Citizens, few cuisines have made such a lasting impression as that from the distant country of Ethiopia! The tantalizing complexities of heat, spicing, and layered flavors have fired that clay into a perfected gustatory porcelain of the finest quality. This article shares what is unquestionably a favorite meal in this culinary canon: lamb tibs with its mandatory accompaniments of the spongy crepe known as injera and spicy awaze sauce!
Before diving into this Holy Trinity of Ethiopian goodness, let's explore some historical background on Ethiopian cuisine to place these culinary artifacts into their proper "in situ" context.
A Glimpse into Ethiopian History and Cuisine
The Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia) started in 1270 and did not end until 1974. The rulers focused on making themselves larger than history, by implying themselves to be descents of Jewish biblical figures such as the Queen of Sheba; considering themselves the House of Solomon. As an empire, they included modern day Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Red Sea portion of Sudan. The Solomonic Dynasty had wide and far-off trade routes, as Archaeologists have found from their remains and their goods found at sites around the Mediterranean and out towards Asia.
Ethiopian cuisine (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ምግብ “Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā məgəb”) characteristically consists of vegetable and often very spicy meat dishes. This is usually in the form of wot, a thick stew, served on top of injera (Amharic: እንጀራ), a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. Ethiopians usually eat with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes a number of fasting periods known as tsom (Ge’ez: ጾም ṣōm), including all Wednesdays and Fridays and the whole Lenten season (including fifteen days outside Lent proper). A typical dish consists of injera accompanied by a spicy stew, which frequently includes beef, lamb, vegetables and various types of legumes (such as lentils), and is traditionally consumed on the mesob basket.
Read also: Ethiopian Cuisine: Philadelphia Guide
Due in part to the brief Italian occupation of the country, pasta is popular and frequently available throughout Ethiopia, including rural areas. Coffee is also a large part of Ethiopian culture and cuisine. The customary Ethiopian coffee ritual entails roasting, brewing, and serving coffee with great importance, as it is thought to have originated in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian food has been influenced by the country’s geography and its rich agricultural resources, such as lentils, beans, coffee, and various spices.
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians avoid pork for cultural reasons as well as religious reasons, while Ethiopian Jews and Ethiopian Muslims avoid eating pork or shellfish for religious reasons; pork is forbidden in Judaism and Islam. Most Ethiopian Protestants or P’ent’ay also abstain from eating food that the Orthodox abstain from.
Key Ingredients in Ethiopian Cuisine
Several ingredients are essential for creating authentic Ethiopian flavors:
* Berbere: (Amharic: በርበሬ) is a basic ingredient in many Ethiopian dishes. Berbere, a combination of powdered chili pepper and other spices (cardamom, fenugreek, coriander, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cumin and allspice) is an important ingredient used to add flavor to many varied dishes like chicken stews and baked fish dishes.* Niter Kibbeh: Also essential is niter kibbeh, a clarified butter infused with ginger, garlic, and several spices.* Mitmita: Mitmita (Amharic: ሚጥሚጣ, IPA: [mitʼmitʼa]) is a powdered seasoning mix used in Ethiopian cuisine. It is orange-red in color and contains ground birdseye chili peppers (piri-piri), cardamom seed, cloves and salt.The Art of Making Wot and Tibs
Wot begins with a large amount of chopped red onion, which is simmered or sautéed in a pot. Once the onions have softened, niter kebbeh (or, in the case of vegan dishes, vegetable oil) is added. Following this, berbere is added to make a spicy keiy wat or keyyih tsebhi. Turmeric is used instead of berbere for a milder alicha wat or both spices are omitted when making vegetable stews, such as atakilt wat. Meat such as beef (ሥጋ, səga), chicken (ዶሮ, doro or derho), fish (ዓሣ, asa), goat or lamb (በግ, beg or beggi) is also added.
Read also: Authentic Ethiopian Cuisine
Tibs (also tebs, t’ibs, tibbs, etc., Ge’ez: ጥብስ ṭïbs) involves sautéing meat along with vegetables. Tibs is served in a variety of manners, and can range from hot to mild or contain little to no vegetables. There are many variations of the delicacy, depending on type, size or shape of the cuts of meat used. Beef, mutton, and goat are the most common meats used in the preparation of tibs.
Ethiopian lamb tibs recipe
Injera: The Foundation of Ethiopian Meals
Injera (Amharic: እንጀራ) is a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, traditionally made of teff flour. In both Ethiopia and Eritrea, injera is a staple. As previously noted, Ethiopian food is always served with injera - in fact, injera is actually the PLATE upon which mounds of different dishes are served.
Traditionally, injera is made with just two ingredients: teff flour and water. Teff flour is ground from the grains of Eragrostis tef, also known as teff, a cereal crop from the Ethiopian Highlands. Teff production is limited to certain middle elevations with adequate rainfall and is a low-yield crop, so it is relatively expensive for the average farming household. Many farmers in the Ethiopian highlands grow their own subsistence grains, so wheat, barley, corn, or rice flour are sometimes used to replace the teff content.
