SHIRO WOT / ሽሮ ወጥ

 

When I get asked the desert island question - the one relating to food, after enduring the cruelty of the question, my thought goes to the humble shiro. 

I didn't grow up thinking that shiro was my fav food. In elementary school, when filling out friends' autographs, to the question "what is your fav food," I consistently responded kitfo be kocho. Kitfo is a minced, extra-lean red meat dish that comes from the Gurage tribe in the southern part of Ethiopia and is a delicacy traditionally reserved for celebratory occasions. It's akin to the French's streak tartar but with different spices and side dishes. It is traditionally (and sensibly) eaten with kocho, a loaf, arduously and devotedly, made from the root of the false banana. 

I'm of the Amhara tribe and kitfo was not made all that often in our household. I've probably not had kitfo more than 20 times in my entire life. Maybe 30. 40? No! The rarity of the experience was part of what made the dish a treasure in my mind, especially as a kid. And ofcourse, it was good. 

Shiro, in contrast, is an everyday meal that comes from the northern region and its chief ingredient is the humble chickpea...ground to dust. The process of making shiro powder is long and meticulous and involves marinating, sun-drying and grinding. It comes in two varieties: nech shiro and key/mitten shiro. The former is blended with fresh garlic, ginger, shallots as well as herbs and spices such as Ethiopian basil, fenugreek, Ethiopian cardamom, and Ethiopian caraway. The latter is blended with dried red chili peppers in addition to the root vegetables, herbs and spices. Nech (white) shiro is not spicy, key (red) shiro is. 

Shiro is truly revolutionary as far as food innovation goes in that it is a main dish product, only minimally processed, made to last for a year or more. It is made all-natural (sans preservative, additive, etc) and requires minimal effort to take it to a final prepared meal. 

But it's not because it's innovative or that it's highly nutritious that I'm compelled to choose the humble shiro from the impossibly long list of dishes I love. 

It's how it makes me feel...

Yes, when I chew it and taste it, but long after I have swallowed it...

It's the full body nourishment I feel after having shiro (with injera), every single time. Perhaps the powdered chickpea is easy on the tummy. Perhaps it's the accompaniment of the sourdough injera. Perhaps it's because it is food I grew up eating and one to which my body is attuned. 

Perhaps I wasn't aware of it as a kid, but as an adult, nothing else is quite the same. 

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PS. I love shiro's distant cousin, the hummus, too. 

PPS. Wot (ወጥ) means stew in Amharic. Shiro (ሽሮ) is the chickpea blend. Shimbera (ሽምብራ) is chickpeas. 

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Feeds 4 to 5 as a side dish 

Ingredients: 
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil 
2 medium yellow onions, minced 
6 to 7 garlic cloves, minced 
1/2 tsp maqulaya (optional) 
2 large ripe tomatoes (preferably Roma), finely chopped (preferably deskinned first) 
5 heaping tbsp shiro powder 
6 cups warm water (and more for loosening the stew as it cooks)
1 tsp sea salt 
1 jalapeño pepper, halved and seeds intact 

Creative steps: 

In a deep pan over medium-low heat, cook the onion in oil for 5 to 8 minutes, or until slightly soft. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until everything is translucent and caramelized. Don't skip the caramelization process as this deepens the flavour of the stew. Stir in the maqulaya, if using, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, cover pan and bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until dissolution. In a separate bowl, mix the shiro powder with 6 cups of warm water (or until the mixture is runny). Transfer the shiro mixture to the pan and stir well and carefully. Season with salt, cover pan and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a minimum and let simmer with pan covered for atleast 15 to 20 minutes. If you have time, let it simmer for longer; the longer it simmers, the more the ingredients collide and the more the flavour develops/deepens. Keep checking every now and then to stir and avoid scorching. If the stew thickens, add splashes of water to loosen; the desired consistency is not too runny but not too bulky either. In the last 10 minutes or so of simmering, add the jalapeño pepper, seed-face down; this will infuse a subtle and fresh spiciness to the stew. The best way to gauge if the stew is well done is to wait until the oil surfaces to the top. Serve with injera and a veggie side dish. Shiro goes well with gomen (sauteed collard greens) or tikil gomen (sauteed cabbage). Pictured above is a side dish of boiled beetroot/carrot combo and a dollop of yogurt. As ever, enjoy. 

 

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PPPS. Injera is central to the typical Ethiopian cuisine; without it, the dishes especially the stews don't make sense. One day, when I have the right stove, I will be making injera at home and I will share the recipe. In the meantime, to my fellow Torontonians: you can find injera as well as shiro powder and maqulaya in Ethiopian or Eritrean convenience stores. In the old, OG Little Ethiopia in the west end, there are Freta Injera & Variety Store, Yohanna Convenience Store, and Ossington Mini Mart, all on Bloor Street West. Freta Injera makes local, 100% teff injera, my fav of all. Yohanna also carries Freta's injera. Also, Yohanna and Ossington Mini Mart carry 100% teff injera imported all the way from good ol' Addis. It survives the 14-hour direct flight from Addis to Toronto just fine, but make sure to grab it the day it arrives (call and check before making the trip). The local teff/barley combo you find in every store, to me, is - it has to be said - not-injera. In the new Little Ethiopia in the east end, there are, no doubt, many more choices, so I invite you to just go and explore. If convenience stores don't work out for some reason, you could just try walking into an Ethiopian restaurant and asking to buy just injera. It might be a bit pricier but it's worth it. 

