Shiro

It is built on pulse flour rather than whole pulses, so it thickens as it comes to the boil.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 150 g chickpea flour, or broad bean flour
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cm ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons berbere
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 750 ml water
• 1 tomato, chopped, optional

Method

1. IT IS BUILT ON PULSE FLOUR RATHER THAN WHOLE PULSES, SO IT THICKENS AS IT COMES TO THE BOIL. Its article names the ingredient exactly: the primary one IS POWDERED CHICKPEAS OR BROAD BEAN MEAL. No soaking, no hours -- the thickening is starch coming out of flour, and the whole thing is twenty-five minutes.
2. WHICH IS WHY IT GOES IN AS A SLURRY AND NOT A SCATTER. Whisk the flour into cold water first. Tipped dry into a hot pan it seizes into lumps that never go.
3. SOFTEN THE ONION PROPERLY BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. Ten minutes in the oil over a medium heat until it is soft and just golden. Its article names MINCED ONIONS, GARLIC and then, as things that vary from one cook to the next, GROUND GINGER OR CHOPPED TOMATOES AND CHILI PEPPERS -- so the onion and garlic are the fixed part and the rest is a choice.
4. GARLIC AND GINGER FOR A MINUTE, THEN THE BERBERE OFF THE HEAT. Ground chilli burns in hot oil faster than you can reach for the water.
5. POUR THE SLURRY IN AND STIR UNTIL IT COMES BACK TO A SIMMER. It will thicken suddenly, within a minute of the first bubble.
6. THEN TWENTY MINUTES AT A BARE SIMMER, STIRRED OFTEN. Under that and it tastes of raw flour, which is the one fault this dish has.
7. IT WANTS TO BE LOOSE ENOUGH TO POUR. It sets as it cools and it is scooped up with bread, so what looks right in the pan is too stiff on the plate. Water, not more flour, fixes it.
8. IT IS VEGAN AS IT STANDS, AND THE ARTICLE SAYS SO. SHIRO IS A VEGAN FOOD, BUT THERE ARE NON-VEGAN VARIATIONS THAT USE NITER KIBBEH OR MEAT, IN WHICH CASE IT IS CALLED BOZENA SHIRO. Swap the oil for niter kibbeh, as on its own page, and it is no longer the vegan dish.
9. TEGABINO IS THE SAME THING BROUGHT TO THE TABLE IN ITS POT. The article has it heavily spiced and BROUGHT BUBBLING TO THE TABLE IN A MINIATURE CLAY POT OR SHALLOW ALUMINUM PAN. Cooked and served in the same dish, it goes on thickening in front of the people eating it.

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