Beg Tibs (Ethiopian Sauteed Lamb) Recipe

This is probably the least time consuming Ethiopian food to prepare and one of the tastiest. I often make beg tibs to go with vegetarian wots (stews) or on its own to eat it with injera or some other bread. Tibs may also be accompanied by a spicy paste called awaze.

Ingredients - 2 portions

300g of lean lamb cut into 1inch cubes
1 red onion thinly sliced
1 tbs of sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves very thinly sliced
1 seeded green chili pepper strips or diced
1 stalk of fresh rosemary shredded
1 tbs of kibeh (spiced & clarified butter)
1 tsp berbere (optional)
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tomato diced


Preparation

Heat up the oil in a skillet/wok pan on meduim high heat. Add the garlic slices, slightly brown them, and then add the lamb cubes. When the lamb starts to get color (if you choose to use berebere, I recommend adding it at this stage) add the soy sauce followed by onion slices. Once the onions look softer add the tomatoes and chili pepper. You should not overcook the lamb. It's important to remember that the longer you cook the lamb in this recipe, it becomes chewy. From the time you added the lamb, 8 minutes of cooking is generally a good time.  Add the kibbeh and rosemary and remove pan from heat. Salt to your own taste.

Try it out and let me know how you find this recipe :)

Injera Recipe

This is a recipe for injera made from wheat flower. Where teff injera is not readily available, this is a popular substitute. I usually prepare the dough the night before and make the injera the following morning 1-3 hours before serving.

Ingredient list-4 portions

1kg (2.2lbs) plain wheat flour
1 packet (11g or 0.6oz) dry yeast
warm tap water

Preparation

Pour the flour into a big bowl. Note that the dough will grow tremendously, so make sure the bowl can accomodate it. Add the yeast and mix with well the flour. Get your hand held electric mixer ready. Mix while adding water gradually. You only need enough water so the mixer runs without difficulty. The consistency should be similar to that of a thick pancake dough. There should not be any lumps left. Cover the bowl with a kitchen/cling film and leave it in the kitchen sink over night (in case the dough rises a lot and spills out, the kitchen sink is easier to clean).

To make the injera, you'll need a non-stick frying pan, no greasing needed. Mix the dough one more time using a spatula or with clean hands. Make sure the dough hasn't settled in the bottom. You'll need a clean kitchen towel spread over a surface (we will come back to this later). Heat the frying pan on medium-high heat on the stove.  Once the pan is warm enough (you can throw a drop of water & if it sizzles then the pan is warm enough) take a small amount of dough and spread it on the pan. The best technique for this might be placing the dough in the center and rotating the pan so as to spread it evenly.
Cooking time should not be long. As soon as the uncooked dough disappears, remove the pan from the stove. You should be able to get the injera off the frying pan easily. Place injera on the spread kitchen towel for cooling down. Give each injera 5-8 minutes cooling time before pilling them up. Once you're done making injera, cover the pile with towel. The edges of injera tend to dry up quickly, so if you have left overs wrap them in plastic and keep in cool place.

Kick off!

Hello everyone!

I am a originally from Ethiopia and this is my first blog ever. On this blog I'll try to share my knowledge of Ethiopian culture and cuisine. If there is anything specific you would like to know, just ask :)