በኢትዮጵያ ምግብ ቤቶች በተለያዩ አትክልት ዘር የተሰራ የፆም ምግብ አቀራረብ !

It’s no secret that we here at One Green Planet love African cuisine. For the uninitiated, African cuisine isn’t an all-encompassing term; different regions in Africa specialize in different kinds of cookery. In this article, we want to home in on an African country that is rich with history and boasts an incredibly fertile land to boot: Ethiopia!

Ethiopia is the only African nation that was able to retain its independence since its birth, and even though it is home to the largest livestock population in Africa, its cuisine is also incredibly vegan-friendly — in fact, every Wednesday and Friday, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church practices “fasting days.” Rather than refrain from eating food altogether, those who follow the church simply abstain from animal products twice a week. If you are someone who worries that omitting animal byproducts from your diet is synonymous with depriving yourself of flavor, Ethiopian cuisine’s liberal use of seasoning and spices demonstrates that’s not at all the case. Read on to learn more about Ethiopian cuisine and how to enjoy it on a plant-based diet.

Quick Beginner Tips

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Here are a few easy tips to help you order successfully at an Ethiopian restaurant:

• Ethiopian food is typically eaten with your hands, so if you don’t find any utensils at your station, don’t despair — that’s normal!
• You can expect many Ethiopian dishes to feature the following spices: cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, ginger, cloves, and maybe even some nutmeg.
• To ensure your meal is plant-based, make sure to request that none of your food is prepared with nitter kibbeh, a clarified butter that is occasionally used in Ethiopian cookery.
• Cheese and eggs almost never make an appearance in Ethiopian food, although sometimes meat does. To be on the safe side, however, you can ask if your particular restaurant garnishes its injera with sour cream. To make your injera plant-based, request they leave the cream off!

Alright, you’re ready to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant. Here’s how to order!

Enjoy Injera!

We can’t discuss Ethiopian cuisine without first calling out its staple starch: Injera. Made from the ancient grain teff, injera is a gluten-free sourdough flatbread that is used as an edible serving device. Texturally, injera is more like a spongy and pliable pancake that a typical loaf of sourdough bread. Ethiopian cuisine is often served family style, so it’s not uncommon to order a meal and receive injera spread flatly out over a large communal pan and topped with a variety of different stews and condiments. Use injera to sop up all of these spreads and flavors.

If you’re interested in making your own, check out this recipe for Injera: Ethiopian Sourdough Flatbread With Spiced Stew.

Do: Order Yetsom Beyaynetu, Wats, and Assorted Veggies

Yetsom Beyaynetu is also known as a veg platter and is essentially an assortment of all the vegan stews, curries, and vegetables offered at the restaurant the day you order.

Shiro Wat is an Ethiopian food staple — it’s a curry or stew made from ground chickpea flour that is manipulated into a sort of bean paste. To make vegan shiro wat, restaurants will often combine the chickpea flour with oil, a blend of spices, onions, garlic, and ginger.

Misir Wat is also a curry or stew, only this is a red lentil curry that is simmered along with a ubiquitous Ethiopian spice: berbere. Berbere is a dry spice mix that is commonly used in the Horn of Africa, but it originates from Ethiopia and is a complex blend of hot chili peppers and black pepper, fragrant cardamom, clove, and cinnamon, as well as fenugreek and coriander. Try out this recipe for Red Lentil Curry if you want to give it a go at home!

Most vegetables served in Ethiopian restaurants are prepared with some olive oil and a few spices: very simple, and very delicious. You’ll typically be able to select from an array of cabbages, beets, potatoes, carrots, string beans, tomatoes, and jalapeños.

Timatim Salata, aka tomato salad, is widely available in Ethiopian restaurants, and while it’s simple, it’s a satisfying and refreshing choice. When eaten side-by-side with the stick-to-your-ribs stews and curries, the salads offer the perfect relief and crisp contrast. Many timatim salatas are simply made with diced tomatoes, red onions, and slices of jalapeños, which are then all dressed in a mixture of salt, lemon or lime juice, and a drizzle of olive oil. Scoop it all up with some injera!

If you’re interested in trying out your own vegan recipes, we highly recommend downloading our Food Monster App, which is available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 8,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to ten new recipes per day. Check it out!

Lead image source: 3 Ethiopian Stews