Ethiopia's unique fasting food
In addition to this, there are some longer fasts, the main one being before Easter. Then the fasting rules are applied for a month or two! All in all, there are about 250 scheduled days for fasting in a year.
Now, I am not an orthodox, but I actually liked the time of fasting when I lived in Ethiopia. Why? The food! Avoiding meat and dairy products doesn't mean avoiding good food. In fact, some dishes are only to be found during the fasting.
Shiro
Peas and beans
Shiro is a flour made of dry chickpeas, peas or beans. Or a mixture of them all. This is ground together with berbere and spice. Most people prepare this at home, drying the food in the sun before taking it to the mill .But you can also buy it ready made. It is also possible to get it without chilipepper.
You might call shiro fast-food, it doesn't have to take long to prepare and it is one of the easier Ethiopian foods to cook. It is generally served with injera, but many prefer it with white bread.
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Making shiro
Basic recipe
- Serves: 2
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Total Time: 20 min
Ingredients
- 1 onion-finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves of garlic-finely chopped
- 2-3 cups of water
- 2-3 tbsp shiro flour
- 1 stock cube or salt
Instructions
Sautee onion in a little oil, add the garlic and let it fry together for a couple of minutes.
Add the water and the stock cube and bring to the boil.
Let it boil for a few minutes, then add the shiro. It is better if it is a bit watery as it easily burns. As it boils the water will evaporate.
Let the shiro boil for about ten minutes, or until it is like thick yogurt.
It never gets boring!
- When frying the onion, add some lean beef, cut in small cubes, then continue as above. It is called Bozena shiro, and is obviously not for the lent....
- When there is about five minutes left of cooking, add tomato cut in small pieces.
- Let some rosemary boil along for a while. It will add an interesting flavour!
- Add some finely cut chilipepper when it is finished, and put the lid on. It will get soft by the heat from the dish.
- Mix broken injera pieces with the shiro. This is called firfir, and is often eaten for breakfast when you have drunk too much alcohol the day before.
- Finely chop a couple of garlic cloves and serve together with the shiro. A real immune system booster, and delicious!
- Towards the end of cooking, add a teaspoon of Ethiopian butter!
- Shiro goes very well with a salad made of lettuce, onion, fresh chilipeppers and tomatoes. Add a splash of olive oil, some lemon juice and a pinch of salt!
- Let a whole green chilipepper boil together with the shiro. Afterwards you can either eat it or discard it.
Seeing is believing!
How to make shiro
One chopped onion for shiro, fry in a bit of oil.
Add water or stock and let it boil.
Your steaming hot shiro is ready to eat!
Get Ethiopian spice here!
Alidja
Without hot chili
- Serves: 2-4
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 min
Another good vegetable side dish is Alidja.This basically means food without chili powder. It can be done with different vegetables (or meat). The possibilities are many.
If serving as only dish, the recipe will serve 2, otherwise 4.
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes-cut in pieces
- 1 cup green stringbeans-whole or half
- 2 large carrots- cut in thick slices
- 1 onion-finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves of garlic-finely chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- salt and water
Instructions
Sautee chopped onion in a little oil, together with the turmeric. Add the garlic, fry for a minute and then add the vegetables. Let it all fry together until it has got some colour. Add salt and a little bit of water. Let it continue to boil/fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are done.
Ingredients for alidja
You can vary the vegetables according to your preferences. Spinach, cabbage, green beans, carrots- anything will do. In Ethiopia they don't eat broccoli, but it goes very well with this dish. When using spinach or similar, let the other vegetables fry a bit first, since leaves take shorter time getting ready. Reading about Ethiopia
Seneg
- Serves: 1-2 chilis per person
- Total Time: 15 min
Seneg is filled chili-pepper. The long, green chilipeppers are very good for this dish. It is easier to fill them if they are straight.
Ingredients
- 8-10 straight green chilis
- 1 tomato- cut in small cubes
- 1 small onion- finely chopped
- juice from half a lemon
- salt and some olive oil (or other good oil)
Instructions
Mix tomatoes and onion together, add salt, lemon juice and oil.
Carefully slit a green chili-pepper open, and take out the seeds inside. Now fill the cavity with the onion/tomato mixture. Enjoy!
