Ingredients
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cup chopped onion
- 1 medium (4-pound) chicken, skin and fat removed, washed, dried, and cut into large pieces
- 2 tbsp garlic paste (pureed garlic), or more to taste
- 4 tbsp berbere (more if you like it to be five-alarm!)
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 cup hot water
- 1 tsp salt
- butter (optional)
- hard-boiled egg (optional)
Directions
In a deep skillet, heat oil, then add onions, and lightly sauté until onions are soft. Add chicken pieces and garlic paste, and cook until the chicken is lightly browned. Add the berbere, stirring so that all pieces of the chicken are coated. Add tomato and stir again.
Pour in water, bring mixture to a boil, and add salt. Simmer over low heat until the meat is well cooked, approximately 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces (or until juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh). (In Ethiopia, they say that the woman who loves her husband cooks it slowly so that each piece is tender and the gravy is thick.) You may add a pat of butter and/or hard-cooked eggs during the last five minutes of cooking, if desired.
Note: Berbere can be purchased online and at local specialty and gourmet food stores.
Recipe courtesy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelmen & Vicki Levy Krupp, 2012. Published by Tarcher an imprint of Penguin.
