Doro Wot Image Used Under Creative Commons License From mahletzesolomon.com
My Citizens – few things are as delightful to your majestic leader – the mighty TFD! – as Ethiopian cuisine, truly one of the finest on the planet!
The food of Ethiopia is sadly not well known to most, which is a pity as it takes many of the flavors of Indian cuisine (and many unique ones of its own!) and harmonizes them in a way that is unlike any other. I have posted many Ethiopian recipes here on TFD (search for them, you’ll thank me) and you’ll understand how flavorful this cuisine truly is. It’s now time to share with you what many consider to be the national dish of Ethiopia – doro wot (aka stewed chicken).
Wot is an Ethiopian and Eritrean stew or curry that may be prepared with chicken, beef, lamb, a variety of vegetables, spice mixtures such as berbere, and niter kibbeh, a seasoned clarified butter.
Several properties distinguish wots from stews of other cultures. Perhaps the most obvious is an unusual cooking technique: the preparation of a wot begins with chopped onions slow cooked, without any fat or oil, in a dry skillet or pot until much of their moisture has been driven away. Fat (usually niter kibbeh) is then added, often in quantities that might seem excessive by modern Western standards, and the onions and other aromatics are sautéed before the addition of other ingredients. This method causes the onions to break down and thicken the stew.
Wot is traditionally eaten with injera, a spongy flat bread made from the millet-like grain known as teff. There are many types of wots. The popular ones are doro wat and siga wat, (Ge’ez: ሥጋ śigā) made with beef.
Doro wat is one such stew, made from chicken and sometimes hard-boiled eggs; the ethnologist Donald Levine records that doro wat (Amharic: ዶሮ ወጥ? dōrō we̠t’, Tigrinya: ደርሆ ጸብሒ? derhō tsebhi) is the most popular traditional food in Ethiopia, often eaten as part of a group who share a communal bowl and basket of injera.
On the fantastic Ethiopian food blog by Harry Kloman at ethiopianfood.wordpress.com, it is noted that:
“Doro wot is the ultimate expression of highland Ethiopian cuisine in its most complex form,” he tells me. “Many talented cooks don’t take it lightly because they know if they do it right – any shortcut will show in the end product – they can establish a sort of bragging rights in their circle. The amount of attention given to the preparation of a good doro wot is always self evident for the person eating it. You just can’t fake it with a Crock Pot.”
Citizens, here are links to my recipes for the Niter Kibbeh curried butter, the berbere spice mix and injera – you can also order the spices, T’ej (Ethiopian honey wine) and butter pre-made from Brundo, a fantastic source for all sorts of Ethiopian staples.
I have every confidence you will love this recipe, ! 🙂
6 chicken thighs or drumsticks with all the skin and fat removed
Lemon juice
2½ to 3 pounds of onions, very finely chopped or puréed
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 or 2 tablespoons berbere, to taste (use 2 if you like it spicy!)
1 tablespoon powdered ginger
chicken stock, low-sodium
5 tablespoons niter kibbe
¼ to ½ cup t’ej (Ethiopian honey wine) or red wine
3 hard-boiled eggs, pierced all over with fork about ¼ inch deep
1 teaspoon wot mekelesha or to taste – equal parts of black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg and long pepper (adjust to your taste or just use a cardamom/clove mix if you prefer)
Instructions
Begin by marinating the skinless chicken pieces – six thighs (which I prefer) or drumsticks – in lemon juice, and let them marinate while you prepare the onions. I also shorten the bone of the drumsticks somewhat, both to make more room in the pot, and because that part of the drumstick isn’t necessary anyway. You can cut off the lower bony portion with a good sharp knife.
Then, chop the onions finely. Ethiopians do this with a knife, but I cheat and use a food processor.
In a large pot, begin to cook the onions without adding any niter kibbe (Ethiopian spiced butter). Stir them constantly to keep them from burning. When they begin to get a bit dry, add a little chicken stock (highly-preferred) or water to moisten them.
When the onions begin to brown, add the garlic and some niter kibbe, then a little more stock or water, then a little more kibbe. Keep doing this until you’ve added all of the kibbe. You should cook them for about 30 minutes in this fashion.
When that’s all cooking nicely, add some t’ej – about a quarter to a half of a cup, again depending upon how sweet you want it to be. I’d error on the side of caution and use less because the flavor of the t’ej really comes through in the finished dish.
Now it’s time to add the spices: berbere, one or two tablespoons, depending upon how hot you want it to be, along with the powdered ginger.
After you add the spices, you’ll need to add more water or stock to keep it from burning and to increase the volume into a saucy stew. Let these spices cook in the water or stock and onion for 10 minutes, adding more water or stock if it begins to cook down.
Next, it’s time to add the doro (chicken). Place the pieces into the bubbling stew, add enough water or stock to cover them, and let it all simmer. You should stir and turn the pieces from time to time to keep them from burning and to help them cook evenly. If the water or stock begins to disappear too quickly, just add more.
Test the chicken with a fork now and then to see if it’s tender and cooked through. You’ll need to cook the chicken for at least 45 minutes to an hour to get it very tender. Keep adding stock or water if it cooks down, and when the chicken is very tender, let enough of the water cook off until you have the chicken in the thick sauce.
About 10 minutes before it’s done, you can add some wot mekelesha if you have some or want to mix some yourself. This is a spice blend that adds extra flavor and effervescence to a wot.
Finally, also toss in the eggs about 10 minutes before it’s done – this is a traditional element of doro wot. When your doro wot is done, serve it on injera with the vegetable side dishes of your choice. Be sure to scoop a lot of the mixture (kulet in Amharic) onto the chicken and injera: It will be rich, spicy and delicious, practically a meal in itself.
In some homes, it’s the custom for each person to have his own piece of doro wot in front of him on the large round shared plate at the center of the table, and then everyone eats the accompanying vegetable dishes communally. This makes a lot of sense: It’s a bit of challenge pulling the meat from the bone with your injera, and you certainly don’t want to pick the bone up and just chomp the meat off of it.
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