This is a good side-dish to all the fasting food, especially shiro. Or it can be eaten with tacos or anything where you think chili will do well! It is very easy to make, and you can prepare as many or as few as you wish!
A colorful result
Sinig
A little tip
Ready-made Ethiopian vegetarian food
Vegetarian combo, 2 Kik & 2 Misir-Wot
Amazon Price: (as of 05/31/2012)
Azifa
Lentils
- Serves: 2-4
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 45 min
Azifa is a dish that can be prepared well in advance, it is very tasty chilled. In fact, it gets much better if left for some time- in this way the flavours come out. The tomatoes can be left out, if desired.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of dry lentils
- 1 green chili cut in small pieces
- 1 onion- finely chopped
- juice from one lemon
- 1-2 tomatoes cut in cubes (optional)
Instructions
Boil the lentils in abundant water, or stock until soft. Mix with the other ingredients while still hot and leave to chill. Enjoy!
Some of the ingredients and more!
Ethiopians love injera
Injera is eaten with almost every meal. It is like a sour pancake that is used to scoop up the food. Here you can learn more about:
HOW TO MAKE INJERA
OTHER ETHIOPIAN FOOD
BASIC INGREDIENTS FOR ETHIOPIAN COOKING
Why not give it a try? I can guarantee you that the food is good! Go to an Ethiopian restaurant during fasting-time, and ask for Beyeaynetu.They will fill you plate with different delicious dishes, maybe up to 15 kinds!
Would you like to know more about Ethiopia?
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
As mentioned, the lent of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is an integral part of people's lives. It seems a lot of the Orthodox population is located in Addis Ababa, the capital, because you really notice it there. Plenty of churches, priests, and fasting-food! Even for a non-orthodox person it is interesting to look into it, since it is such an important part of the culture.According to Wikipedia, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church has almost 45 million members, and is one of the founding members of the World Council of Churches.
Picture by abebetesfaw
Even Ethiopian Orthodox can be found on Amazon!
Have you ever tried Ethiopian food?
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DeannaDiaz
May 3, 2012 @ 6:34 pm | delete
- I'd love to try it!
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hamshi5433
Apr 14, 2012 @ 7:06 pm | delete
- Im like 90% Vegetarian so like the sound of most of the recipes listed here especially the seneg...mmm gonna try that tomorrow! Very neatly presented.
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pawpaw911
Mar 27, 2012 @ 8:29 pm | delete
- I had never heard of Alidja, but it sounds very good.
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sponias
Mar 22, 2012 @ 4:55 am | delete
- I have never tried Ethiopian food but I’m vegetarian and I found your recipes very interesting!
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hntrssthmpsn
Mar 6, 2012 @ 8:47 pm | delete
- I'm a vegetarian, I *love* trying out new foods, and I don't believe I've ever had any Ethiopian food... looking forward to trying these recipes!
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privresearch
Nov 16, 2011 @ 3:11 am | delete
- Very interesting lens!
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benzwm021
Nov 8, 2011 @ 6:29 pm | delete
- From one vegetarian to another, thanks for this info! Check out by animal-friendly lens at http://www.squidoo.com/be-truly-cruelty-free and let me know what you think!
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SAPearl
Oct 14, 2011 @ 6:40 pm | delete
- Great lens - I clicked for the recipe but have learned about the country's customs too. Thank you :)
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jwncoexists
Oct 1, 2011 @ 9:46 am | delete
- Thank you, thank you for these recipes! I absolutely LOVE Ethiopian food. Being a vegetarian, it is always great to find a cultures that have vegetarian dishes as part of it! I adore Shira, but am not sure where I can find the Shira flour! I would also love to know how to make injera, or where to buy it! Great Lens!!!
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TravelingRae
Jul 3, 2011 @ 11:08 pm | delete
- Another great lens about a delicious cuisine.
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After food it is always good with a cup of coffee!
Did you know that coffee originated in Ethiopia?
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Teff-the Ethiopian flour
Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Teff, 24-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)
Amazon Price: $28.80 (as of 05/31/2012)
Teff is the main ingredient in injera, which is eaten with all Ethiopian food.
The Swedish cook in Ethiopia!
Marcus Samuelsson
The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa
Amazon Price: $22.30 (as of 05/31/2012)
Berbere- one of the most used Ethiopian spices
Berbere 4.0 oz by Zamouri Spices
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 05/31/2012)
