Recipes

Spicy Ethiopian Chicken Stew (Doro Wot)

  • Serves

    serves 4

SAVEUR

This stew of chicken and hard-boiled eggs is one of the most recognized dishes of Ethiopia. The key to making its delicious, sweet-and-spicy sauce is to cook the onions slowly until they've caramelized to make a deeply flavored base. This recipe is based on one used by Elizabeth Goshu at her restaurant, Nyala, in Los Angeles.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. nit'r qibe (Ethiopian Spiced Butter), or unsalted butter
  • 2 large yellow onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
  • 1 12 Tbsp. berbere (Ethiopian Spice Mix) plus more as needed
  • 4 chicken legs (about 2 1⁄4 lbs.), skinned and divided into drumsticks and thighs
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 4 whole hard-boiled eggs
  • Injera (Ethiopian Flatbread)

Instructions

Step 1

Heat butter in a large straight-sided skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened, 6–8 minutes. Add berbere and 2 cups water; stir well. Season the chicken all over with salt; nestle the pieces in the skillet. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes.

Step 2

Uncover skillet and raise heat to medium-high; simmer to reduce the liquid until it has a thick, gravy-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Add eggs; stir to warm through. Taste and season with more berbere and salt, if necessary. Serve hot with the injera.

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