If you remember my post which is a dried beeef and shiro stew I made ye qwant’a zilbo (died beef stew), then you would love this one too as well. This also uses shiro which is besan which is made from chickea flour. This can be bought at any Indian and Pakistani grocery store. Just look for besan.
This can unlike the recipe that I had mentioned above can be eaten as a veg or vegan or with meat. Again the choice is yours. It can be real spicy or very mild and I am going to explain right now on how it is done.
First you need to make these and set them aside because you are going to need them. they are Berebre, Niter Kibbeh and Simplified Mekelesha. The first two is compulserary which means it is a must and the third happens to be optional. The mekelesha is used only if you want a more darker or robust stew.
If you are going to have it with meat then precook 1 kilo or 1 pound of either beef, lamb or goat. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour on stovetop in 1/2 cup of water and save the stock because you are going to need it later.
If you are making this vegetarian or vegan then skip this step. In a bowl or blender for making it easier. In a bowl first add 1/4 cup of besan and 2 cups of water a little at a time and keep stirring until there are no lumps. The blender helps get rid of the tiny lumps that remains afterwords.
Do not add the besan directly to boiling water because then it isn’t going to mix well. This method I had just described is virtually foolproof and is very well advised. In a small pot add 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 onion or shallot cut in to half moon slices and kooked until it is brown, 3 cloves of garlic chopped and cooked until the rawness goes away.
Add the berebre, niter kebbeh and only if you wanted it more robust or darker then add the mekelessha, 1 bullion cube, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma. Stir and add 1 tomato chopped and cook this until the tomato turns mushy. Most of my spices except the beso bele, tosim, and koseret I got from any Indian and Pakistani grocery store, the rest of the stuff I got from a grocery store selling Ethiopian groceries. If you want the meat now it is the time to add the meat.
Stir to let the spices coat the meat then add the besan mixture to the tomato one very slowly and start stirring like crazy taking care that no lumps are forming. It gets thick very fast and then add another 2 to 3 more cups of water and keep stirring. Do not stop stirring and keep the heat on low. This is done for the vegetarian or vegan version as well.
Vegetarians and vegans can use vegetable bullion cubes. Also if you want a milder form of this stew is skip the berebre and mekelesha and just add the nitter kibbeh, 1 pinch of turmeric and 1 green chili to the veg and non veg versions of this dish. If you added meat to this dish then it is recomended that you use the stock as well.
I tell Ethiopians how much I love their food, especilly their injera. Speaking of Injera, this dish is eaten with it. I hope you will give this recipe a try and let me know how you like it.
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