Misir Wot (Ethiopian Red Lentils)

Ingredients

• 300 g red lentils, rinsed
• 3 large onions, very finely chopped
• 3 tbsp berbere
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 25 g ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 900 ml vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp oil, or niter kibbeh if not vegan
• injera or flatbread, to serve

Method

1. Dry-cook the onions first

   Cook the chopped onions in a dry pan with no oil at all for 10 minutes, stirring, until they collapse and release their water. This is the Ethiopian method and it is genuinely different — it concentrates the onion before any fat gets involved.

   10 min

2. Then add the fat

   Now add the oil, garlic and ginger and cook another 10 minutes until deep golden and jammy.

   10 min

3. Cook the berbere out

   Stir in the berbere and tomato puree and fry for five full minutes, adding a splash of water if it catches. Berbere is a raw spice blend and it tastes harsh and dusty until it has been properly cooked in fat.

   5 min

4. Simmer the lentils

   Add the lentils and stock and simmer, stirring now and then, until they have completely collapsed into a thick purée, about 30 minutes. Red lentils are meant to disappear here — no texture is wanted.

   30 min

5. Judge the consistency

   It should mound on a spoon rather than run off it. Loosen with water if it has gone too far, and season well.

6. Serve

   Serve on injera, with more torn injera for scooping. It is better the next day and freezes well.