Shiro Wat is a tasty Ethiopian soup prepared with chickpeas and spices. The soup boasts of its rich, textured, and nutty flavor. Due to its nutritional value and taste, Shiro Wat has become one of the go-to meals for vegans not only in Ethiopia but also across the globe. And today, we bring this Ethiopian recipe right to your kitchen.
But before that, let’s have a quick look at Ethiopian culture
Ethiopian Culture
Ethiopians are welcoming, hardworking, and resilient. For years now, they’ve managed to keep their way of life intact. Most of their native dishes consist of meat, legumes, and vegetable stew, which are perfectly spiced to bring out the real authentic Ethiopian cuisine.
As a norm, eating is done with the right hand and not the opposite. When paying a visit to any Ethiopian home, declining food is not acceptable. Visitors are ushered with food or drinks even without any formal invitation.
Women are expected to help the hostess in food preparation, serving and clearing the table. When a visitor brings a gift, the host is not allowed to open it immediately.
[bctt tweet=’In Ethiopia, you are expected to leave your shoes outside when entering the house or a mosque’]
Now, let us get down to cooking. Below are the ingredients that you need to prepare your Shiro Wat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpeas flour
- 3 tbsp Ethiopian spiced clarified butter (Niter Kibbeh)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp. sugar
- 4 tbsp berbere spice
- Garlic 2 cloves (crushed)
- 2 onions (blended to make puree)
- 2 tomatoes (for puree)
Guide
- Add your onion puree in a large cooking pot and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes till golden brown.
- Add your tomato, berbere spice, and garlic. Simmer for 4 minutes
- As your sauce cooks, start whisking your chick pea’s flour. Add two cups of water into the flour and whisk the mixture to perfection. Add half a cup if you love thinner consistency.
- Continue heating your Shiro until it starts to pop. Add your butter, salt, garlic, and sugar. Stir the mixture and simmer it for about five minutes
- Lower down the heat, and simmer it for another five minutes for flavor to intensify
- Serve while hot with Injera
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The only major critique I have of this-and it is huge!- is that it is NOT soup!
Soup is (or at least can be) eaten by itself, and this would never be eaten alone in Ethiopia!