This always takes me back, my parents met in Ethiopia during the reign of the Emperor Haile Salassie, the land of Sheba. Or something like that. It sounds exotic and romantic, or something however I guess it wasn't.
Our house was filled with little treasures from Ethiopia, Coptic crosses, Icons, sculptures, and other things that are easily breakable if a child gets near them (Don’t worry I didn’t, I was very good about not breaking stuff unless I wanted to. Like when my Mum sent me to do the washing up and I broke a cup on porpoise, (Porpoise? I don’t think we had porpoises in Scotland that should read purpose) it got me out of doing the washing up for a few months I can tell you that. Unfortunately it did not work the second time.) Then the Emperor was overthrown and everyone seemed to notice that the country was in the middle of a terrible famine.
In later years at school our teachers would tell us that we had to finish our food at lunch time because people were starving in Ethiopia, then there was Band Aid, and then Live Aid, and what have you, that awful feed the world song, ugh, still to this day that song is like nails on a blackboard to me. We used to sing “Stuff the World, don’t they know it’s supper time…” well we were children, and children are pretty horrible creatures.
Point? I don’t think there was a point to that little rant, except to mention that my mother made Mesir Wat (Lentil Stew) and Doro Wat (Chicken Stew with Hard Boiled Eggs) and injera, or at least a mock injera, if you can buy injera at your local supermarket, please do, this is just a back up recipe for when it is not available. I always looked forward to Ethiopian food night, because no matter where we were living it still seemed more exotic than anything you could get at the local Bazaar or Souk, possibly because I had never been to Ethiopia.
First Berbere Spice Mix:
Variations of Berbere spice are endless, it seems everyone has their own version. This is the version passed down to me by my mother and is milder than one would find traditionally (In most recipes the paprika would be cayenne or other hot red pepper) in Ethiopia. It may seem like someone just decided to use every spice in the cabinet, but the blending, and even more so the roasting of the spices, have an almost magical effect. Personally I like to roast my spices in the morning, and then the house smells aromatic all day, and into the evening. (And I mean a good aromatic, like a spice market in some ancient city, not aromatic like the dumpster behind 10 Rillington Place, actually the air around Rillington Place was chunky, like a stable that has never been mucked out. You know what I mean; the air is warm with quadropedic flatulence and thick enough that you can see the molecules moving against each other in a desperate attempt to flee the scene.) Now I am just tossing this off the top of my head, the way I remember it, and I may have to post an apology and rewrite of the recipe later if I ever bother to look it up.
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons of Paprika
2 Tablespoons of red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon of cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon of onion powder
2 Teaspoons of cumin
1 Teaspoon of Fenugreek
½ Teaspoon of ground ginger
1 Teaspoon of dried minced garlic
1 teaspoon of black pepper
½ Teaspoon of cinnamon
4 allspice berries or ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice
¾ Teaspoons of cardamom
½ Teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
1/8 Teaspoon of ground cloves
1 Tablespoon of salt
Method:
Roast all in a dry skillet over low heat for 3-4 minutes till aromatic and lightly toasted, then blend in a spice grinder or blender. Store in a screw top glass jar and use within 2 months. This will make enough for two Ethiopian Feasts!
Now the fun Stuff:
Mesir Wat (Lentil Stew)
Ingredients:
4 Onions Sliced thin
4 tablespoons of butter or peanut oil
2 Tbs Berbere Spice
2 Cups of lentils
4 Cups of water or stock
Method:
Sauté the onions in the butter or oil over low heat for ten minutes until very soft, add the spice and stir to combine. Add the lentils and the water or stock, increase heat and simmer over medium high heat for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Serve with Injera (Below) or Rice
Doro Wat (Chicken Onion and Hard Boiled Egg Stew)
Ingredients:
1-2 Pounds of Chicken skinned boned and cubed)
Or 1 Block of Tofu cubed.
4-6 Onions sliced
¼ Cup of butter or oil
2-4 tablespoons of berbere spice
1 Cup of Stock or Water
1 Peeled hardboiled egg per person
Method:
Sauté the onions in the oil or butter for 10 minutes until soft and transparent, add the chicken or tofu and cook over medium heat till lightly browned, add the Berbere spice and cook two to three minutes and then add water and hard boiled eggs. Cook over low heat for thirty minutes till thickened and flavorful. Serve with Injera or Rice.
Injera (Spongy Bread)
Ingredients:
1 Cup of buckwheat pancake mix
½ Cup of Teff Flour
2/3 Cup of Water
Method:
Mix together with enough water to make a slightly thinner batter than for regular pancakes.
Get a non stick pan hot, and add batter tilt pan to coat bottom, cook until bubble form on top, turn onto plate, cover with wax paper, do not cook second side and do not brown or it will become way too crunchy munchy. Yummy, but the point of injera is to soak up the happy juices of the stews.
If you are unable to make the fake injera offered here or if you are unable to find injera in your supermarket, do what my mother always did and serve it with plain steamed white or brown rice, both are equally delicious. Use this to scoop up the above stews.
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