A Culinary Journey through Ethiopia: Discover the Unforgettable Top 10 Dishes

Travelling is appealing not only for the sights and different cultures of the destination but also for the cuisine. Visiting Ethiopia is no different. With an extensive range of dishes, Ethiopian cuisine is cultural, rich, tasty, and flavourful. Nevertheless, what distinguishes Ethiopian food from others?

Ethiopians take great pride in preserving their cultural history. They treat dining as a social event, with everyone in the family sitting around and taking their time to appreciate the meal.

Ethiopian cuisine has a very distinct flavour profile. It combines flavours that are pungent, earthy, tangy, spicy, and sour. Berbere, which is a mixture of different spices, is a foundation ingredient used in most Ethiopian foods and savoury.

Ethiopian food is unique and distinct and to savour every dish to the full, you should make your Ethiopian Airlines booking now to find the best deals on a reliable travel website. Ethiopian Airlines connects Addis Ababa with some of the major cities in the Middle East, like Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam, Jeddah, Doha, and Riyadh.

Some of the popular Ethiopian dishes to try on your visit to the country are:

1. Injera

Image Resource : wikipedia.org

Injera is the most essential aspect of an Ethiopian meal. Injera is not only used to scoop up food but it is also served with stews and other foods.

You can prepare Injera, which is similar to a sourdough flatbread, using teff flour, an Ethiopian grain. After fermenting teff flour for three days, you need to fry it in a skillet. Teff is known for having a lot of protein and calcium. Injera has a texture similar to a pancake and a mildly tangy taste. Injera is typically served with cooked vegetables, salads, and stews on a plate in Ethiopia.

2. Tibs

When it comes to meat, tibs is one of the most common Ethiopian dishes prepared using sautéed meat, berbere, and vegetables. Tibs is prepared in several forms differing in the size of the pieces of meat used, though the most usual versions are made with mutton, lamb, beef, or venison and numerous vegetables, either mild or spicy.

You can find Shekla or Derek Tibs, which is a variety of tibs prepared with pieces of meat of beef, lamb, or goat cooked with onions, clarified butter, spices, and peppers. The meat used is seared in a pan until it becomes a little crunchy. By adding some rosemary twigs, the fragrance of the dish is considerably improved.

3. Yetsom Beyaynetu

It refers to a variety of totally vegan foods, rather than a particular Ethiopian dish. Restaurants serve Yetsom Beyaynetu on Wednesdays and Fridays with Injera. It is a platter of a delectable variety of vegetable stews and lentils, a common Ethiopian dish.

4. Doro Wot

A popular word you will hear the most in Ethiopian cuisine is “wot” or “wat”. It describes a particular style of stew prepared with different types of meat, spices, and vegetables.

Doro wat, a version of chicken stew, is one of Ethiopia’s most favoured foods and is offered as a great chicken platter at Ethiopian restaurants. The spicy sauce is prepared using chicken wings and stewed using caramelised onions, ginger, garlic, tomato paste, berbere, and boiled eggs. Doro wot, served with salads and Injera, is regarded as the national food of Ethiopia.

5. Shiro

This Ethiopian cuisine is a thick purée of spices and chickpeas or beans, generally preferred on fasting days. Although it has the appearance of basic gravy, it is made of chopped tomatoes, minced onions, and garlic. It has a fantastic texture and a wonderfully nutty flavour. Its main ingredients are Niter kibbeh and Berbere.

6. Kitfo

Image Resource : wikipedia.org

The other popular meat dish is kitfo, often served on special occasions like holidays. A spicy and hot chilli powder is mixed with raw meat to create the beef tartare known as kitfo. Ethiopians have the option of ordering their meat either leb leb – warmed or raw. Kitfo is prepared using flavoured butter, Niter kibbeh, and a spice mix, mitmita, and served with spinach and cottage cheese.

7. Enkulal Firfir

Primarily, scrambled eggs cooked with spicy Ethiopian butter or Niter kibbeh are all that make up this traditional Ethiopian morning dish. It is then topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, and colourful red and green peppers. It comes with warm, freshly baked bread.

8. Asa

Asa, a traditional fish dish from Ethiopia, is simply seasoned, grilled fish that is served with mostly Injera or bread. You can have the chopped fish spiced with berbere and seasoned with lime juice and paprika to avoid picking out the bones.

9. Genfo

A thick porridge prepared using wheat flour or barley in Ethiopia is genfo. Being a breakfast dish, it is generally served with berbere and Niter kibbeh sauce. Toasted barley flour is traditionally used to prepare genfo, but maize meal or wheat flour is also used in Ethiopian restaurants.

10. Buticha

Buticha is a term used to describe a fava or chickpea bean-based Ethiopian dip that is combined with onions, cloves, peppers, lemon juice, mustard, and other spices. The ingredients are blended until they have a creamy consistency to create this simple dish.

You can find these traditional dishes in most of the restaurants and food stalls in Ethiopia.