Ethiopia

Menu: Doro Wat & Gomen | Recipe Source: daringgourmet.com and foodandwine.com

I’m back! After a month long hiatus, the kitchen is back open, and Ethiopia was the perfect country to get me back in my groove. Doro wat—a berbere and allium seasoned stew topped with bone-in chicken, boiled eggs, and gomen (east African collard greens)—turned out to be a very leisurely, meandering cooking experience that was somehow both fairly involved but also low stress (aka no “cook this ingredient for 1 minute exactly and don’t overcook it because if you do, everything is ruined, good luck!” moments). The real star of this dish was the niter kibbeh: slowly melted ghee simmered with cinnamon sticks, onion, garlic, ginger, black peppercorns, black cardamom, cloves, fenugreek, coriander, oregano, cumin, nutmeg, turmeric, and bessobela, which then gets strained and added to… well, everything. You sear the chicken with it. You slow cook (even more) onions, garlic, and ginger in it. You fry the collard greens in it. You flick it over the dish like holy water when you’re done plating as a final blessing*. I’ve been aware that ghee is magical for several years now, but niter kibbeh is somehow even more special, and I will absolutely be making another batch sometime soon.**

*An optional but strongly encouraged step

**I cooked mushrooms and leeks in it earlier this week and based on those results and today’s dinner, I suspect it works with literally any vegetable.

Ready to cook?

Doro Wat (link and link): I used a combination of the links above, and to be honest, I ended up making so many tweaks that it’s hard to say what step/ingredient came from which recipe! I used a whole chicken so that I could cook with leg-thigh sections; I used chopped onion, not pureed, and only cooked it for 20 minutes in the spiced ghee; I used tomato sauce and chicken broth; I did add bessobela; I used lemons, not limes; I didn’t use Tej; I didn’t use Kebe, Mekelesha, or additional ground black cardamom.

Gomen (link): I followed this recipe exactly.

Berbere Seasoning (link): Aside from skipping the chilis, I followed this recipe exactly. In lieu of chilis, I added 1/2 tsp cayenne powder.

Niter Kibbeh (link): I followed this recipe exactly.