Several years ago I first tried Ethiopian food at our local food coop. A local restaurant provided the coop with injera and a variety of Ethiopian dishes to go with it: several lentil stew variations, spicy green beans, and  a beet/potato/apple? combination.  Then the restaurant changed hands and the selection at the coop got pretty narrow (lentils, but not much else).

Recently I gathered a pile of recipes (from cookbooks and the internet) and bought some berberé (an Ethiopian Spice Mixture essential to almost every dish).  I decided I would try to make Doro Wat (Chicken Stew), Mesir Wat (lentil stew), and spicy green beans (which I could not find in any Ethiopian cookbook, so I used an Indian recipe that seemed similar to the dish I remembered).

Below are some pictures.  Will post recipes once I figure out exactly how I merged the several recipes I had for each dish.

Update 4/26/10: The recipes are posted.  You can find them in the recipe list to the right, on the Recipe Index page, or via

Doro Wat (Spicy Chicken Stew)

Mesir Wat (Spicy Lentil Stew)

Addictive Indian-style Green Beans

Doro Wat (Spicy Chicken Stew)

Yes, those are hard boiled eggs in the stew . . . it’s a “chicken and the egg” thing

Mesir Wat (Spicy Lentil Stew)

“Addictive Spicy Green Beans”

Ethiopian Platter (clockwise from top left: Mesir Wat, Doro Wat, Spicy Green Beans) served on Injera Bread and eaten with your fingers

I served it with rice and Sesame Green Beans borrowed from a simple Rachel Ray recipe: toast 1 T. sesame seeds in a dry pan until lightly browned. Set aside. Steam green beans in 1/2 inch boiling water for 2-4 minutes, until bright green. Drain in colander and rinse with cool water to stop cooking. Heat a frying pan or wok over high heat for 20 seconds, add a thin layer of oil and a dash of sesame oil. Toss in 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 10 seconds, then add beans and cook for 2 minutes. Toss with sesame seed and coarse salt. Enjoy!