Here are some delicious recipes for you to try.
Where to begin: making the base sauce to our cuisine
Ethiopian cuisine is almost colour-coordinated. Where you see a deep red, it will be spicy, which means we use berbere spices. These will typically be called Kay Wot. Mild dishes are usually yellow, and typically called Alicha Wot. Before you start making these recipes, we want to teach you how to make the foundation of our food - the base sauce which can be transformed into any of these dishes.
Ingredients
2 medium onion
2 TBSP berbere spice (More or less to adjust spice level.
**For mild Alicha Wot, use 1/2 TSP of turmeric and 1/2 TSP cumin instead of berbere
1 medium tomato
3-4 cloves of garlic
Half a thumb of ginger
4 TBSP vegetable oil of your choice
1/2 TBSP ghee/olive oil (optional ingredient ideal for protein dishes to make the sauce rich and glossy)
Preparation
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1. Finely chop all of these ingredients
2. Before adding the oil and other ingredients, cook the finely chopped tomatoes and onion on medium heat until all moisture is evaporated. It should be dry.
3. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ginger and berbere spices
4. Continue to cook on medium heat for up to 15 minutes until all the ingredients are combined.
5. Towards the end, just before serving, add your ghee or olive oil.
Serving
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This recipe is ideal for 2-3 meals
Tips from Naz
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*Add a little bit of water if it starts to stick to the pan
*I use a food processor to finely chop all my ingredients, however, it is not necessary
*Add your choice of protein, or vegetables to create your desired dish (making sure to continue cooking depending on what you decide to add)
*for lentils - until they are soft
*for meat - until they are fully cooked and juicy
Misir Wot
- spicy lentil
Misir Alicha
- mild lentil
Shiro Wot
Gomen
Injera
