Doro Wat

What Goes With It

• Injera, torn and used as both plate and cutlery
• Ethiopian honey wine (tej)
• Ayib and a simple salad

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Injera.

How to Make Doro Wat

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1. Make the niter kibbeh: melt the butter over low heat with all its spices and simmer 25 minutes without letting it colour. Strain through muslin and set aside.

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2. Marinate the chicken in the lemon juice and a teaspoon of the salt, covered in the fridge, while you cook the onions (at least 30 minutes).

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3. Put the chopped onions in a large dry pot with no oil at all. Cook over medium-low heat for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring regularly.

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4. They will release liquid, then reabsorb it, then collapse into a thick, sweet, deep-brown purée. Do not rush this stage.

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5. Add 6 tablespoons of the niter kibbeh and cook 5 minutes.

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6. Stir in the ginger-garlic paste for 2 minutes, then the berbere and tomato purée, and fry 6 minutes until the mixture darkens and smells deeply aromatic.

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7. Add the stock gradually, stirring, until you have a thick sauce.

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8. Add the chicken, cover, and simmer 40 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally.

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9. Add the hard-boiled eggs and the remaining salt and simmer 15 minutes more, uncovered, so they take on colour and the sauce thickens.

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10. Rest 15 minutes and serve on injera with ayib alongside.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Notes From the Method

No oil during the onion stage. This is the single most important instruction in the recipe.

Berbere varies enormously in heat. Start with four tablespoons and taste before adding more.

Score the boiled eggs lightly so the sauce penetrates the whites.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Keeping What's Left

Refrigerate up to 4 days and freeze 3 months. The niter kibbeh keeps 3 months refrigerated.

Common Questions

Doro Wat Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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