Dabo Kolo

http://www.congocookbook.com/snack_recipes/dabo_kolo.html

Dabo Kolo (Dabbo Kolo) are a crunchy, spicy snack, a sort of bread balls or crackers, that are popular in Ethiopia. They look something like peanuts, and they are served like peanuts: as a snack, between meals, with drinks, and available from street vendors and small shops. Traditionally, dabo kolo are favored by travelers because they keep for a long time without spoiling. Dabo Kolo are usually made from wheat flour, but can also be made from tef flour (which is more commonly used to make Ethiopia's famous spongy flatbread, injera) or even chickpea flour.

Ingredients:

• two cups wheat flour (all-purpose unbleached, or whole wheat work well)
• two tablespoons berberé spice mix
• one tablespoon sugar
• one teaspoon salt
• half cup water
• four tablespoons softened (room temperature) butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. In a clean mixing bowl, combine and mix dry ingredients (flour, berberé, sugar, and salt).
• Slowly add the water and mix so as to form a thick paste. Remove the mixture from the bowl and knead it on a lightly-floured surface for a few minutes to form a thick dough. Add the softened butter and knead for an additional five minutes. Let the dough rest in a cool place for ten minutes.
• Divide the dough into handful-size pieces and roll these into long "pencils" not quite as thick as your small finger. Cut these rolls into pieces (scissors can be used), each piece no longer than the width of your finger.
• Heat an ungreased skillet over a medium heat. Place enough of the uncooked dabo kolo in the skillet to loosely cover the bottom. (They may have to be cooked in batches.) Cook over medium heat, stirring periodically, until they are lightly browned on all sides, -- OR -- Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes, stirring or shaking the pan a few times to prevent sticking.
• When done, remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Store in dry air-tight containers.

A more traditional way of making Dabo Kolo is mix the flour and warm water to form dough then cook the dough on a skillet or griddle, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it forms itself into balls, then continuing to cook them until they are browned. While still hot they are seasoned with spices and butter, then after being allowed to cool they are stored.

In Ethiopia, dabo means bread, and kolo is the word for roasted barley, which is eaten as a snack (like popcorn). Together, to name a snack made like bread, the words are similar in meaning to "popcorn bread".

Niter Kibbeh

http://www.congocookbook.com/sauce_recipes/niter_kibbeh.html

Take unsalted butter and melt it slowly, cook it so that the moisture in the butter evaporates — the milk solids will sink to the bottom of the pan — strain the clear liquid from the top, and you have clarified butter. Clarified butter can be used for cooking at higher temperatures than normal butter. It also keeps longer. The ghee used in Indian cuisine is a kind of clarified butter.

Ethiopia's Niter Kibbeh (Nit'ir Qibe) is a spiced clarified butter, something like India's ghee, but flavored with spices. It is used in many Ethiopian dishes, for example, Doro Wat. It is usually made in large quantities and kept on hand for daily use.

Ingredients:

• one pound butter (unsalted), cut into pieces
• two cloves garlic, finely chopped
• one small piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped (about two teaspoons
• one very small onion (a couple of tablespoons), very finely chopped
• one-half teaspoon ground turmeric
• one-half teaspoon ground cardamom
• one-eighth teaspoon ground nutmeg
• one-eighth teaspoon ground fenugreek
• one piece of cinnamon stick (half inch)
• one whole clove

Directions:

• If possible the turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg, and fenugreek should be fresh ground from seed, then toasted. If that is impractical, already-ground spices may be briefly toasted in a hot, dry skillet.
• In heavy saucepan, heat the butter over moderate heat. Stir and turn the pieces so that they melt evenly. Do not allow thr melted butter to brown or bubble — lower heat if necessary.
• As soon as all of the it is melted, increase the heat and quickly bring it to all to a bubbly butter boil. A mass of small bubble will form on the top. Stir in the "wet" ingredients: the garlic, ginger, and onion. Cook for a minute or two, then add the "dry" ingredients: the turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and fenugreek. Reduce heat to a very low simmer.
• Simmer on a very low heat for thirty minutes to an hour. Do not stir. The milk soilds should sink to the bottom of the pan. A clear butter liquid should float on top.
• Carefully strain the liquid through a clean cloth (cheesecloth). Repeat as necessary to obtain a liquid that is clear and free of spices and milk solids.
• Pour the niter kebbeh into a clean jar with an airtight cover. Keep in the refrigerator and use as needed. Niter Kebbeh will turn solidi when chilled. Will keep for three months.

There are variations of the basic niter kibbeh recipe. Even if you don't have all of the spices the recipe calls for, you can make perfectly good niter kibbeh if you have most of them. Fenugreek is the most essential.

Berberé

http://www.congocookbook.com/sauce_recipes/berbere.html

Berberé (or Berbere) is an Ethiopian spice mixture that is the flavoring foundation of Ethiopian cuisine, a basic ingredient in Dabo Kolo, Doro Wat, and many other dishes.

