The discovery of Ethiopian spiced butter is the first inkling of holiday warmth. Forget pumpkin spice latte, cook down ghee with every wintery spice on the shelf, simmered for an hour until it tastes like the Sun fell into the Indian Ocean. For the last week I’ve been finding ways to put niter kibbeh (the spiced butter) into everything I cook. And when I feel bad, I open the jar and inhale the scent like a candle. Food is aromatherapy, but feeds you twice, really.
Here are recipes for three different wats—a red, green and yellow palette for your palate.
Doro Wat Ethiopian Lentil Stew
1 -2 Tablespoons Spiced butter (see my recipe for niter kibbeh)
¼ cup cooking oil
1 large onion diced (in a food processor)
1 1/2 Tablespoons berbere spice Homemade here
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 teaspoon coriander or cumin
1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 cup dry lentils soaked for 2 hours
1 Tablespoons Tomato paste
2 cups or more broth Vegetable /Chicken or water
2 tablespoons or more chopped parsley/Cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste
Heat up large sauce-pan with oil, spiced butter, then add onions, berbere spice, garlic, ginger, cumin, and smoked paprika, stir occasionally for about 2-3 minutes until onions is translucent.
Then add soaked lentils, tomato paste, stir and sauté for about 2-3 more minutes. Add stock / water if necessary to prevent any burns. Salt
Bring to a boil and let it simmer until sauce thickens, it might take about 30 minutes or depending on how you like your lentils. Throw in some parsley, adjust for salt, pepper and stew consistency. Serve warm
Gomen Ethiopian-style Collard Greens
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp cardamom seeds
1/8 tsp ground fenugreek seeds
1/8 tsp nigella seeds
1 1/2 lbs. collard greens, stemmed and cut crosswise into 1/4″ wide strips
1 1/2 cups water
1 large yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Thai chiles or 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1″ piece of ginger, peeled and minced
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Heat 4 tbsp oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add cardamom, fenugreek, and nigella and cook, stirring often, until fragrant. Increase heat to medium-high and add the remaining oil. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until browned. Add garlic, chiles, and ginger and cook, stirring often, until soft and fragrant.
Add collard greens, water, and salt and pepper.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, 50-55 minutes.
Kik Alicha Ethiopian Split Peas
1 yellow onion, minced
1 large tomato, very finely chopped
1/2 lb. yellow split peas
2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1″ piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp bessobela (Ethiopian basil– dried basil works too)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
salt and pepper, to taste
Wash split peas in warm water. Drain and set aside. In a large pot, cook onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until translucent, adding water as needed. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook for 5 minutes (do not let them brown or burn) Add the ginger and cook for 5 more min. Add olive oil and stir until well mixed. Cook briskly, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Add split peas, turmeric, bessobela, cardamom, salt, and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently and adding water gradually until split peas are soft but the mixture is not watery.
Serve with fresh injera. A note on injera. I tried to make my own with 100% Teff from Pereg
using the recipe in this book, What’s On Your Plate?, which is great for kids, fun and educational with relatively simple kid-friendly recipes. The book takes readers on a trip around the world highlighting foods popular on different continents.
I was inspired by the section on Ethiopia to make injera, but had difficulty with a brittle texture in the recipe they feature using teff and water with baking soda,
so I tried another batch made with my sourdough starter and proofed for over 48 hours. Again, too brittle and difficult to get thin enough for using as a wat mop. What’s on your plate? Wat.
Still tasted great though. We hosted an Ethiopian Cuisine dinner party and cheated by purchasing injera from the only Ethiopian restaurant in Louisiana, Abyssinian Creole. They told us they use mostly white flour (grr, America!) which I think is definitely cheating and not as healthy (or gluten free). All this to say, if anyone out there has any fool-proof injera recipes (I’ve now tested three with poor results), I would LOVE to hear them. Also I probably need a crepe skillet. We blended Ethiopian cuisine with a Bob Ross theme–Gursha! The homemade invitations:
