Vegan MoFo - E is for Ethiopian Soup

So I'm sharing another old recipe today which makes it 4 oldies in a row! If you are hanging out to see something new, bear with me as I promise there will be a brand new recipe tomorrow plus plenty more coming up over the next week.

Ethiopian food has been a passion of mine for several years. World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown was the first vegetarian cookbook given to me which contains an extensive section on Ethiopian cuisine. The moment I tried these recipes I fell in love with the unique flavours. For those who are unfamiliar with Ethiopian food, there are two crucial ingredients that are used in the wats (stews), a spiced clarified butter called niter kibbeh and a spice mix called berbere.

Soup is another love of mine. I'm not much of a cold weather person although one of the things I enjoy most about the cooler months is cooking up a batch (or two) of soup on a weekly basis. Over the last few months I have tried 19 new soup recipes, some of which were concoctions of my own. My Ethiopian soup is the recipe I am most proud of, because it started as an idea to use up the remaining vegetables in an almost bare fridge and resulted in the most delicious soup I have ever created.

After the success of my first batch, I have made this a couple of other times using niter kibbeh in place of the dairy-free margarine, cloves, cinnamon and cardamon which results in a superior overall taste. I usually serve it with pita bread as I have been making this a lot since finding a great recipe earlier this year. Injera would be a more appropriate accompaniment although it does takes longer to prepare than pita.

Click here to see my A - Z of Vegan MoFo posts.

Ethiopian dinner party

After the success of the Mexican fiesta a few weeks ago, I invited my Dad and family from his second marriage over for a meal. This time my plan was to cook some Ethiopian food as I thought it would be something they would appreciate not having tried it previously.

A few weeks prior, I was delighted to find that my health food store had just begun stocking teff flour. I had been searching high and low for this authentic ingredient for some time and to have it magically appear after I had given up all hope was a lovely surprise. My previous injera attempt which I never got around to posting about was using red sorghum flour which is supposed to be the best alternative to teff flour. This injera recipe from The Sour Dough is the updated recipe I have been using which has worked well with both red sorghum and teff flours.

For the stews (which are really more like curries), I cooked up a double batch of our favourite powdered chickpea stew and a mixed vegetable stew with pumpkin, broccoli and cauliflower, both from World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown. I also made a couple of other stews trialled once before, a split pea stew adapted from Vegan Dad and a silverbeet stew inspired by Appetite for Reduction.

Vegan Dad's split pea stew is a recipe that is written using a pressure cooker which I don't own. He also listed plain margarine as an ingredient so I subbed in some nitter kibbeh (spiced clarified margarine) and omitted some of his spices that are also a component of nitter kibbeh. I cooked in the style of other Ethiopian stews, by initially dry-frying the onions, then adding nitter kibbeh, spices, garlic and ginger and also increased the cooking time considerably to ensure the split peas were soft enough.

It was interesting that out of the 4 stews, everyone seemed to have their own preference for the one they liked the most. Dad was incredibly impressed with the split pea stew which I was calling the soup stew. I adore split peas and only used to include them in soups although this has changed recently. When I use split peas in anything other than soup, the man usually comments that it tastes like soup which doesn't bother me at all being the soup lover I am.

I kept my dessert very simple and made lemon bars from The Joy of Vegan Baking which were a big hit. I don't really have a sweet tooth but lemon bars are definitely my type of indulgence. Although it was the second time I had made them, I haven't taken a photo either time to prove it! Speaking of photos, I didn't capture any on the night so the shot at the top is some lunch leftovers of injera with powdered chickpeas and split pea stews.

Overall it was a fantastic dinner which was only dampened by the loss of my engagement ring. Thankfully, it did turn up the next day!


Teff Injera (Adapted from The Sour Dough)

Day 1 - Set-up the starter

1/2 cup teff flour (or red sorghum flour)
1/8 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup room temperature water

Mix the teff flour, yeast and water in a container until well combined and no lumps remain. Cover loosely with a lid and store in a warm place.

Day 3 - Feed the starter

1/3 cup teff flour (or red sorghum flour)
1/2 cup water

Open the container (be aware that the smell can be pretty intense) and observe little bubbles rising to the surface. Stir through the teff flour and water until well combined. Cover loosely with a lid.

Day 5 - Final feed of starter

1/3 cup teff flour (or red sorghum flour)
1/2 cup water

If you are planning to make injera for dinner, feed the starter in the morning. Stir through the teff flour and water until well combined.Leave covered for at least 4 hours.

Day 5 - Making Injera

2 cups self-raising flour (wholemeal SR flour works too)
enough room temperature water to make a thin mixture

After the final feeding has taken place 4 hours ago, add the self-raising flour and enough water to make a thin mixture to the starter and stir until the mixture is smooth and no lumps remain. It should resemble a thin pancake mixture. Cover and leave for 4 hours.

When you are ready to make the injera, give the mixture a final stir.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and spray lightly with olive oil. Add about 1/4 cup of mixture at a time, swirling the pan with your other hand to spread the mixture as much as possible. When the mixture on top has set, slide a spatula under the injera and transfer to a plate. Repeat this process until the mixture is used up.

The injera is ready when the centre looks like the edges.

Notes: 

• Injera is cooked on one side only so don't flip it over like a pancake!
• If you find the injera is sticking to the pan, spray the pan lightly with olive oil occasionally.
• The injera is fairly rigid after it is cooked but becomes more spongy and pliable as it cools. When it has cooled a little you should be able to roll them up. 
• Don't stack the flat cooked injera's on top on each other or they will stick together. You can use baking paper to separate them the cooked injera. I prefer to use two plates, the first to cool down the injera slightly and the second to stack the rolled injera's on.

Ethiopian Split Pea Stew (Adapted from Vegan Dad)

2 onions, diced
3 tablespoons nitter kibbeh
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 cm piece ginger, chopped finely
1 tablespoon berbere (or to taste)
1 tablespoon paprika
2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed well
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 carrots, diced
100g mushrooms, diced
100g baby spinach leaves

Dry fry the onions in a large pot over low-medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft. Melt the nitteh kibbeh into the onions, then stir through the garlic, ginger, berbere and paprika and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the split peas, water and salt. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook for another 30 minutes then stir through the spinach leaves until have just wilted. Season with additional salt, if required.

Ethiopian inspired soup

The other night I felt like making soup which is not unusual as I am a huge lover of soup and normally make a least one pot a week over the colder months. The problem on this occasion was that my weekly shopping was due the next day which meant there wasn't a lot of choice in my fresh produce department. I wasn't willing to venture out into the cold night so I tossed around a few ideas and decided to invent an Ethiopian flavoured soup.

It was a great idea and I was strutting around the kitchen absolutely convinced that I would be able to transform 3/4 of a cauliflower, some carrots, pumpkin and red lentils into a creamy, delicious and spicy Ethiopian flavoured soup. I had made a fresh batch of the berbere spice mix recently (see below photo) but had run out of the spiced clarified butter, niter kibbeh which needs to be prepared a day in advance. Never mind, I had a plan.

The process of the soup was started in the common way that has been standard throughout the Ethiopian stews I have made. The onions are usually dry-fried until soft, then the nitter kibbeh is added along with garlic, ginger, berbere and any other spices. After my shallots were soft, I decided to fry some of the whole spices that are normally infused in niter kibbeh until they became fragrant and then add dairy-free margarine with the garlic, ginger and berbere. 

The smells emanating through the kitchen were mouth-watering and made me want to sit down and have a bowl even though I had eaten dinner not too long ago. The following morning I looked up the Karen Martini pita bread recipe which I posted a while back and made a batch to have with the soup. Last time I didn't have any semolina and used polenta which worked but this time I used semolina and the pita bread was so much lighter. It's such an easy recipe to make and was the perfect partner for mopping up this delicious soup. The man, son and I all loved our lunch and I will definitely be making this soup again.  

Since my posting series about Ethiopian food, I have gone back and tried some other Ethiopian recipes. A split pea stew from VeganDad's blog was lovely and I trialled an injera bread recipe using red sorghum flour (as I haven't been able to locate the authentic ingredient, tef flour). I had planned to post about the injera and even got half-way through writing it up before other things took higher priority and time moved on...

This soup is being submitted to the No Croutons Required event which is being hosted by Lisa this month and the theme is chillies.

Ethiopian inspired soup

4 shallots, diced

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

4 cardamon pods

1/4 cup dairy-free margarine
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 heaped teaspoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon berbere

1 cup red lentils

6-8 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

400ml tomato passata or you could use a 400g tin of tomatoes

2 medium carrots, diced
400g pumpkin, diced
3/4 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
salt and pepper, to taste

Dry-fry the shallots in a large pot over low-medium heat until soft and starting to brown. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamon pods and cook, stirring for a minute. Melt in the dairy-free margarine and then add the garlic, ginger and berbere. When the garlic and ginger begins to brown, stir through the red lentils so they are coated with the spices then add 6 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. 

Bring to the boil, adding the carrots, pumpkin and cauliflower (or other vegetables of your choice) as you chop them, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamon pods, then process the soup in batches in a blender and return to the pot. Add more water if a thinner soup is desired. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. 

Ethiopian Feast (Part 3)

How can I possibly describe how wonderful these curries/stews are? 

The flavours and aromas of Ethiopian food are so unique due to those two special ingredients that were prepared last weekend, Niter Kibbeh and Berbere. The amount of Niter Kibbeh that I used in two of the stews was halved from the recipes. This wasn't due to spice levels as it is the milder component, however I felt that 2 tablespoons of fat per stew was more than enough and this way half of my batch was left-over for another night. As the heat level of the berbere was yet to be determined, I erred on the side of caution and added teaspoons gradually until I was satisfied with the spiciness. 

I made three stews, none of which were particularly complex to put together. After all of the onions, garlic, ginger and vegies were prepped, I made the lentils, followed by the powdered chickpeas and finally the mixed vegies. It is interesting to note that the recipes all begin with an initial step of cooking the onion without any oil until it is softened and then adding the Niter Kibbeh. It feels a bit topsy-turvy when you are so accustomed to heating oil and then cooking onion in it. 

The lentil stew was from World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown, my source for all of the Ethiopian components and the curries/stews. It was the first time I made this one and I probably wouldn't bother with it again which is why I haven't posted the recipe. Unlike the other two, it did not contain any Niter Kibbeh or Berbere. It was nice and had a distinct flavour due to decent amounts of ginger and basil that were included however the other two stews were the stand-outs by a mile.

The stew of spiced powdered chickpeas is definitely the most impressive. For something that contains so little ingredients, it has the most amazing taste. The first time I attempted it years ago, I was shaking my head in disbelief, but was so excited with the outcome. The Niter Kibbeh is the dominant force although I did only use 1/4 of the stated amount of Berbere this time. The mixed vegetable stew is also wonderful and spicy and highly rated in our house.   

The left-overs were on the menu tonight. Although there was no left-over injera to enjoy them with, they were still lovely with some brown rice instead. I have never eaten out at an Ethiopian restaurant, it is something I am particularly interested in doing as I would love to try the injera and their authentic stews.  

Vegan Dad also seems quite enthused about Ethiopian cooking and has several recipes on his blog. I might have to give one of his stews a try next time for something different...

Ye'atakilt W'et (Spicy Mixed Vegetable Stew) (Adapted from World Vegetarian Classics)

1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Niter Kibbeh
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Berbere
1 tablespoon paprika
100g green beans, cut into bite sized pieces
3 small carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 tablespoons tomato paste
500ml vegetable stock
salt and pepper
fresh parsley, finely chopped

Heat a large saucepan with a lid over a medium heat and add the onion (without any oil). Cook, stirring until soft. Add the niter kibbeh, garlic, berbere and paprika and cook for 2 minutes. Stir through the beans, carrots and cauliflower until well coated with the onion and spice mixture. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley.


Yeshiro We't (Stew of spiced powdered chickpeas) (Adapted from World Vegetarian Classics)

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Niter Kibbeh

4cm piece ginger, finely chopped or grated

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons Berbere

2 teaspoons nigella (black cumin, kaloonji) seeds 
500ml vegetable stock
1/4 cup besan (chickpea flour)
salt and pepper

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion (without any oil) and stir-fry until soft and brown. Reduce the heat and add the niter kibbeh, ginger, garlic, berbere and nigella seeds. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Mix the chickpea flour with enough cold water to make a smooth, pourable paste. Gradually drizzle the chickpea paste into the simmering mixture ensuring that you keep stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until very thick. Season with salt and pepper.  

Ethiopian Feast (Part 2)

Total and utter deliciousness!!! That's the best way to sum up our Ethiopian meal but even that seems to understate how good it was. So different to other curries and the injera bread was fantastic. I had serious doubts that the bread was going to turn out as the mixture seemed quite thick initially. Over the course of three days of fermenting it thinned out a little.  

This is how it looked after one full day...

After the second day, there were more bubbles present as well as more water separating.

