Nebeyou asked for doro wot, his favorite Ethiopian dish, for dinner, having no idea the complexity of the dish. But, he was willing to help, so Ruth said yes. First, she sent her shopping helper out to buy a chicken. It takes a long time to shop, so when you have a baby and two toddlers, it maintains sanity to hire a shopper. The chicken was very expensive, 160 birr (about $8.50).
Then, one of the gardeners acted as executioner, and Nebeyou helped pluck the chicken after it's demise.
At the same time, the women began preparing the spices. Spice seeds must be combed through for anything that does not belong. Then, roasted. There are 8 kilos of onions to shred, and garlic to peel (garlic cloves are tiny here, so lots of peeling), tomatoes to chop and special spiced butter (also expensive) to add. Then, boiled eggs, which are the special treat added to the mixture at the end, so they get all red and spicy.
This dish is usually reserved for Easter, Christmas and New Year.
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| wing feathers proved difficult to remove! |
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| butter delivery |
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| 8 kilos is a lot of onions to chop, everyone had to do their part! |
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Like most Ethiopian food, doro wot is eaten on injera, which is made on a clay stone over a fire, or, if electricity is available, on an electric injera maker. Nebeyou did a nice job of making a small one, I did not do so well and mine ended up in the garden compost. The woman helping me was generous and said the heat was too hot on the injera maker, but I know she was just trying to help me save face.
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| Obviously not natural for me |
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| reminiscent of the Smoke Monster from LOST |
The end result, according to Nebeyou, "it was phenomenal, and it's a cultural food, and it's kindof the best food I've ever eaten in my life."
I just love that boy! Yummy!!!!! If I had to pluck a chicken every time we wanted doro wat I would never make it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt takes a village to make a meal! I love this story of all that goes into making this dish! Now I need to try some. I've been to one Ethiopian restaurant in NY (many years ago) and one in Charlotte (at least 10 years ago). Any where you recommend in the Carolinas (or Georgia), Heidi?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Atlanta comes to mind - there are good ET restaurants there like Queen of Sheba, though I'm sure Charlotte is good too, I've just not had that particular thing there. We just got a great little ET restaurant in Columbia, but they seldom make doro wot, though I'm sure if you asked a few days ahead they would.
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