Zigni

The meat goes in first and the spices go in last, hours later.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

• 800 g stewing beef, in large cubes
• 3 red onions, chopped
• 400 g tomatoes, chopped
• 4 tablespoons niter kibbeh, as on its own page
• 2 tablespoons berbere
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 400 ml water

Method

1. THE MEAT GOES IN FIRST AND THE SPICES GO IN LAST, HOURS LATER. Its article sets the order out plainly: THE MEAT IS FIRST COOKED AND THEN TOMATOES AND RED ONIONS ARE ADDED. AFTER BEING SLOW-COOKED FOR HOURS, THE SPICES ARE ADDED. Nothing is bloomed at the start.
2. WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE WAT FAMILY. There the onions go into a dry pan before anything else and the berbere goes in early, in fat. Here the berbere meets a finished stew, so it stays sharp instead of mellowing into the sauce -- two dishes, same spice, opposite order.
3. BROWN THE BEEF IN THE NITER KIBBEH AND TAKE YOUR TIME. In batches, in a wide pan, so it colours rather than steams. This is the one browning step the dish has.
4. THE RED ONIONS AND TOMATOES GO IN TOGETHER. The article names red onions specifically. Twenty minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and there is no raw smell left.
5. THEN WATER TO HALF COVER AND LEAVE IT FOR TWO HOURS. A bare simmer, lid ajar. The article's word is hours and it means it; the beef should be giving way before any spice arrives.
6. NOW THE BERBERE, CUMIN, CURRY POWDER AND GARLIC, ALL AT ONCE. The article names cumin and curry powder among what goes in. Stir them through and give it fifteen minutes more -- enough to cook the rawness out, not enough to lose the edge.
7. THE CLARIFIED BUTTER IS NAMED IN THE ARTICLE AND IT IS NOT PLAIN GHEE. It records a butter called t'esmi THAT RESEMBLES GHEE BUT IS SEASONED WITH HERBS AND SPICES, which is niter kibbeh under its Tigrinya name.
8. SALT AT THE END, AND CHECK THE THICKNESS. It should coat the meat rather than pool around it.
9. IT KEEPS, AND THE ARTICLE SAYS HOW LONG. In an airtight container, THREE DAYS IN THE REFRIGERATOR OR ONE MONTH IN THE FREEZER. It is better on the second day.

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