Of all the cuisines, Ethiopian is one of my favourites. It’s full of rich stews, a ton of veggies, and legumes for DAYS. Not to mention, typical dishes are served atop a big pile of injera, a teff-based sourdough flatbread. The only problem is, I find that Ethiopian restaurants are too far few in between! Hint: If you make banging Ethiopian food, open a restaurant. While I’m always up to travel across the city for food, I figured I could give it a go on my own. I made this spiced Ethiopian Black Eyed Peas, a wat (stew) to enjoy my favourite cuisine with a NutritionxKitchen twist!
Ethiopian cuisine has a TON of vegan dishes, so it’s a safe bet if you’re dining with some plant-based pals. Typically, injera is served topped with saucy stews and eaten with your hands (your right hand, if you were wondering).
If you can find it, injera is an absolute TREAT. It’s a fermented (aka sourdough) batter made of teff, and baked on a circular griddle. It’s spongy texture makes it perfect for mopping up saucy stews. Made of teff, the tiny grain that packs a ton of nutrition, injera is made by combining teff flour with water. A starter liquid is added to it, and it is let to ferment for a few days before pouring onto a circular griddle. This starter gives injera a somewhat sour taste. P.S. teff is also high in iron, and despite high malnutrition rates in Ethiopia, the rate of iron deficiency is actually relatively low.
Berbere seasoning is a spice blend used in Ethiopian dishes. It’s typically a blend of chillis, cardamom, ginger, garlic, basil, fenugreek, coriander, cloves, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and salt – but each blend is different, so you might experience difference tastes depending on the blend you’ve picked up (or made on your own!). The fats used in cooking are also unique – using a clarified butter that’s infused with ginger, garlic, and spices. For this recipe, you can use regular ghee, or oil, but I used a homemade garlic ghee I had on hand.
Looking for more spiced stews? Check out my recipe for:
#stew #veganstew #blackeyedpeas #ethiopianfood #healthyrecipe #curry #coconutmilk
Ethiopian Stewed Black Eyed Peas
Total time: 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil or ghee
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger, chopped
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 tbsp berbere seasoning
- 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
- Pinch sea salt
- 1, 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup vegetable broth or water (240ml)
- 1, 400g tin black eyed peas, drained
- 1 cup canned coconut milk (240ml)
- 2 large handfuls spinach (~125g)
- Chopped cilantro (coriander), to garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, onion, bell pepper, berbere seasoning, chilli flakes and salt, cook until fragrant and onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add tinned tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, and let simmer until it begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
- Add black eyed peas and coconut milk. Let simmer for 15 minutes, or until it thickens.
- Take off the heat, and stir in spinach.
- Serve with chopped coriander.