antipinkkitten For our final recipe in our World Tour round one, we had to consider some of our favorite food: Ethiopian Cuisine. Focusing on Ethiopia was one of my main goals when we highlighted finishing out on the East Coast of Africa. This is due to our love of the cuisine but also the rich history that Ethiopia provides the world.
Ethiopia is home to the oldest human remains (Omo I), referred to as the Cradle of Civilization. Between it’s origins to our species and it’s role as the oldest independent country in Africa; it’s only apt that we will end this series where we associate the beginning of humans.
The Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia) started in 1270 and did not end until 1974. The rulers focused on making themselves larger than history, by implying themselves to be descents of individuals like the Queen of Sheba; considering themselves the House of Solomon. As an empire, they included modern day Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Red Sea portion of Sudan.
The Solomonic Dynasty had wide and far-off trade routes, as Archaeologists have found from their remains and their goods found at sites around the Mediterranean and out towards Asia. This means their cuisine had access to ingredients beyond their reaches, with spices most likely to be present.
With this, we decided that the recipes needed to focus heavily on their own ingredients, along with a few they consider key, but came from trade. This meant that we have made a traditional Ethiopian meal of Awaze Tibs, Lentil Stew and Collard Greens. Some of the aspects of these recipes that we consider staples now, would not be present in the original dishes (Like Paprika and chiles).
Awaze Tibs, Stewed Lentils and Collard Greens
Ingredients
Awaze Tibs
- 1 kg of diced steak
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp of fresh ginger
- 1/2 tbsp of Cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp of Green Cardamom
- 1/2 tbsp of Cinnamon
- 2 tbsp of clarified butter
- 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 onion
- 2 tbsp of Lemon Juice
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
Stewed Lentils
- 2 tbsp of clarified butter
- 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 small onion
- 1 cup of red lentils
- 2 cups of Chicken Bone Broth
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp of fresh ginger
- 1/2 tbsp of Cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp of Green Cardamom
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
Collard Greens (Sukuma)
- 2 tbsp of clarified butter
- 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp of fresh ginger
- 1/2 tbsp of Cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp of Green Cardamom
- 2 tbsp of Lemon Juice
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
Awaze Tibs
- Take Garlic cloves, Ginger, Cumin Seeds, Cardamon and Cinnamon and finely grind.
- Slice onion and add with spice mixture to pot. Add clarified butter and oil, on low-medium heat. Cook until Onions are soft.
- Add Beef. Cook until brown, with onions mixed in.
- Remove from heat. Add lemon juice. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.
Stewed Lentils
- Take Garlic cloves, Ginger, Cumin Seeds, Cardamon and Cinnamon and finely grind.
- Slice onion and add with spice mixture to pot. Add clarified butter and oil, on low-medium heat. Cook until Onions are soft.
- Add lentils and chicken bone broth. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove lid and cook the lentil until most of the moisture is gone.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Collard Greens (Sukuma)
- Slice fresh collard greens, rinse before cooking.
- Take Garlic cloves, Ginger, Cumin Seeds, Cardamon and Cinnamon and finely grind.
- Slice onion and add with spice mixture to pot. Add clarified butter and oil, on low-medium heat. Cook until Onions are soft.
- Add Collard greens to mixture, using tongs to mix it in. Cook until reduced by 50%.
- Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Continue reducing until fully soft (About 5-7 minutes)
Reviews
Meghan’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this meal, but I found myself starving at the end. I know it’s entirely due to the lack of Injera. Whereas I’d like to say it’s because it’s not historically accurate (which is false), the true reason is poor planning on my part. So, I cannot fault the recipe because of my lack of planning, but I can fault that it needs the bread to be super filling. However, if I was doing Keto, this would be a 5 out of 5.
Brad’s Review
4 out of 5 stars
Tonight’s meal made me long for real Ethiopian food. Not to say this wasn’t good, but quite the opposite. The flavours and food made me wish that we had all the fixings to that would come with it at a restaurant. My favourite parts was definitely the collard greens and the lentils. The meat was good, but it felt like it was missing something.