Teff seeds are graded according to color, used to make different kinds of injera: nech (white), key or quey (red), and sergegna (mixed). When teff is not available, injera is made by fermenting a variety of different grains, including barley, millet, and sorghum. Teff, however, is the preferred grain for making injera, primarily because of its sensory attributes (color, smell, taste).
To make injera, teff flour is mixed with water. The fermentation process is started by adding ersho, a clear, yellow liquid that accumulates on the surface of fermenting teff flour batter and is collected from previous fermentations.
Read also: A Taste of Ethiopia in South Carolina
The baking method for injera has changed little since its origin. Traditionally, the flour is mixed with water and fermented. It is baked by pouring the mixture onto a large circular griddle, known as a mitad. The injera is baked into large, flat and round pieces. The dough’s viscosity allows it to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out.
The bottom surface of the injera, which touches the heating surface, has a relatively smooth texture, while the top is porous. Baking is done on a circular griddle-either a large black clay plate over a fire or a specialized electric stove. The griddle is known as a mitad (ምጣድ) (in Amharic). Mitads have been found at archaeological sites dating back as far as 600 AD.
In Ethiopia and Eritrea, a variety of stews, salads (during Ethiopian Orthodox fasting, for which believers abstain from most animal products), and more injera (called injera firfir) are placed on the injera for serving. Using one’s hand (traditionally only the right one), small pieces of injera are torn and used to grasp the stews and salads for eating. The injera under these stews soaks up the juices and flavors of the foods, and after the stews and salads are gone, this bread is also consumed. Injera is thus simultaneously a food, eating utensil, and plate.
Awaze Sauce: The Perfect Complement
My original recipe for awaze dates back to 2016, and I have updated it here to be slightly more complex in spicing and with a more rounded flavor. I guarantee that once you try awaze, it will become a guaranteed favorite for sating all your spicing needs from breakfast to dinner!
To make both awaze and tibs, you will also need to make the unmatched gustatory delight that is niter kibbeh - Ethiopian clarified and curried butter (which I use in and on almost anything that calls for spicy butter!). You will also need to make (or buy) the classic and ubiquitous spice blend found in almost every Ethiopian dish, known as berbere. My recipe for it is unmatched and may be found here, or you can buy it premade from the Ethiopian ingredient superstore known as Brundo (the only source for ALL my Ethiopian-specific ingredients, including the tej honey wine that is a part of awaze) - visit them here.
As you have surmised - there is a lot of work and chained recipes needed to make this entire meal, and I make no apologies for it. The best cuisine is a labor of genuine love and your guests and family deserve the same - otherwise, just go out and order it at your local Ethiopian restaurant, if you are lucky enough to have one!
However, with all that said - yes there are many sub-recipes needed to make this meal - but awaze can be made up to 1 month in advance as can berbere and niter kibbeh - the tibs itself is actually not difficult to make in the least.
Lamb Tibs Recipe
Tibs is made with beef, goat or lamb - I have always preferred the lamb version with its essence of rosemary, abundance of onion, garlic and hot peppers in addition to its superlative spicing made even more sublime with a dab of awaze on each mouthful.
Ingredients:
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Onion | 1/2 Tbsp. |
| Herbs | 1/2 Tbsp. |
| Berbere | 2 1/2 tsp. |
| Liquid Smoke | 1/2 tsp. |
| White Wine | 3 1/2 Tbsp. |
| Oil | 2 1/2 Tbsp. |
| Lamb | 1 1/2 lbs. |
| Ginger | 2 1/2 heaping tsp. |
| Garlic | 1 tsp. |
| Beef Stock | 3 Tbsp. |
| Rosemary | 1 Tbsp. |
| Thyme | 1 tsp. |
| Oregano | 1/2 tsp. |
| Smoked Paprika | 1/4 tsp. |
| Cumin | 1/4 tsp. |
| Allspice | 1/2 tsp. |
| Coriander | 1/2 tsp. |
| Cloves | 1/8 tsp. |
Instructions:
- Chop the onions (you can do a large dice or strips) and cook them until golden (10-15 min) over medium high, or until you can no longer stand how good the house smells.
- Meanwhile, grate the ginger and add with fresh garlic to the pan and cook a few more minutes.
- Add berberé and the meat and brown it.
- Cover with beef stock and simmer partially covered for about 35 minutes, or until the lamb is tender. (If you'd like a less soupy texture simmer uncovered).
- Make the awaze sauce - combine all.
- Whisk the mixture together until it forms a paste, adding more wine or oil if necessary.
- Throw in the remaining ½ of the onion and herbs, plus the liquid smoke and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then deglaze with the white wine.
- Serve hot with injera to friends. Laugh a lot while eating it.
Awaze Tibs is incredible.
