu

Food is at the heart of Hausa hospitality, and the vocabulary is a great way to learn the language through daily life.

Staples and dishes

Hausa	Meaning
abinci	food
shinkafa	rice
tuwo	a thick porridge-like staple (often rice, maize or millet)
wake	beans
doya	yam
dankali	sweet potato
gero	millet
masara	maize, corn
dawa	guinea corn (sorghum)
burodi	bread
miya	soup, stew
gari	flour, especially cassava flour (also "town")

Well-known foods

• masa — fried rice cakes, a popular breakfast
• kosai — bean cakes
• fura da nono — millet balls served in milk
• suya — spiced grilled meat skewers
• tuwon shinkafa — rice tuwo, often eaten with miyar kuka (baobab-leaf soup)

Drinks

• ruwa — water
• nono — fresh milk
• kunu — a lightly sweet drink made from grain such as millet
• shayi — tea
• kofi — coffee
• lemo — lemon

Meat and protein

• nama — meat
• naman sa — beef
• kifi — fish
• kwai — egg

Vegetables and fruit

• tumatir — tomato
• albasa — onion
• attarugu — hot pepper
• mangwaro — mango
• ayaba — banana
• lemu — orange

Seasonings

• gishiri — salt
• sukari — sugar
• mai — oil, fat
• yaji — spicy pepper seasoning

Talking about eating

• Ina jin yunwa. — I'm hungry.
• Ina jin ƙishirwa. — I'm thirsty.
• Na ƙoshi. — I'm full.
• Abincin yana da daɗi. — The food is tasty.
• Ina so in ci abinci. — I want to eat.
• Ka ci abinci. — Please eat. (to a man)

Hospitality customs

Guests are typically offered food or drink, and it's polite to accept at least a little. Eating with the right hand is customary, and Muslims often say Bismillah before eating.

Learning tips

1. Learn foods you'll actually order.
2. Practise in a restaurant or market.
3. Learn the "full/hungry" phrases first.
4. Try the dishes and learn their names.

Common mistakes

• Using gari without context (cassava flour or town).
• Forgetting the hooked letters in ƙishirwa and ƙoshi.

Look up Hausa words with English Hausa Dictionary →