Resource
Ethiopian Foodየኢትዮጵያ ምግብ
87 dishes with the quantities, the timings and the tips that usually only get passed on in a kitchen. Every recipe reads in English or Amharic, and scales to the number of people you are actually feeding.
24 recipes
Doro Wat
ዶሮ ወጥ
Traditional Ethiopian chicken stew with berbere spice
Hard2 hr 30 min6 servingsYebeg Key Wat
የበግ ቀይ ወጥ
Spicy Ethiopian lamb stew seasoned with berbere
Hard2 hr 20 min6 servingsYebeg Alicha
የበግ አልጫ
Mild Ethiopian lamb stew with turmeric and aromatic spices
Medium1 hr 50 min6 servingsKitfo
ክትፎ
Spiced minced raw beef seasoned with mitmita and niter kibbeh
Medium25 min4 servingsGored Gored
ጎረድ ጎረድ
Cubed beef seared in spiced niter kibbeh and berbere, served rare
Medium20 min4 servingsDulet
ዱለት
Spiced Ethiopian hash made with minced tripe and organ meat
Medium1 hr 20 min4 servingsAsa Tibs
የአሳ ጥብስ
Ethiopian sautéed fish with onions, peppers, and spices
Medium35 min4 servingsBeef Tibs
የበሬ ጥብስ
Tender cubes of beef sautéed with onions, peppers, and spices
Medium30 min4 servings
Chicken Tibs
የዶሮ ጥብስ
Tender sautéed chicken pieces with bell peppers and spices
Easy25 min4 servings
Siga Wat
ሥጋ ወጥ
Spicy Ethiopian beef stew in a rich berbere sauce
Hard2 hr 30 min6 servings
Doro Alicha
ዶሮ አልጫ
Doro wat without the berbere — chicken and eggs in a pale turmeric sauce
Medium1 hr 45 min6 servings
Minchet Abish
ምንቸት አብሽ
Coarse minced beef in a berbere sauce thickened and perfumed with fenugreek
Medium1 hr 10 min5 servings
Zilzil Tibs
ዝልዝል ጥብስ
Beef cut into long finger-wide strips, marinated and seared hard
Medium1 hr 35 min4 servings
Awaze Tibs
አዋዜ ጥብስ
Tibs glazed at the last minute in awaze — the hottest of the common ones
Easy30 min4 servings
Shekla Tibs
ሸክላ ጥብስ
Tibs tipped into a clay dish set over live embers and carried to the table still cooking
Medium35 min4 servings
Yebeg Tibs
የበግ ጥብስ
Lamb shoulder seared in niter kibbeh, its own fat becoming the sauce
Easy30 min4 servings
Goden Tibs
ጎድን ጥብስ
Short ribs browned, simmered until they give, then reduced to a glaze
Medium1 hr 30 min4 servings
Quanta
ቋንጣ
Lean beef rubbed with berbere and hung to dry — the Ethiopian larder in one ingredient
Hard3 days8 servings
Quanta Firfir
ቋንጣ ፍርፍር
Dried beef softened back to life in berbere sauce and tossed through torn injera
Easy40 min4 servings
Doro Firfir
ዶሮ ፍርፍር
Torn injera folded into leftover doro wat until it drinks up the sauce
Easy25 min4 servings
Tere Siga
ጥሬ ሥጋ
Raw beef cut at the table and eaten with awaze, mitmita and gomen kitfo
Easy20 min4 servings
Bozena Shiro
ቦዘና ሽሮ
Shiro with beef simmered into it — the version that is not a fasting dish
Medium1 hr 15 min5 servings
Tihlo
ጥሕሎ
Tigray barley dough balls speared on a two-pronged wooden fork and dipped in meat sauce
Hard1 hr 45 min4 servings
Zigni
ዝግኒ
Tigray beef stew on onions cooked down for hours and a great deal of berbere
Medium2 hr 50 min6 servings
The three that matter
Berbere በርበሬ
A deep red blend built on chilli, garlic, ginger, fenugreek and a dozen warm spices.
The backbone of almost every wat.
Mitmita ሚጥሚጣ
Hotter and simpler than berbere — bird's eye chilli, cardamom, cloves and salt.
Served alongside kitfo and raw meat.
Niter Kibbeh ንጥር ቅቤ
Butter clarified with cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric and korerima until it turns nutty.
The cooking fat that makes a dish taste Ethiopian.
How it is eaten
A meal arrives on injera, and the injera is the plate, the cutlery and the last course. Everyone eats from the same tray with their right hand, and feeding someone a folded mouthful — ጉርሻ — is an act of affection, not a formality. Through the fasting weeks of the Orthodox calendar the whole table turns vegan, which is why the vegetarian dishes here are not a substitute for anything. They are the main event for most of the year.