Delicious Friday: Buticha - A simple yet delicious vegan delicacy

When I decided to give up on any kind of meat except fish, the question on everyone's mind was "how is she going to survive without eating kitfo or dorowot?" as beef and chicken are obviously the biggest part of Ethiopian cuisine. My Pescitarian life style has been a challenge for my family and friends to wrap their mind around. I still have some family members who think that something is seriously wrong with me and try to force feed me kitfo. :-)

It has been almost two years since I abruptly became a Pescitarian. The most adventurous part of my life style change actually has been watching everyone eventually come to accepting it. What it used to be our casual Friday night Tire siga (that is raw beef chunks dipped in a hot spices for those of you who don't know)  fiesta with the family, now includes a baked Salmon or some seafood meal, and even better, a delicious Shiro  or some sort of vegetarian dish.

Last week, I flew up north to welcome 2012 with my dearest friends and it warmed my heart when my best friend made a special effort in selecting dishes that me as well as the rest of our friends would enjoy together. That is when the name BuTicha first came as part of the variety dishes we were preparing for the night. I honestly had no clue what she was talking about  neither did she know how to prepare it. Nonetheless,the name, BuTicha, was  not strange to my ears. I remember being so fascinated with the name after having it as a kid. It had been so long since then I forgot the taste. I also remember seeing it listed on the menus of some Ethiopian restaurants. I never come around to ordering it ... something in the name turned me off.

We were standing in the kitchen clueless with a bag of chickpea flour in hand when another friend came to the rescue. After our friend finished preparing it and I took the first bite, I was beating myself up for missing this yumminess in my life for all these years. I figured you might enjoy it as much as I did so here are the ingredients and what goes into making BuTicha:

Delicious Friday: Weekend Breakfast - Genfo or Kinche?

I don't want to post any wot (stew/sauce) recipe before I cover how to make injera (which I will be doing soon) first. So I am sticking with some of the simplest and quickest recipes that don't involve injera.

Thank God weekend is already here. You know what would be awesome? To wake up Saturday morning and have that awesome genfo (Porridge) or kinche (cracked wheat) breakfast to just start your day right!

1. Genfo (Porridge)

Genfo with all its glory

All you need is about 2 cups of all purpose flour (or any flour substitute that you want to use instead), 2 tbsp of Kibe (clarified butter) or 1/4 a cup of Oil, 1 tsp berbere,  salt and water . Preparing genfo is so easy and all it requires is strong arms to stir and mash the lumps.

How to prepare:
- Add about 3 cups of water in a pot and a teaspoon of salt and let it boil on a medium hot heat.
- Once the water boils, slowly add the flour onto the water while stirring with a wooden spoon. After adding a significant amount of flour, the mixture starts to get extremely thick making it hard to stir. When it gets to that point, stir very hard so there won't be any lumps. Add a little bit of water to the side and continue stirring so it won't stick at the bottom and burn. When the water gets absorbed, add a little bit more water to the side and continue with your stirring for another 4 or 5 minute until the water gets absorbed.
- Remove the genfo from the heat. Add an oil or melted butter into a bowl and scoop the genfo into the bowl. Use your spoon or move the bowl side to side to form a nice ball. Right at the center of the genfo ball, make a well using the back of your spoon. Then add your melted butter or Oil in the well followed by the berbere while the genfo is still hot. Mix the berebere and oil/melted butter well and serve to eat!

2. Kinche (cracked wheat)

Kinche with honey

This is one of the most simple breakfasts you can possible make. You can get the cracked wheat from any of your local grocery stores.

Here is what you need:
-a cup of cracked wheat
-3 cups of water (or a mixture of milk and water which I prefer)
-about 2 table spoon of Kibe (clarified spicy butter) or Oil of your choice
- Salt

How to prepare:
Bring the water and milk mixture to boil in a medium high heat. Add the cracked wheat, cover the pot and let it cook. I prefer not to stir it until it is almost cooked ( I figure that way the bottom doesn't burn as much). It will take about 20 to 25 minutes for all the water to get absorbed. Once it is fully cooked, turn off the heat, add the butter and salt to taste while it is still hot and mix them well. Serve the kinche with small plates or bowls and enjoy it with hot teat!

P.S - I feel like all this measuring cup talk makes the whole preparing 'traditional' food experience so westernized. I've never seen the women (as well as the men) in my family using measuring cup while cooking. I guess through time we all developed a sense to tell you  the berebere you added or that salt you thought was just pinch is waaayyy too much without even tasting it. I understand how the measuring cup talk can make life so much easier especially for those who wouldn't dare to stir with out a map (aka most abesha men ). But honestly, I encourage you to just experiment. Your last trip to bathroom after you ate that fiery hot shiro should be a lesson to not to put that much berebere next time.

Delicious Tuesday: Breakfast - Chechebsa!

I honestly don't boast myself at being a domestic diva as most of my girls out there truly are. But I know my way around kitchen... especially when I am hungry (who doesn't, right?). This is not my fault at all though. I am kinda spoiled by the most balemooya men in my family (yes, I said MEN. They give most of you ladies out there a run for your money) who enjoy tearing it up in a kitchen in a regular bases.

We will start the 'Delicious (insert a day of the week here)' segment with arguably one of the easiest meals to prepare but the most delicious and fun breakfast recipes.  Chechebsa is one of the very few Ethiopian meals where you use a fork or a spoon to eat instead of your hands. This, by no means, is not your Yeshi Buna chechebsa. And remember there are no rules when it comes to how you should treat your taste buds or belly to what it's craving for. This is just a simple and basic guide to start you up. I encourage you to experiment with different ingredients, go all out and make it your own. That is what I do anyways. Just don't forget to come back and let me know how it all went down. 


Chechebsa aka Kita firfir : A mouth watering dish of shredded pieces of flat bread (think of dorito size)  lightly fried in a berbere (an Ethiopian spicy hot red pepper powder) and clarified butter mix. 

Yummy yum yum yum

Ingredients
- a cup of all purpose flour (if you are one of those health freaks you can substitute it with your choice of flour. Just be sure you can make flat bread from it ).
- 3 or 4 table spoon of clarified butter (or olive oil) - (I will post a step by step guide on how to prepare butter Ethiopian style soon for those who don't have access to it... till then visit your moms, borrow from a friend or pay a visit to your local Ethiopian shop)
- 2 tea spoon of berbere (this portion depends on how sensitive you are to hot stuff. If you are not a fan of spicy hot, then bring down the portion to 1 tea spoon or less)
- salt
- water