Ethiopian Experiment #1

Today I finally tried my hand at making Ethiopian food at home.  Which is brave, on many levels, not the least of which is that Justin and I just got over a bout of intestinal ickiness.  But we picked up some boneless butterflied lamb leg yesterday and spent today ferreting out all the fun "extras" needed.

I wanted to try to replicate our favorite meal from Bete in downtown Silver Spring: the vegetarian platter with lamb tibs. I got worn out before I got around to making the beets, and I decided just one lentil dish was sufficient, and I left out the green been and potato thingie because this was just plain enough food... but otherwise, it was most of the same stuff.

Part of the fun was finding two versions of niter kibbeh, the spiced clarified butter so ubiquitous in Ethiopian cuisine. We also did some Google gymnastics to find alternative names, and managed to find nigella seeds and black cardamom.  The collards and the cabbage with carrots were the surprise scene stealers.  The red lentils, I'm gonna have to play with the recipe for them.  The one I followed called for an inordinate amount of water and then for draining them... but they still just wound up kinda watery.  The biggest issue with everything will be simple to fix next time though:  nothing was spicy enough!  But... here's how I made it all this time, with planned tweaks for next.

For the Lamb Tibs:

1 1/2 lb. boneless butterflied lamb leg, trimmed and cut into 1/2" cubes
Sea salt & black pepper
2 tbsp. red wine
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Berbere*  (I'll use more next time)
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter)
2 tbsp. olive oil or butter
1 large red onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp. dried rosemary* (I couldn't find any fresh this time... hope to have it next time!)
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced, with juice
1 small bell pepper, finely diced*  (I will also be adding additional HOT peppers next time.)
1 large shallot, sliced

Generously season the lamb cubes with salt & pepper.  Brown in batches in a little olive oil.  Remove to a plate or bowl and set aside.

Mix together the wine, lemon juice, Berbere, smoked paprika, and Dijon mustard.

Heat niter kibbeh and olive oil or butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat; add diced onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, rosemary, and thyme and stir 1 minute.  Add wine mixture and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan.  Add tomatoes, bell peppers, and shallots.  Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Adjust seasonings.