Saturday, December 6, 2008

My Kitchen, My World: Ethiopia

Thanks to Elra and Lauren, this week the MKMW group visited Ethiopia. Although I've never been to the country, itself, I've been to Ethiopian restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City. I enjoy the variety of dishes and the spiciness and the injera bread. I searched for a simple recipe that would be indicative of the Ethiopian flavors, and discovered a recipe for Doro Wat, a spicy chicken dish (Yes, Natashya, we're on the same wavelength!)

The only problem I had was that whoever wrote the recipe forgot half the instructions. While I was cooking this, I kept feeling that something wasn't right. There were all these ingredients that weren't showing up in the preparation. Well, the light bulb finally went on, and I figured out where everything went, so I've included my version of the recipe. It's simple and delicious and uses ingredients that most people already have in their pantries. Oh, and Absolutely Include the hard boiled egg! It really made the dish.



Great choice this week. I'm looking forward to the next adventure.


Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken)

3 lb chicken pieces
1/3 cup butter

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon berbere seasoning (see below)

3 oz. tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 onions, chopped

1 hard boiled egg per person

Remove skin from chicken, and score chicken meat so that sauce can penetrate meat. Melt butter in large pot. Saute the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add berbere, and then the tomato paste, chicken broth, and black pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken, one piece at a time, so the chicken gets well coated. Simmer about 20 minutes. Take out some liquid and mix it with the peanut butter, then return the mixturel to the pot. Stir. Lightly score the eggs, and gently place in the pot. Cover and continue cooking until chicken is done. (I used boneless chicken breasts, so it didn’t require much extra cooking. Boneless chicken thighs would work as well.)

Berbere Seasoning

1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix and store in an airtight bottle.


There are quite a few variations for Doro Wat and Berbere seasoning, so chose which ever one strikes your fancy.

4 comments:

Lauren said...

looks great judy! I'm glad you enjoyed it- sorry the recipe was a little confusing, but looks like you pulled it off

KC said...

Thanks for the recipe. I wanted to make Doro Wat too but the recipes I found used a lot of hot spices. Yours sounds delicious and the seasoning is milder and more to my liking.

NKP said...

The peanut butter is an interesting element. I would have done the egg if I were not down to my last 3. (with cookies still to make!)We like cooked egg in dinners.
I do find that recipes lose something in the translation, luckily you were able to pull it together!
Cheers!

Megan said...

Boy, you are the adventurous eater, aren't you? So open to new ideas, and new cuisine. I guess I lack that gene.

Right now I'm watching Ina Garten made cauliflower gratin and that's adventurous enough for me!