I think there is no better way to experience a city than through restaurants. I first fell in love with Ethiopian food when living in the Chicago area and ever since, I've kept a recipe for berbere spice in my repertoire. Traditionally this spice is used in dishes like Doro Wot (a long cooking spiced chicken stew) but I've found it works beautifully with lentils. The spice blend makes for a rich stew, even though the base of this lentil stew is vegan.
I know what you might be thinking, "can I use red/brown/green lentils in place of the black?" You can but you won't get the same result. The black lentils keep their texture beautifully and really absorb the flavors. The other lentils just won't hold up to the cooking process as well. A few variations you could use:
Sweet Potatoes/Carrots: Add cubed sweet potatoes or carrots to the stew to add a bit of extra vegetables.
Greens: Stir in spinach, kale, collards, or chard towards the end of cooking.
Vegan: Leave off the yogurt!
I love Ethiopian food!! But holy moly is it spicy!!! The flavors in Ethiopian food are so good but I just wish my mouth wasn't on fire the whole time! Anyhow, this stew looks so delicious, and easy to adjust the spiciness with more or less berbere spice. Yum:)
Thank you for this lovely, homey stew that makes beautiful use of pantry staples. And for giving me a substantial way to use the Berbere I've had in my pantry, but haven't used as readily. I know the whole point of this was to use black lentils, but I'm really trying to cook from what I have so I used green instead, and it was lovely. I threw in a ton of finely-chopped kale at the end and topped it with coconut yogurt. My Berbere was incredibly spicy, so three tablespoons yielded a nose-drippingly hot stew, but the coconut yogurt mellows it out and I don't mind the spice. So happy to have a new twist on lentil soup in my back pocket!
Thanks for the review and you're totally right- I just added a tip in about the berbere spice + heat level. I always make my own and adjust the levels of the spice elements but I know store blends can be incredibly spicy!
I have a bag of frozen cubed sweet potatoes I would like to add to the recipe. Should I roast them first or just add them to the stew and let them cook that way? Also, at what step in the recipe should I add them to the dutch oven? Thanks!
You could roast them and add them at the end but I would probably add them with about 15 minutes of cooking left and let them cook that way!
Awesome, thanks!
Hi! What tomato sauce do you recommend (if we are not going to make our own)?
I love your recipes!!! Thank you!
I like Muir Glen, primarily because they have a low-sodium, no-sweetener tomato sauce!
This is fantastic! I just got some Berbere spice from the spice store. I didn't think it was that hot but then again I like spicy food. The yogurt helps tame it a bit. I will definately add sweet potatoes, carrots next time. I will be making this a lot!
Wonderful recipe! How well does this freeze, and if it does, for approximately how long? It would be great to freeze in portions and just pull out a package on busy days.
I think it would freeze well, most likely up to three months.