Ethiopian Stew

Ethiopian Stew is a slow roasted thickly flavored soup that is rich and fragrant, many different textures and flavor profiles roll off the tongue with each bite. On one bud you will get that deep smokey flavor, almost mistaken for a bit burnt, and then on another dancing taste bud, you will delight in a sweeter sharper holiday note, with the spice of cinnamon and nutmeg shining through.

This stew loosely uses a chili based blend also known as Berbere which means hot in Amharic, it is a common blend incorporated into many Ethiopian dishes. As i learn to expand my cooking skills, dabbling in all sorts of colorful cultures and tastes from around the world, i try to also learn the surrounding knowledge around a particular food or foreign food profile.  It brings me great delight and satisfaction to travel outside my usual Indian/Bengali flavors and make friends with other country's food. 

You probably can pick up some premade Berbere spice blend at your local foreign market [that seems pretty ironic when i type that] but you also can make it yourself at home which most likely will make your dish all the more bright and vibrant. I tried my hand at some of the blend-i say some because i didn't have all the spices to make it completely, but I will for sure be picking up the rest of the missing ingredients for next time. I used what i could, and i think the stew was well taken care of flavor wise, i can only build upon and continue to try and perfect this recipe. 

I loved that this Berbere blend uses  similar spices in Bengali and Indian cooking.  There was a familiar taste along with this new foreign taste that i had not experienced before. Only once when I was on a lunch date with my friend Tammy at a restaurant called Little Africa, over in East Town. I remember a bit of that hinted burnt taste, so maybe i am doing something ethiopically right? [yeah, i know. i made up a word that isn't real. you get me though, right?]

Let's get on to the recipe. I have a wonderful pin board called A Clash in Culture where i store all my foreign food recipes outside of America and i have a few recipes that i studied in order to create this one. I found one to use as a map, but i deviated off it a bit because one, i don't want to copy [at least not when i am recording down my own recipe, not to say there  isn't a place to follow recipes-how would we learn otherwise? and two, i did want to make this my own version based on what i had on hand in my kitchen.] The great thing about cooking is that it is so flexible, so forgiving, you can use freedom and creativity to make a dish your own. 

so i did that. here you go. please enjoy and thank you as always for giving my words and recipes a chance.

you'll need:

2 large boneless chicken breasts-mine were frozen, but thawed is just as well too
1 1/2 cups yellow lentils,
2 med size onions, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 thumb size fresh ginger
4 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sherry cooking wine
1 tablespoon ghee
1teaspoon crushed fenugreek leaves

1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 can diced tomatoes with green chili
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water

so, In a large crock pot, put down the yellow lentils at the bottom. make sure you rinse them first and pick for any debri meaning tiny rocks and such. save your teeth.

next, frozen chicken breast goes next.

in a pan, heat up the ghee and toss in sliced onions, whole garlic cloves and ginger. saute till browned. 

add in berbere blend: garam masala, fenugreek, cinnamon, nutmeg, and paprika. continue to stir and coat onions. 

deglaze with sherry cooking wine, making sure to grab all those tasty bits. 
add salt and a few cranks of black pepper

pour onion mixture over top chicken in crock pot.

next is canned tomatoes with green chili. do not omit juices as this only aides in not letting the stew dry out.

pour in chicken broth and water.

top with lid. cook on high 6-8 hours, or on low for 8-12 hours. i made mine the night before and it cooked all through the night into lunch time and i had no issue. i just added a little extra water to keep it all tender.

When ready to serve, fork through the chicken so it falls apart and is mixed in with your stew. 
taste test.

ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro.
serve with hot roti.

enjoy.