Dabo kolo

The dough is rolled into ropes and cut into small pieces before any of it is fried.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains honey.

Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons berbere
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons oil
• about 180 ml water
• 2 tablespoons honey, optional
• oil for shallow frying

Method

1. THE DOUGH IS ROLLED INTO ROPES AND CUT INTO SMALL PIECES BEFORE ANY OF IT IS FRIED. Its article gives the method in one sentence: it IS PREPARED BY FRYING SMALL PIECES OF DOUGH CUT FROM ROLLS. Cut first, fry second -- not a sheet fried and then broken, which would give you shards with raw edges.
2. SO EVERY PIECE IS SEALED ON ALL SIDES. A rope cut into lengths has two cut ends and a round side, and all of it meets the oil at once. That is why these keep crisp in a jar for a fortnight.
3. MAKE A STIFF DOUGH, STIFFER THAN BREAD. Flour, berbere, salt and sugar, the three tablespoons of oil rubbed in, then water a little at a time. It should be firm enough to roll thin without springing back.
4. KNEAD IT FOR FIVE MINUTES AND REST IT FOR TWENTY. The rest is what lets you roll ropes that do not tear.
5. ROLL ROPES THE THICKNESS OF A PENCIL AND CUT THEM AT ONE CENTIMETRE. Work with a quarter of the dough at a time and keep the rest covered.
6. SHALLOW-FRY IN BATCHES OVER A MEDIUM HEAT, EIGHT TO TEN MINUTES EACH. They need longer than they look: the outside colours in three minutes and the middle is still soft. Keep them moving.
7. DRAIN THEM ON PAPER AND LET THEM COOL BEFORE JUDGING THEM. Hot, they are chewy; cold, they snap. The oil for frying is a medium and is discarded.
8. THE SWEET VERSION IS THE ARTICLE'S OWN NOTE. SOMETIMES HONEY IS ADDED, it says, and two tablespoons worked into the dough is enough to taste without softening the snap.
9. IT IS A NEW YEAR DISH AND A SHABBAT ONE. The article records it as a special dish during the Ethiopian New Year festivities, and served at Shabbat meals by the Beta Israel.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Ethiopia · All recipes