Doro Wat Recipe (Ethiopian Chicken Egg Stew)

For Cleaning Chicken

• 500 grams Chicken Thigh & Drumsticks
• 1 large Lemon (halved)
• 5 cups Water

For Curry

• 500 grams Onions (peeled and chopped finely)
• ¼ cup Ginger Garlic Paste
• ½ cup Oil
• 3 tbsp Ghee
• ¼ cup Berbere Spice (or to taste)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Salt to taste
• 5 large Hard Boiled Eggs

Berbere Spice Mix

• ¼ cup Coriander seeds
• 1½ tbsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Ajwain (carom seeds)
• 1 tbsp Whole black pepper
• 2 stick Cinnamon
• 10 no Cloves
• 20 pods Cardamom
• ¾ cup Red Chilli Powder
• 4 tbsp Garlic powder
• 4 tbsp Onion powder
• 1 tbsp Ginger powder
• 1 tsp Nutmeg powder

1. 1

   Making Berbere Spice Mix - Take all the whole spices in a pan. Toast on low medium heat stirring constantly for 4 to 5minutes until the spices are toasted and aroma comes from it. Take it off the heat and add it to a bowl and allow to cool completely. Now take the cooled spices in a blender and powder it fine. Now add in the spice powders into the same blender and powder it until fine and combined. Once powdered, store this in an air tight container.

2. 2

   Cleaning Chicken - Take chicken drumstick and thigh portion. Make multiple slits on the chicken and take it in a bowl. Rinse it multiple time to wash it well. Now Cover the chicken with water, add lemon juice and the lemon peel into the water and mix well. Cover with a lid and place in fridge for at least 1 hour. This step removes the smell from the chicken and makes it tender.

3. 3

   Making curry base - Take a heavy bottom pan with lid and place it on heat. Now add in the finely chopped onions into the pan, no oil is required. I used my food processor to chop the onions super fine. Now stir fry the onions in the pan for at least 5 to 8 minutes till the onions gets slightly soft and colour changes. This step removes the excess water from the onion and make it dry. Once the onions turn pinkish and starts to caramelise in the base of the pan proceed with next step.

4. 4

   Caramelising onions - Now add in oil into the onions and mix well. Cook on medium high heat until the onions starts to caramelise. This step takes at least 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure to mix the onions every now and then. The onions should get deep golden colour.

5. 5

   Making masala - Add in ginger garlic paste and sauté for 1 minute. Now add in ghee and berbere spice mix into the onions and toss well with the onions. Pour in little hot water into the onions and mix it using a spatula to scrape the charred bits from the bottom of the pot . Cook on medium heat until the spices is cooked through, it will get 2 minutes.

6. 6

   Adding chicken - now add in the chicken into the onion along with salt and sugar and mix well. Now pour enough hot water to cover the chicken completely. Mix well. Pop on a lid and cook on very low heat for 30 to 35 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked.

7. 7

   Adding Eggs - Meanwhile take your boiled eggs and make slits on it so the gravy gets into the egg. Now Once chicken is cooked, add in boiled eggs and mix well. Cook on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit for 1 hour for the flavours to develop and deepen. Serve with injera.