Ethiopian Feast for a Group

I absolutely love Ethiopian food -it is probably my favorite food on the planet.  Ethiopian food is best shared with friends and family and cooked with a great deal of care.  If you made every recipe on this page it would feed a very large crowd.  I generally make 3 dishes and serve a large meal for about 4 people and then have enough leftover for 2 people to have leftovers for at least a week or two.  While it is easy to cook it looks absolutely beautiful and tastes even better.  Ethiopian food is really great because you can play with the spice to change the flavor and especially the heat of the food. 

When I cook an Ethiopian feast this is what I generally cook:

Beverages - Telba, Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee

Main Course Dishes - Yemiser Wet, Amharic Allecha, Mesir Wat, Yegomen Kitfo, Yetakelt Wet

Bread - Injera

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Telba

This very simple flaxseed beverage makes a great drink that tastes very different and provides a cool contrast to the heat the Ethiopian food provides.  Serves 8.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Flaxseed
• 12 cups Water
• 4 T Honey

Toast the flaxseeds over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Remove the flaxseeds from the heat and allow them to cool.

Place all of the flaxseeds in a spice grinder, food processor, or blender and grind into a powder.  Place all flaxseeds in a bowl.

Add all of the water to the flaxseeds in the bowl and allow to sit for about 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture, add honey, and chill in the fridge until cold.

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Yemiser Wet

Ingredients

• 1 lb Red Lentils
• 2 white onions
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp ginger
• 4 T Niter Kebbeh
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 tsp Papri
• ka
• 1 tsp Berbere Spice
• 1 T Turmeric
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 4 c Vegetable Stock

Heat niter kebbeh and saute the onions, garlic, and ginger until the onions are translucent.  Add the berbere, paprika, turmeric, and cayenne and saute for a few minutes more.  Remove mixture from the stove and puree for about 30 seconds. 

Put puree in pan and add cooked lentils.  Add the vegetable stock and lentils.  Bring to a boil and simmer until lentils are cooked and fall apart slightly (about 40 minutes).  Add water if required. 

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Amharic Allecha

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves, garlic
• 1 T Niter Kebbeh
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 sea salt
• 1 cup vegetable broth

Mash the cooked chikpeas until they are both lumpy and smooth. 

Add niter kebbeh, the chopped onion, and garlic to a pan and saute on moderately low heat until the onion becomes translucent. 

Add the chickpeas, turmeric, and salt to the mixture in the pan.  Add vegetable broth and cook until the mixture is a thick puree.   

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Yegomen Kitfo

Ingredients

• 1.5 c cottage cheese
• 1/3 c Niter Kebbeh
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground Cardamom

Mix above ingredients together and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. Collard Greens, chopped
• 1 T Ginger
• 2 cloves, garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground Cardamom
• 1/4 c Niter Kebbeh

Steam the collard greens in a little bit of vegetable broth for about 20-30 minutes or ntil tender. 

Mix everything together and serve.

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Yetakelt Wet

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves, garlic - chopped
• 1 T Berbere spice
• 1 T Paprika
• 1/4 c Niter Kebbeh
• 1 C green beans, cut into thirds
• 1 C carrots, chopped
• 2 small Potatoes, cubed
• 2 small tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 c tomato paste
• 2 c vegetable stock

Saute the Niter Kebbeh, Onions, Garlic, Berbere, and Paprika for about 2 minutes.  Add the green beans, carrots, and potatoes for about 10 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until all of the vegetables are tender.

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Injera

While this recipe is not a traditional Injera recipe, it tastes just as good and is much easier to make since you do not have to wait for tef flour to ferment.

Ingredients

• 3 c all purpose flour
• 3 buckwheat flour
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs or egg replacer, beaten - if necessary
• 6 c club soda

Mix all ingredients together and whisk until it has the consistency of pancake batter.

Use a round non-stick pan and lightly coat it with cooking spray over medium heat.  When it is hot and depending on pan size, pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the man and tilt the pan quickly to coat the whole pan.  Cook the injera until it appears bubbly and dry on the top which is about 2-3 minutes.  Do NOT turn over.

Keep in a warm oven under a moist towel while you cook the rest of the injera. 

Overlap the injera on the bottom of your serving plate and serve each dish on top of the injera.  Tear off small bits to eat your food with and serve family style for everyone to enjoy!