I did make some fitful attempts at making “ethnic” (or whatever word you want to use) food (Chinese and Japanese) when I was in high school and college, but my first experience with authentic ethnic food was when I moved to DC in 1985. And that was Ethiopian . . . several excellent restaurants like Red Sea and Meskerem (both now closed) which seemed pretty authentic, not just the food, but the whole experience, including sitting on low cushioned stools around a large platter of shared food, eating without utensils (fun!) . . . and the food was delicious.

Ethiopian food I would mostly compare (completely ignoring the complexities of both) with Indian, in that a lot of the dishes have fairly complicated spice mixes, and many of them are variations on stews, long-cooked dishes. So, like Indian, a lot have a fairly long list of ingredients, but are easy to make (or screw up, and even if you do, the results will probably be good!)

Just a brief anecdote, from back when the Ethiopian famine was big in the news: I told my friend Pete back in the Midwest that I had been to an Ethiopian restaurant, and, wag that he is, asked, “What do they serve you, an empty bowl?”

So now I’ve tried finally to make Ethiopian food, based on a not-very-good (as in extremely poorly edited) cookbook from Amazon. I’m still struggling with getting injera (the spongy pancake used in many Ethiopian recipes) (https://tiabr.com/injera-partial-success/) right, but have been able to re-create some of my favourite restaurant recipes:

Ethiopian Pancake with Chicken Stew, Greens, and Lentils:

These are my three favorite recipes: Doro Wat (Chicken and Egg Stew) (https://tiabr.com/making-doro-wat/ ), Ye’abesha Gomen (Greens) (https://tiabr.com/making-yeabesha-gomen-ethiopian-collard-greens/ ) and lentils. I’ve made so many versions of Indian-type dhal that maybe I’ve grown tired of them, and this was a delicious change.

Second try:

These were all very good, and I’m certainly looking forward to exploring Ethiopian food further.

-R