Doro What???

Yesterday I made my first attempt at preparing an Ethiopian meal for my friend Cindy, Michael and I. I think the actual cooking was the easy part, finding the recipes and necessary spices took a little more time. Based on the table-side reviews it was a success!

The meal included Doro Wat, which is a chicken stew. Except for whole hard boiled eggs, it has pretty basic ingredients (onion, cayenne pepper, paprika, ginger, etc.) which I made in the slow cooker. The more authentic version would be a little spicier from using a spice called berberre... but it is pretty hard to find here.

The Ethiopian Vegetables were a little more cumbersome to make but introduced me to spices I had never cooked with before. The recipe called for carrots, red potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli stems (no flowerets). These veggies were steamed then sauteed with cardamom, turmeric, garlic, onion, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Yummm!

It is traditional to serve both the vegetables and stew as toppings on Injera, which is flat bread. Michael made this for us. While the ingredients were simple (2 types of flour, baking powder and club soda) it took a bit to get the knack of making them the right consistency - since they are cooked only on one side and should not be too browned. Typically no utensils are used, since all of the food is brought out on trays already poured atop the injera. Then you would rip off pieces of the injera and wrap it around the bits of food. I still opted for a fork, but I definitely will make this meal again... so we will see about next time!