And here is a shot of one frying in the pan. As I don't own a huge non-stick frying pan, I made the injera smaller rather than larger which made them easier to handle. I won't lie and say every piece turned out perfectly as the temperature of the frying pan was too hot initially so a couple were a little burnt on the bottom. I was happy with an 80% success rate on my first attempt.

The recipe seemed to feed a lot of people so I halved it for the three of us in case I made a mess of it or it didn't keep well. In hindsight, I should have made the full recipe which is posted below as we have so many left-over curries. I'm not sure if I can restrain myself from the left-overs for 3 days in order to make another half batch of Injera. Next time a full batch of Injera will definitely be made.

Now I have given you the know-how on the Berbere spice mix, the Niter Kibbeh spiced butter and Injera, there is only thing left to talk about - the curries. Stay tuned...

Injera (Sourdough flatbread) (From World Vegetarian Classics)

300g (2 1/3 cups) strong white bread flour
100g (2/3 cup) wholemeal self-raising flour
7g dried yeast
625ml (2 1/2 cups) warm water
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt

Select a large ceramic, glass or plastic bowl, which will allow the batter enough room to rise. Combine the flours and yeast in the bowl. Stir in the warm water and mix to a fairly thin, smooth batter. Cover with a clean damp cloth and let the mixture sit for a full 3 days at room temperature, stirring once a day - it will bubble and rise.

When ready to cook the injera, stir in the bicarbonate of soda and salt into the mixture and leave to stand for 15 minutes. 

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until a drop of water bounces on the surface. Use a 1/2 cup measure to scoop the batter and pour into the hot pan, swirling quickly to coat the surface from the centre outwards - lots of little holes will form immediately. Cook until the surface of the pancake is dry; do no flip or allow to brown underneath - it should be soft and pliable. Remove to a warmed plate and cook the remaining Injera. 

Ethiopian Feast (Part 1)

On Friday night whilst flicking through cookbooks I was inspired to have another go at making Ethiopian curries. It is probably close to 2 years since I last had a stab at some Ethiopian cuisine and it was so spicy, flavoursome and different to other curries that it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. I haven't bothered making injera bread previously but after reading recent restaurant reviews of Ethiopian restaurants I decided to give it a try this time.     

The injera dough is very simple to prepare, there is no kneading required and a quick mix results in a thick batter. The downside is that it takes 3 days of fermenting (with a quick stir every day) before it is ready for use. In the meantime there were some other vital Ethiopian staples that needed to be prepped like the fiery Berbere spice mix and Niter Kibbeh, a spiced clarified butter.

Some of my spices were almost running out and others not used as frequently were well past their best before dates, so I did a stock-up of fresh spices from my local Indian grocer. 

Armed with these goodies, I went about making the spice powder first and regretfully forgot to  take a photo as the whole spices were roasting away. The smell coming from the kitchen was amazing. After the roasted spices cool down, it's only a matter of grinding them with a few other ground spices and placing the mixture into an airtight container.

The clarified margarine is also fairly straight-forward. After the margarine has melted, it is simmered for 20 minutes along with onions, garlic, ginger and spices. My only issue was that I couldn't locate my cheesecloth or anything similar for straining the margarine. I resorted to carefully using coffee filter bags, however this needed to be done in a few batches as the bags broke a couple of times. Suffice to say, my clarified margarine has a few extra bits and pieces.  

Now that these two basics are out of the way and the injera dough has only one day to go, I'm really looking forward to dinner tomorrow night. There are 2 or possibly 3 curries that will be on the menu, mixed vegetable, powdered chickpeas and a lentil one if I have enough time. I'll follow up with some more Ethiopian recipes in a day or so!

Berbere (From World Vegetarian Classics)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds
8 cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (not pods, seeds from the pods only)
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
8 small red dried chillies (1 used 4 medium sized ones)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons paprika

Toast the cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, fenugreek, coriander seeds and chillies in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, shaking the pan frequently, until lightly coloured. Leave to cool, then grind in a spice grinder with the ginger, allspice, turmeric, salt, cinnamon and paprika until a fine powder forms. Store in an airtight container.

Niter Kibbeh (From World Vegetarian Classics)  

250g unsalted butter dairy-free margarine
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds 
1 cinnamon stick, about 7.5cm long
2 cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

In a small saucepan, gradually melt the margarine and bring it to the boil. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, fenugreek, turmeric and basil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer over a very low heat, making sure there is no sign of burning, for about 20 minutes, or until the solids fall to the bottom.

Pour the liquid through a cheesecloth into a container. Discard solids. Leave to cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.