What is Ethiopian Cuisine?

If you’ve already had the chance to eat at an authentic Ethiopian restaurant, you’re already a step ahead of the game and know how delicious and fun it is to eat Ethiopian food.

Let’s start with the basics:

No need for silverware, you eat Ethiopian food with your fingers. An Ethiopian meal typically consists of several types of individual dishes served atop injera, the national dish of Ethiopia, which is a spongy sourdough flatbread.

There are many different recipes to serve with the injera. Here, we chose 3 vegetarian dishes, 1 beef dish, and 1 chicken dish.

As you eat, you break off small pieces of injera and use them as utensils to pick up the various foods. Feel free to mix and match different tastes and textures.

Ethiopian recipes are very aromatic and flavorful, using lots of garlic, ginger, and a spice called berbere, which is a blend of dried chiles, cumin, cardamom, fenugreek, and several others. An extra pinch of berbere is usually served next to the food on the injera, used for dipping.

Eating at an Ethiopian restaurant is one thing, but nothing beats making it yourself. It’s fun to make with others for a group meal or simply for a long-lasting meal prep that will make all your lunchmates at work jealous. Each dish is also fairly easy-to-make, especially if you’re good at multitasking and can make several dishes at once.

A few notes before we dive into the recipes:

Our injera recipe is made the traditional way, with 2 days of fermentation. If you’re planning to make your Ethiopian recipes on a Saturday, make sure to start the injera process on Thursday (it’s very simple to set up and doesn’t require any effort while it ferments. There are other methods out there to make injera faster, but we prefer this way.
The berbere spice blend is key to many dishes. You can find this spice at your local Ethiopian grocery store . Same with teff flour,. Finally, for the remaining spices like the ones for the Infused Oil recipe, we just used our box of Indian Spices,
The base of each dish starts with an infused oil. Before you start making your traditional Ethiopian recipes, first make your infused oil as described below.
Let us know how your Ethiopian food turns out in the comments below! Feel free to post any of your special tips and tricks for making Ethiopian recipes, we’d love to hear them 🙂

Ethiopian Infused Oil Recipe

Pour about a cup of vegetable oil into a soucepan and set to low heat. Add the following ingredients to the oil: 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 garlic cloves, 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp freshly cracked pepper, 1/2 tsp whole cloves, and 5 cardamom pods.

Simmer this oil for at least 30 minutes as your prepare the ingredients for your Ethiopian recipes. Then start off each recipe by using some of this oil in a fresh pan or pot. It will also make your kitchen unbelievably fragrant.

6 Authentic Ethiopian Food Recipes:

1. Injera (Ethiopian Fermented Flatbread)

INGREDIENTS

3 cups teff flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry yeast
½ tsp baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS

Add yeast to ½ cup room temperature water in a large bowl and mix together until foamy. Add teff and all purpose flour to the bowl along with salt, baking powder, and 2.5 more cups water. Stir until a uniform mixture.
Cover the bowl loosely and let sit/ferment at room temp for 2 days. During this time, the water and flour will naturally separate a bit, bubbles will start to form, and it will start to smell slightly sour (this is a good sign, just like making sourdough bread).
After 48 hours, uncover bowl and stir to combine. The desired consistency is thicker than a crepe mixture but thinner than a pancake mixture. You may need to add a bit more water to reach this consistency.
Place a large nonstick pan (that comes with a lid) on the stove on medium-high heat and spray with some oil. Ladle in enough of the mixture to just barely coat the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds or until bubbles are forming and then cover with a lid to steam. Let steam for about 1-2 minutes or until the center looks cooked through.
Set aside injera to cool and repeat this process for the remaining mixture.

NOTES

Note that this is the traditional method of cooking injera. There are other, quicker ways to make it, but we prefer the taste of this recipe.

2. Atkilt Wot (Ethiopian Sautéed Vegetables)

INGREDIENTS

1 head cabbage, roughly chopped
3 large carrots roughly chopped
1 lb fingerling potatoes halved
1 bunch cilantro leaves chopped
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp mustard seeds
Salt/pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine carrots and potatoes with 2 tbsp oil, ½ tbsp turmeric, and ½ tbsp cumin. Add to air fryer, set to 350 degrees and cook, occasionally flipping, for 20 minutes or until crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
Meanwhile, in a large pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp infused oil with cabbage, ½ tbsp turmeric, 1 tsp mustard seeds, and ½ tbsp cumin. Saute for 8-10 minutes and then add the carrots/potatoes and cilantro to the pan, mixing to combine.
Serve warm or room temperature.

3. Doro Wot (Ethiopian Chicken Stew)

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion minced
1 red bell pepper diced
6 eggs hard boiled
1 lemon zest and juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp berbere
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste

INSTRUCTIONS

First hard boil the eggs (place in a pot with cold water, bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat, let sit for 12-14 minutes, rinse with cold water, and then peel).
On a large foil-lined sheet, broil chicken cubes for ~3 minutes (they don’t have to be cooked completely, this is just to draw out some excess water).
In a separate large pan, saute garlic and ginger paste with onions and bell peppers in infused oil for 5 minutes or until onions become golden. Then add the tomato paste and berbere, sauteeing for another 5 minutes.
At this point, add the chicken and lemon zest/juice and stir to coat. Place a lid on the pan and cook on low heat, stirring intermittently, for about 20 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Depending on your desired consistency, you can continue cooking with the lid off for a few more minutes to thicken the sauce. When ready, season with salt/pepper, add eggs, and serve warm.

4. Siga Tibs (Ethiopian Beef Stew)

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs ribeye beef cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 onion minced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 sprig rosemary
2 tsp honey
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp berbere
1 bunch cilantro stems minced

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large pan on medium-high heat, cook the beef cubes with some infused oil and rosemary, stirring intermittently, for about 8-10 minutes or until crispy on all surfaces. Set aside.
In the same pan, add some more oil and saute the onions and bell peppers until golden. Then add the beef back to the pan and add tomato paste, berber, minced cilantro stems, and honey, stirring to combine. Cook on low, uncovered for another 10 minutes. Serve warm.

5. Ye’abesha Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)

INGREDIENTS

1 green bell pepper minced
½ bunch green onions sliced
1 onion minced
1 bag collard greens
½ jalapeno pepper seeds removed
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large pan on medium heat, add infused oil, then 1 tbsp each of garlic & ginger paste. Saute for a minute before adding the bell pepper and onions, then green onions and jalapeno pepper.
Saute for about 5 minutes and then stir in collard greens, in increments, until all the collard greens have reduced by about half.

Serve warm or room temperature.

6. Misir Wot (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)

INGREDIENTS

1 red bell pepper minced

1 onion minced

½ bunch green onions sliced

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp berbere spice

½ jalapeno pepper seeds removed

½ tsp ground cardamom

2 cups red lentils

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tbsp ginger paste

INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large pot on medium heat, add infused oil with 1 tbsp each of garlic and ginger paste. Saute for a minute before adding the red bell pepper, onions, and green onions.
2. Saute this for about 5 minutes or until onions are golden and then add tomato paste, jalapeno pepper, and berbere. Saute for another 5 minutes or until the oil starts to separate from the tomato paste.
3. Now add lentils, mixing to coat. Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, cover, and turn down to low, cooking for another 10-15 minutes or until it resembles a thick paste-like consist