FIRE

The defining spice of Ethiopia, Berbere is used in nearly every dish, and will lend fierce flavor to any meat or vegetable stew, legume or rice dish. The bright red color, complex heat, and intoxicating aroma will delight adventurous eaters. Hand torn, toasted, and ground whole arbol chile, coriander seed, fenugreek, cardamom, black peppercorn, allspice, cumin, and clove, are blended with onion, paprika, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. SALT FREE.

Make traditional dishes like doro wat, tibs, mereq, misr wot (lentils), and more.

Add a little to your favorite fried chicken dredge for amazing flavor or add a lot and rediscover hot wings. Or fry/bake them, toss in a melted butter/berbere mix, and drizzle with honey.

Liven up cold noodle, potato, or vegetable salads.

Mix with vinegar and/or oil for home made hot sauce.
 

Doro Wat
~Serves 4-6~

4 chicken legs, legs and thighs skinned and split
1 lemon, sliced thin
Enough water to cover
4 TBSP prepared Nit’r Qibe (or unsalted butter or olive oil – see Spicegrrrl QUEST®)
4 red onions, diced fine
4-6 cloves garlic, grated or minced fine
1-2” piece of ginger, peeled and minced fine
3-4 TBSP FIRE®
1 TBSP tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
Opt: 1 cup honey wine or more stock
Salt, to taste
4 hardboiled eggs

1. Place chicken in a bowl with lemon slices. Cover with water and set aside.
2. In a large pot over medium-low heat add qibe and onions and cook until well caramelized, at least 30-45 minutes.
3. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in FIRE, tomato paste, stock, and wine. Add chicken pieces, cover and simmer an hour.
5. When chicken is tender, cut eggs in half lengthwise and nestle into stew. Re-cover and simmer another 15 mins or so.
6. Served with bread for sopping up all the sauce.

RIZ DJERBIEN (TUNISIAN SPINACH RICE)
~serves 6 generously~

2 cups long grain rice (basmati) rinsed
1/3 cup olive oil
3 TBSP tomato paste
1 large bunch fresh spinach, chopped
1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 head of garlic, minced
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 large tomato, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
2 - 3 TBSP FIRE ® (depending on your taste for heat)
1 tsp caraway seed
Salt to taste
QIBE spiced butter - optional

1. Place rice in a large mixing bowl. Mix in olive oil and tomato paste. Add spinach, parsley, onion, garlic, sweet potato, tomato, carrot, garbanzo beans, FIRE, caraway, and salt. Mix it up well so spices and vegetables are well distributed, and everything is well coated with tomato-oiled rice.
2. Spoon into a large steamer over boiling water. Cover and cook, checking water level occasionally and adding more as needed. After 45 minutes, pour back out into the large mixing bowl and stir gently to redistribute ingredients and fluff up the rice. Pour the mixture back into the steamer, cover, and cook another 30 minutes or until tender.
Optional: drizzle with QIBE spiced butter.