Kitfo
Ethiopian minced beef gently warmed in spiced clarified butter and mitmita chilli powder, served with fresh cheese and injera.
Photograph credit: kitfo by stu_spivack · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
How to Cook Kitfo
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Melt the niter kibbeh in a pan over a low heat. Stir in the mitmita, cardamom and salt.
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Add the beef and stir for 2 to 3 minutes over a low heat, just until warmed through and pink at the edges.
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Stir in the lemon juice.
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Serve at once with the cottage cheese and injera.
Keep an Eye on These
- Use very fresh beef.
- Cook for as short a time as you like; the beef should be tender.
- Make spiced butter by simmering ghee with garlic, ginger and cardamom.
About This Recipe
In Ethiopia, kitfo is eaten raw or barely warmed, and it is one of the dishes that makes a visitor remember the trip. It is minced beef mixed with niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and mitmita (a fiery chilli powder with cardamom and cloves), and in the version served at home it is warmed through, not cooked.
Here the beef is cooked rare to medium, which is safer and which many Ethiopians prefer when they make it at home. The meat should be extremely fresh and lean, minced once, with no fat other than the butter that goes through it. Buy a clean cut such as sirloin or fillet and ask the butcher to mince it, or chop it by hand with a sharp knife. Never use pre-packed mince that has been sitting.
Melt the niter kibbeh in a pan over a low heat. Add the mitmita, a little cardamom and salt, then the beef, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes only, just until the meat turns from red to pink at the edges. It should still be soft.
Serve in a mound with a spoonful of ayib (fresh cheese), cooked greens (gomen) and injera. Use the bread to scoop.
What to Serve It With
Injera · Gomen · Ayib (fresh cheese) · Tej or honey wine
Leftovers
Best eaten straight away.
Kitfo Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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