Ethiopian Doro Wat Recipe (Spicy Chicken Stew)

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Doro Wat is Ethiopia’s famous chicken stew and one of the country’s most beloved traditional dishes. The stew is slowly simmered with onions, garlic, ginger, and the spicy Ethiopian seasoning called berbere. Then finished with hard-boiled eggs. It’s typically served with injera bread and is often prepared for holidays and special celebrations

Holy Moly! It was May of a different year, when we pulled Ethiopia and I started this post. But every May is about the same, and this gist is still relevant. All the school things, all the sports things, all the club things and all the end of year celebrations. Gifts to buy, camps to book and tired everyone. Vacations to plan. I also took a new role at work – that was/still is extra these days too. So now it’s June of the current year and I present to you, Doro Wat from Ethiopia.

Just kidding, there are actually no camps left to book at this point. They’ve been booked solid since February. But you know what is available? 5:45am swim practice, thirty hours of online driver’s ed, and wood turning for college credit. I’ll do my best to keep the gas tank full.

But also, summer sunsets in the mountains…..

Side bar story:

The schedule has been catching up with me. Poor Jake has been asking for a hair cut for weeks now. I just haven’t been able to get there. He’s so worried that his hair has gotten so long, that he’s growing a ‘mole rat’. I invite you to think on that one for a second. And a second more. It took a little bit for me to figure it out too. Essentially, it’s a mash-up of ‘mullet’ and ‘rat tail’, when an eleven year old can’t remember either term. I kind of like his shaggy-do and highschooler Luke tells me the hair style has made is making quite the come back. All things 90’s seem to be. They do wish I would blow dry their hair though for that “just woke up like this” fluffly style all the TikTok’ers are wearing. No mom has time for that in the morning – especially in May (or June/July/ever).

Ok, squirrel moment over.

What is Doro Wat?

Ethiopia and their national dish, Doro Wat. I feel like Ethiopian restaurants have been popping up pretty frequently but we haven’t tried any yet. I wrongfully assumed that Ethiopia would be a vegetarian meal, making it a little harder to get “growing boys” (and a hungry husband) to buy in! This meal is clearly not vegetarian. It is a chicken stew and a super popular dish for big life events in Ethiopia. I try to mostly avoid stews in the summer, in lieu of grilling and salads, but I might make an exception for this!

Doro Wat is a traditional Ethiopian chicken stew known for its deep red color and rich, spicy flavor. The sauce is built from slowly cooked onions and the spice blend berbere, which often contains chili peppers, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, and other spices. Hard-boiled eggs are usually added near the end of cooking and soak up the flavorful sauce.We’ve now discovered Berbere spice blend – and heavily used in Ethiopian food. Peri Peri (Namibia) was another new spice blend I’d never heard of before this blog, but happy to have found it!

Ethiopia Fun Facts:

• Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa. It is also the only African country that has evaded colonial rule.
• They use their own calendar and time. A year consists of 13 months, and sunrise starts each new day, not the midnight hour. (I wonder if they like having a shorter month of May?)
• Coffee is said to have originated in Ethiopia.

Doro Wat: Chicken Stew

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4–6

Ingredients

• Whole chicken, remove the skin and cut in pieces
• 3 onions, minced
• 3 tbsp, ghee
• 3 tbsp, olive oil
• 3 tbsp. Berbere spice (I bought mine, but here’s a link blend your own)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 2 c. water
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 3-4 hardboiled eggs, to top

Directions

1. In a large dutch oven, and on medium heat, add ghee and onions to a large pot. Cook the onions slowly until deeply caramelized. This creates the thick base of the stew.
2. Add in olive oil, Berbere spice, garlic, ginger, paprika tomato paste and stir for several minutes until absorbed into the onion.
3. Add the water and chicken, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Give it a good stir. Allow this to simmer for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Top with hard-boiled eggs

How Doro Wat is Traditionally Served

Doro Wat is usually served on a large platter lined with injera. Diners tear pieces of the bread and use it to scoop up the stew and eggs. I couldn’t find it any where around me though, so pitas would have to do…

File: Ethiopia; Doro Wat