Every country has it’s iconic dishes. Ask an American, chances are they’ll include hamburgers and french fries in their list. Ask a Latin American – tortillas or papusas. Italian? – spaghetti and meatballs. You get the idea. Various countries in Africa also have iconic dishes. One country in particular is Ethiopia. Ethiopia is known for it’s dramatic and flavorful food. The hamburger and french fries equivalent (possibly a bad characterization!) is Doro W’et. Doro W’et is Amharic (the language spoken in Ethiopia) and means “spicy chicken”. And boy is it ever spicy!
We’ve turned the heat waaaaayyy down in the following version of this classic dish. Trying to keep it “kid friendly!”…………and wimpy momma friendly, too! The key ingredient in Doro W’et is the classic Berbere spice we made here. Some of the recipes this momma researched had up to one cup of the stuff mixed in. One cup! Our recipe uses 1 TABLESPOON…………and you’re still gonna be reelin’ from the heat. It’s an adventure! Let’s take the leap!
As I mentioned, we begin here:
But hold that thought while we get our chicken ready.
Begin by cleaning and cutting the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Place in a Ziploc bag with 1 teaspoon of salt and the juice of one lemon.
Let marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.
Onions: Cut, peel, and quarter the onions. Boy, was I bawling by the end of this process!
Put in a food processor and chop until VERY finely minced. VERY finely minced. This creates the thickness of the broth.
Next, peel and chop the fresh ginger.
Get it to this stage by either mincing by hand or using the food processor.
Mince the garlic. I used the jarred stuff.
Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven. (I forgot to add the oil, so I do that in just a sec :-))
Add the minced onion. See how finely minced the onion is?
Ok, here’s the oil. Oops.
Add in the minced garlic and ginger and simmer on low for 15 min or so.
Back to the Berbere…………
Once the onions are lightly browned, add in the Berbere. Once again, note that I used 1 Tablespoon here, but you might decide to use up to 1/3 or 1/2 cup depending on how spicy you would like to make your dish.
Wow. Look at the difference just 1 T makes!
Next, add the chicken, and the chicken stock and white wine (if desired).
Cook the stew down to allow it to thicken a bit. Traditional Doro W’et also includes some hard boiled eggs, so go for it if you want to do that. Most kids aren’t into hard boiled eggs, so I left that part off… because you know, sometimes there is only so much you can ask of a kid 🙂
We served it over couscous……
To the masses!
And served it with Injera, a traditional bread eaten in Ethiopia.
Add a side dish of dates and olives.
The kids thought the dates looked like dried cockroaches.
They’re not wrong!
The reviews on the food were mixed:
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 lbs chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces, or 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons butter (total – add as indicated throughout recipe)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups yellow onions finely minced to a chunky puree in food processor
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
- i T to 1/3 cup Ethiopian berbere
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup Tej Ethiopian honey wine, if you have it, or white wine mixed with 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 hard-boiled eggs pierced all over with fork about 1/4 inch deep
Instructions
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Place the chicken pieces in a ziploc bag and pour lemon juice over. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to marinate.
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Heat the 2 T butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the onions and saute, covered, over low heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the garlic, ginger, and 1 T butter and continue to saute, covered, for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the Berbere and the 2 remaining T of butter and saute, covered, over low heat for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the chicken, broth, salt and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Adjust the seasonings, adding more Berbere according to heat preference. Add the boiled eggs and simmer on low heat, covered, for another 15 minutes.
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Half or quarter the eggs and arrange on the plates with the stew. Serve hot with injera or couscous.