Doro Wat (National Dish of Ethiopia)

This spicy dish is a new favorite at our house. Serve with homemade Injera if you're feeling ambitious or basmati rice if you're not. Typically this dish is served very hot using a spice called berbere. You can make this on your own (google a recipe) or can be bought at specialty grocery stores. I picked some up at our local food co-op. This recipe is medium spicy but feel free to increase or reduce the berbere as you see fit.

Also, this recipe calls for Tej, a traditional Ethiopian honey wine. I imagine this is also available at specialty stores but you can do as I did and substitute 1/2 cup white wine with 1 ts honey mixed in. If you're using cooking wine, reduce the overall salt in the recipe to compensate.

Finally, the recipe I altered called for double the cooking times you'll see below. If you have time, you may want to simmer everything longer, but I found that the times listed below were adequate to create the flavor and texture this recipe is going for.


2.5-3 lbs chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces or 3 chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 Tb lemon juice
5 Tb butter
2 Tb olive oil
2 cups yellow onions finely minced (almost a puree) in a food processor
1 Tb minced garlic
1 Tb minced ginger
1/4 cup berbere
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 ts salt
1/2 cup Tej or honey wine
4 hard boiled eggs, shells removed, pierced all over with a fork

1) Place the chicken pieces in a bowl and soak with the lemon juice. Let it sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the food.

2) Heat two tablespoons of butter and the olive oil in a dutch oven style pot. Add the onions and saute, covered, over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Add the garlic, ginger, and 1 tablespoon butter and continue to saute, covered for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

4) Add the berere and 2 remaining tablespoons of butter and saute, covered for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5) Add the chicken pieces, chicken stock, salt, and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6) Add the boiled eggs and simmer on low heat, covered, for another 7 minutes.

Serve warm with injera or rice.