Berberé is made from a cupboard-full of herbs and spices, fresh-ground, pan-roasted, and then packed into jars for storage. Among Ethiopian cooks there are many variations of which spices and what amounts. (In the recipe below, ingredients marked "optional" seem to be the least common.) Basic berberé is made by combining roughly equal amounts of allspice, cardamom, cloves, fenugreek, ginger, black pepper, and salt with a much larger amount of hot red (cayenne) pepper. The combination of fenugreek and red pepper is essential to berberé; while one or two of the other ingredients may be left out, the fenugreek and red pepper are must-haves. Milder berberé can be made by substituting paprika for some or most of the red pepper. Berberé is sometimes made as a dry spice mix, and is sometimes made with oil or water to form a paste.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 4 to 6 tablespoons of a combination of ground cayenne pepper (red pepper, dried chile peppers, or red pepper flakes) and paprika
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger, fresh (peeled and grated) or dried (ground) use dried ground ginger if making dry berberé
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions or shallots, omit if making dry berberé (optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic, omit or use dried garlic if making dry berberé (optional)
• 1/4 cup oil, water, or red wine (omit if making dry berberé)

Directions:

• In a heavy skillet over medium heat, toast the dried spices for a few minutes -- stirring or shaking the skillet continuously to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and allow to cool. If making dry berberé powder: grind the mixture in a spice grinder or blender, or use a mortar and pestle. Store the berberé powder in a tightly-sealed container.
• If making berberé paste: combine the toasted spices with the fresh ginger, onions or shallots, garlic, and oil (water, or wine). Grind together in a blender or with a mortar and pestle. Store the berberé paste in a tightly-sealed container.
  

Starting with whole spices, the various nuts and seeds and dried red chile peppers, then pan-roasting, grinding and mixing them will produce the most authentic berberé. However, perfectly satisfactory results can be obtained using already-ground or powdered spices.

The red wine seems to be a non-Ethiopian addition, but it works well.

Doro Wat

http://www.congocookbook.com/chicken_recipes/doro_wat.html

One of the best-known of all African recipes, Doro Wat (Doro Watt, Doro Wot, Doro Wet, Doro We't, Dorowat) is a spicy Ethiopian chicken dish made with Berberé (a spice mixture or spice paste) and Niter Kibbeh (or nit'ir qibe, a spicy clarified butter). Berberé and niter kibbeh, basic ingredients in many Ethiopian recipes, are usually made in large quantities and kept on hand for some time. No doubt using berberé and niter kibbeh gives a special quality to Doro Wat. But a very good result can be obtained by adding the same spices directly to the Doro Wat, instead of indirectly in the berberé spice mix and niter kibbeh.

Ingredients:

• juice of one lemon
• two teaspoons salt
• one chicken (about 3 pounds), cleaned and cut into serving-size pieces -- some cooked remove skin and score or pierce the meat with a knife to facilitate marinating
• two (or more) onions, finely chopped
• four tablespoons niter kebbeh (or butter)
• four cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
• one piece fresh ginger root -- cleaned, scraped, and chopped (about a teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon berberé -- or -- 1 - 2 tablespoons of a combination of cayenne pepper and paprika (if berberé and niter kebbeh are not used)
• 1 small tomato, chopped or a few tablespoons tomato paste or tomato sauce (optional)
• 1 cup chicken stock, water, or dry red wine
• hard-boiled eggs (1 per person), pierced with a toothpick or the tine of a long fork

Directions:

• In a glass bowl, combine the lemon juice (some cooks use lime juice), half the salt, and chicken pieces. Let chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Cook the onions over medium heat for a few minutes in a dry (no oil) pot or dutch oven large enough to eventually hold all of the ingredients. Stir constantly to prevent them from browning or burning; reduce heat or remove the pot from the heat if necessary. (Some cooks add the niter kebbeh at the start, but dry-cooking the onions for a few minutes gives the dish a distinctive flavor. )
• Add the niter kebbeh or butter to the onions, along with the garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cardamom, nutmeg, remaining salt, berberé (or cayenne pepper and paprika), and tomato. Stir and simmer for a few minutes. The onions should be soft, tender, and translucent, but not browned.
• Add the chicken stock, water, or dry red wine. Bring the mixture to a low boil while stirring gently. Cook for a few minutes, then reduce heat.
• Add the chicken pieces, making sure to cover them with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes — or until the chicken is done — turning the chicken a few times.
• After the chicken has been cooking for 20 minutes, gently add the hard-boiled eggs and ladle sauce over them.
• Serve hot. The only traditional way to serve doro wat is with a spongy flat bread called injera, which can only be properly made with difficult-to-obtain teff flour. While it's not the way Ethiopians would serve it, doro wat is very good with Couscous, Rice, or Middle-Eastern or Indian style flat bread.

The wine and tomato seem to be recent non-Ethiopian influences, but they are so widely used that they need to be reported here, even if their use is not traditional.

Abish

Anonymous

Ingredients:

4 fl oz Vegetable oil
1 lrg Onion, diced
1 tbl Grated root ginger
1 tbl Finely chopped garlic
2 Tomatoes, diced
1 lb Lean, minced beef
Salt, to taste
3 Eggs, beaten
1 tbl Turmeric
1 tbl Butter with 1 tbs. chopped parsley
Extra parsley for garnishing
8 oz Goat's cheese, grated, optional

Method:

Heat oil in pan and saute onion till golden.

Stir in ginger, garlic, tomatoes, mince and salt.

Cook on low 15 - 20 min., stirring regularly to prevent burning.

Combine eggs with mixture in pan and cook 10 min. Remove from heat.

Add turmeric and seasoned butter and top with parsley and cheese.

Serve with rice or fresh bread; mix with steamed corn and eat by itself; or use it to stuff other vegetables.