Recipe Source: Samuelsson, Marcus. The Soul of a New Cuisine. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2006 p. 245
I can still remember my first taste of Ethiopian food. It was at Addis Red Sea in Boston's South End, and what a delight it was. I don't remember the names of all the dishes I had and I probably couldn't pronounce some of them anyway. I remember kitfo. I remember some greens that were amazingly tasty. I even remember a cabbage dish I liked. I remember the injera bread, a wonderful, spongy flatbread that can double as eating utensils. Eating utensils that taste good!
Anyway, a few weeks ago, my local Whole Foods actually had some teff flour. I haven't seen it there before and I haven't noticed it since, but teff is the grain used to make the injera bread. I picked it up and was very excited to make it. I selected this traditional recipe to go with it. Unfortunately, the injera bread just didn't work out, probably for procedural reasons (ie, I screwed up.) But the stew itself came out just fine.
I made a few changes. I increased the garlic, naturally, and the ginger. I didn't have spiced butter and we don't use enough butter to make it worthwhile to make up a batch, but the option to use plain old unsalted butter was given so I took it. I used duck stock made from the carcass of a duck we haven't posted yet in place of chicken stock, because it was available and free. I added a tablespoon of Aleppo pepper, to give a little extra heat and to make up for not using spiced butter. If you can't find Aleppo pepper, use cayenne. Finally, I omitted the hard-boiled eggs at the end. I know they're traditional but I'm not sure what they add to the recipe and my husband doesn't care for hard boiled eggs. The result was a remarkably mild, flavorful stew with just enough heat to be comforting. The liquid is not supposed to bind together like a European sauce - it is supposed to be soupy!
Doro Wett (serves 6; approx. $2.29/serving)
2 red onions, diced
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 whole cloves
4 tablespoons minced jarred garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 1/2 cups duck stock, divided
One chicken, about 4 pounds, cut up into 10 pieces, wings discarded or reserved for another use
1/4 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons lime juice (juice of one lime)
Equipment:
- Dutch oven
- Combine the onions, a pinch of salt and half the butter in the Dutch oven over low heat.
- Cook until the onions are golden, about 15 minutes.
- Add the remaining butter, cardamom, pepper, cloves garlic ginger, chili powder and Aleppo pepper. Cook until the onions are soft and begin to take on the color of the spices, about 10 minutes.
- Add 2 cups duck stock and the chicken legs and thighs. Bring to a simmer and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add the remaining stock and the wine. Return to a simmer and simmer 10 - 20 minutes.
- Add the chicken breasts. Simmer another 20 minutes.
- Add the lime juice. Simmer another 5 minutes.
- Serve.
