In Ethiopia, sharing a meal isn’t just a nice way to relax with family or catch up with friends. It can be a real commitment.
“If a friend disappoints you,” said Yeshi Demisse, “there’s a saying, ‘But didn’t we share a meal together?’”
Demisse has owned Richmond’s Nile restaurant since 2006, bringing the unique flavors of her East African home to central Virginia.
“It’s a very aromatic and flavorful cuisine,” she said. “And it takes time. It cannot be rushed.”
That made it difficult to choose a dish for her cooking demonstration at the July 2 “ Great American Recipe” event in Richmond. She finally settled on Ethiopia’s national dish: doro wat, a spiced chicken stew.
“Preparing the kulet, the onion base of the stew, takes hours to simmer with the spices,” she said. Spices are at the heart of Nile’s kitchen, as well as the aroma wafting out of its doors.
“To get started with Ethiopian cooking, the main things are ginger and garlic,” Demisse said. “And you can find some other spices at Indian stores. Some of the flavors are very similar to Indian food.”
The taste most closely associated with Ethiopian food is berbere, a blend of peppers, coriander, fenugreek and other spices. It adds heat and flavor to dishes, along with a fiery red color.
Although some recipes contain chicken, beef or lamb, Ethiopian food is especially prized among vegans for its plant-based dishes. Peas, lentils, potatoes, mushrooms and cabbage are the stars of some of Nile’s most popular entrees, which Demisse said are reflective of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christian culture.
“There are more than 200 days of fasting every year,” she said. “On those days, only a vegan diet is allowed. Some don’t eat at all until about 3 p.m., but when they do it’s always vegan.”
Along with veganism, gut health is a relatively new fascination for Western consumers. But it too has been a staple of the Ethiopian diet for generations. Siljo, a paste of fermented fava beans, is teeming with probiotics to aid digestion and boost immunity.
“Fermentation is a big thing in the Western world now,” said Demisse. “But it’s ancient to us.”
She pointed out that Ethiopian cuisine is also friendly to the growing population of gluten-free foodies. Each meal is served with injera, a spongy sourdough flatbread made from an ancient East African grain called teff.
“The traditional way is to tear some off and scoop your food up with it,” said Demisse. “It is a sign of respect and affection to make a morsel that way and feed it to the other person.”
With all its traditions and health benefits, the chef said, the bottom line is that Ethiopian food is delicious. She enjoys seeing customers intrigued by the aromas when they enter, and then delighted by the tastes and textures as they eat.
“It’s very addictive, very unique and very tasty,” she said. “I have never served anyone who didn’t love it.”
On July 2 at 11:00am join Chef Yeshi at the RVA Big Market at Bryan Park for a cooking demonstration of her Doro Wat, an Ethiopian National dish, sample the recipe and hear stories of how her culture inspired her flavors and techniques.
Doro Wat Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs onion
- 8 medium size drumsticks skin removed, or boneless skinless thighs 8 boiled eggs peeled
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 tablespoon ground garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon Ethiopian cardamom powder
- 1 tsp ground Bishop’s Weed
- 1 tsp ground black seed
- 1/2 cup berbere
- 2-3 cups water (or to desired consistency- it shouldn’t be watery) Salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel the skin off the drumsticks and put in a large bowl. You don’t need this step if using skinless thighs
- Cut 1/2 lemon into small pieces and squeeze the juice over the chicken and rub it with the pieces
- Sprinkle some salt
- Add enough water to cover the chicken and put aside to soak
- Grind the onions in a food processor until very fine
- In a medium pot, add the chopped onions and cook for about 45 minutes at very low heat to an hour, stirring often not to stick. It will have a tanned color
- Add garlic, ginger and berbere (Ethiopian chili blend). Mix until it is well blended
- Add all the spices and oil and continue cooking adding 1/4 cup water and stirring frequently
- Wash and rinse the chicken well
- With a sharp knife, slightly incise the thick part of the meat. Squeeze out the water and add the chicken to the cooking sauce and continue cooking for 10 minutes
- Add 2 cups of water and salt, and let it simmer for about 40 minutes or until the meat is well done.
- Lightly incise the boiled eggs lengthwise (should be very light incisions) and add them to the chicken stew and gently mix to coat the eggs with the sauce
Serve 1-2 drumsticks per person with 1 egg. Pour the sauce over the meat and egg when serving.
Can be eaten with “injera” (Ethiopian crepe like bread) or rice