A Journey to Ethiopia

Ever since my first taste of Ethiopian, I've wanted to try and recreate it.   Eaten with your hands, a spongy, sourdough flatbread (injera) is used to scoop up tasty dishes that get piled on top of it.   Beware...  monster post below ;)

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With some willing subjects in tow, I decided on several dishes...  doro wot (chicken stew), yekik alicha (split peas), atakilt (potato/carrot/green bean) and chickpea wot.    Yes, too much food for one meal!    Due to someone's dislike of alliums, I prepped all of the onions ahead of time and added them to completed dishes after reserving an onion-free portion.  My big fail for the evening was injera.   Barely edible, it's definitely something I need to try again.

I can't believe I'm showing this photo...  excuse my appearance, I was still sick ;)

It all starts with Berbere, a spicy mix that many recipes called for equal parts paprika and cayenne.  Yeah, I've definitely improved my spice tolerance, but I knew there was no way I could handle that.   Here's what I cobbled together...  I don't recall things being that spicy, just flavorful, but perhaps they had dumbed things down for American taste buds?    Feel free to play around with this mixture!!  I'm thinking maybe I'd cut back on the cayenne and add in more of a different (less potent) ground chile powder.

Berbere

Berbere Spice Blend
Yield:  ~1/2c

1/4c paprika
1T smoked paprika
2T cayenne powder
2t salt
1t ginger
1/2t freshly ground cardamom
1/4t garlic powder
1/2t ground nutmeg
1/8t cinnamon
1/8t allspice
1/8t cloves
1/t ground fenugreek seeds

Combine all spices and mix well.  Use cautiously, start with less than the recipe calls for and adjust from there!

Atakilt

And the rest of the recipes...  I used this recipe for Atakilt.  I used 2t of my berbere, which was a bit too much for me but enjoyed by others ;)

Doro Wot

Doro Wot/Wat/Wet/We't (etc...)
Serves 4-6

1T butter
1 lg garlic clove (or 2 smaller ones), minced/pressed
2" knob of ginger, grated
1/4t freshly ground cardamom
few grinds of pepper
pinch of numeg
1 clove
1/2t cinnamon
1-3t berbere (see above)
chicken stock
1lb chicken, cut into bite-size pieces (1" cubes or so)
4-5 hard boiled eggs

Melt butter in a medium dutch oven over medium-low heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until they turn golden brown.   Add garlic, ginger and rest of spices (cardamom through berbere).  Cook until the onions soften and take on the color of the spices.

Add chicken and enough chicken stock to cover the chicken.  Bring to a simmer and poach chicken for ~15min, until chicken is cooked through.  Use a fork and prick the eggs (don't go all the way through the egg), then add to stew.  Season to taste with salt and keep warm until serving.

Yekik Alicha

Yekik Alicha
adapted from Wasabimon
Serves 6-8

2T olive oil, plus more as needed
2 yellow onions, finely minced
2 tomatoes, chopped fine
2T tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced/pressed
3" knob of ginger, grated
4-6c warm/hot water
1lb yellow split peas
2t tumeric
1t berbere
1/4t black pepper
1t cardamom
salt to taste

Rinse split peas in warm water, drain and set aside.

In a medium-large dutch oven (or other heavy-bottomed pot), heat 1-2T olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until translucent.  Add tomatoes and garlic and cook for 5min, adding more oil if they begin to stick or brown/burn.  Add ginger and cook for 5more min, again adding more oil if becomes too dry.

Add the rest of the spices (tumeric through cardamom), split peas and enough water to cover the split peas.  Cook for 20min (I think mine took 30-40min), adding more water as needed.  The goal is not to make a soup, but enough water to cook the split peas.   Cook until split peas are tender, salt to taste.  Let cool before serving.

Chickpea Wot (don't mind all the peas on top...  i forgot to add them earlier!)

 

Chickpea Wot
Serves 4-6

2T olive oil
1 lg red onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 potato, chopped
1t berbere
1T tomato paste
1c chickpeas
1 1/2c water
1c frozen peas, thawed

Heat oven in medium pot over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until softened.  Add carrots and potato, cover and cook for 10min, until softened.  Add berbere and tomato sauce, stirring until well inocrporated.  Add chickpeas and water, cover and bring to a simmer.  Simmer until water has evaporated (veggies should be tender, if not add more water).  Add peas and cook a few minutes more.  Salt to taste, cool and serve.

My plate...  Elina's plate

I think things turned out pretty well, my favorite being the chickpea wot (although I'd add more chickpeas next time!).   Like I said, I need to try the injera again so I'll be making the journey to Ethiopia again :)

Action shot!  Thanks Elina...  apologies for showing you my armpit :)

Have you tried Ethiopian cuisine?  Any good injera recipes out there??