Tihlo

The barley is roasted before milling and the flour is only moistened, never cooked.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

300 g pearl barley
about 160 ml warm water
1 teaspoon salt
300 g stewing beef, in small cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons berbere
2 tablespoons niter kibbeh, as on its own page
400 ml water, for the sauce

Method

THE BARLEY IS ROASTED BEFORE MILLING AND THE FLOUR IS ONLY MOISTENED, NEVER COOKED. Its article gives both halves: THE BARLEY GRAIN IS COMPLETELY DEHULLED AND MILLED, and tihlo IS MADE USING MOISTENED ROASTED BARLEY FLOUR THAT IS KNEADED TO A UNIFORM CONSISTENCY. The cooking happened in the roasting pan, so the dough is food as soon as it is mixed.
WHICH IS WHY THE WATER IS WARM AND MEASURED. There is no boiling to correct a wet dough. Add the water in stages and stop when it holds together.
DEHULL AND ROAST THE BARLEY BEFORE GRINDING IT. The article's word is completely dehulled. Dry pan, medium heat, ten to twelve minutes, moved constantly, until it smells like bread and has gone a shade darker.
GRIND IT FINE AND LET IT COOL BEFORE WETTING IT. Hot flour and warm water make a gluey dough that will not roll.
KNEAD IT TO ONE CONSISTENCY THROUGHOUT, which is the article's own test -- a uniform consistency -- and it takes longer than it looks, five minutes at least, because roasted flour takes water slowly.
ROLL IT INTO BALLS THE SIZE OF A LARGE MARBLE. They are picked up one at a time with a two-pronged stick, so they want to be even.
THE SAUCE IS A SEPARATE PAN AND IT IS THICK. Soften the onion in the niter kibbeh, add the beef and colour it, berbere off the heat, then the water, and forty-five minutes at a simmer until the meat gives and the sauce coats.
THE BALLS ARE DIPPED, NOT SIMMERED. Its article has it as barley dough balls COVERED WITH MEAT AND BERBERE-BASED SAUCE: the dough goes nowhere near the pan, or it would dissolve into 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