PPPPS. Amazon links for mitten shiro, maqulaya, etc. 

PPPPPS. Merry Summer. 

Earth-like Supper Part II

 

It's Earth Month and I have an Earth-like Supper for you. 

I got the recipe for this quinoa bake many, many years ago from my dear colleague Andrea when we were working together at IRC. She gifted me a pack of red quinoa from the U.S. and it was my first time being introduced to the South American seed (widely thought of as grain because it cooks like grain). 

I have since made this quinoa bake (and also this savory quinoa cake) countless times in countless variations, both vegetarian and vegan, and not once has it failed to deliver. 

Pairing the bakes and cakes with something moist like avocado (or roasted red peppers) is key. And adding roasted squash brings a sweet and flower'y dimension to this Earth-like Supper. 

Happy Earth Month, humans. 

PS. Here is Earth-like Supper Part I. 

PPS. Torontonians, here are meaningful ways you can act this month (and beyond) to care for our planet. And here is Toronto Public Library's long-running Our Fragile Planet program with free educational events throughout the year. Everyone else, how might these ideas inspire you to act in your corner of the world? 

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Feeds 6 to 8 as a side dish

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup quinoa (no quinoa? try subbing with lentils and adding 1/4 cup of chopped nuts for crunchiness)

1 cup water 

1 large bunch (about 150g) spinach, washed 

1/2 of a small cabbage, green or red, thinly sliced 

2 medium-sized yellow onions, thinly sliced 

1/2 cup feta cheese (or other soft cheeses like mozzarella or cottage cheese) 

2 large eggs 

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried dill) (optional) 

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

2 tbsp virgin coconut oil, divided (no coconut oil? sub with olive oil)

Sea salt to taste

For serving: 

- A handful of raw baby spinach and half of a medium-sized avocado, dressed with sea salt, a squeeze of a quartered lemon and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil 

- Oven-roasted squash

Creative Steps: 

First prepare the quinoa. Add quinoa and water to a pot and bring to a boil and then simmer until all the water is absorbed (just like cooking rice). Next prepare the greens. In a pan over medium heat, cook the cabbage in splashes of water for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it's wilted but still retains some texture. Add the spinach and wilt for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer greens to a colander and strain to remove excess water. Transfer to a cutting board and chop roughly into small pieces. In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and sauté onions over medium to low heat for about 10 minutes, or until caramelized. In a large bowl, mix together the cooked quinoa, wilted greens, sautéed onions, cheese, eggs, dill and a couple of pinches of salt; combine well. Coat an oven-proof casserole with 1 tbsp of coconut oil and then transfer the quinoa mixture into the casserole using a spatula to spread evenly. Bake in the middle rack of the oven at 350 degree F for 20 minutes. Drop in the remaining 1 tbsp of coconut oil and use a brush to coat the top layer; bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top layer gets crispy. Enjoy with a side of avo salad and roasted squash. 

Winter Solstice Cookies

 

The genius of the typical Ethiopian cuisine is this: it has no dessert. 

Instead, you find the sweetness in the main dish itself. The Ethiopian spice blends - maqulaya and especially mekelesha - are concocted such that they exude sweetness only by virtue of their ingredients and, more importantly, the proportion of their ingredients. Maqulaya which translates to "for sauteing" and mekelesha which corresponds to "for simmering or for finishing" are both essential spice blends for making Ethiopian stews, and together with berbere, the Ethiopian chili blend, they render the distinctive taste and aroma in Ethiopian dishes. 

Qulet - Ethiopia's curry - is the starting point of any Ethiopian stew and typically includes onions, garlic and ginger and sometimes tomatoes, all sauteed with maqulaya and for a hot, spicier version also with berbere. Tomatoes - a fruit, not a veg - make things sweeter. And a concentration of alliums always means umami. 

Injera, the Ethiopian sourdough flatbread is tart, and as far as my experience goes, tarter than other sourdough breads. This over-tartness is then beautifully complimented by the savory, umami and spicy stews with a clear undertone of sweetness. 

And when you bring in bitter things like sinafich and siljo and such into the mix, you hit the full spectrum of tastes: sour, salty, sweet, bitter, umami and spicy. And this...is a satisfying experience to the sense of taste (and perhaps more broadly to the digestive system). And this...is the genius of the Ethiopian cuisine. 

But this post has nothing to do with the Ethiopian cuisine. It has to do with...cookies. 

Except perhaps that the main ingredient in the cookies is teff, the high protein, high fiber, gluten-free grain indigenous to Ethiopia and Eritrea and which is used to make the aforementioned injera. 

The teff does make a difference. Together with the other wholesome ingredients, these are nutritious crunchy bites masquerading as cookies. 

Sweet Winter, fellow northerners. 

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Recipe from the Ontario Vipassana Centre 

PS. The original recipe called for xantham gum and margarine which I subbed with tapioca flour and coconut oil respectively, both of which worked nicely. Also reduced the sugar from 1 1/4 cup to just 3/4 cup which worked well for my taste; for a sweeter version, go with 1 cup or the original recipe. 

PPS. This cookie is vegan. 

PPPS. If you're having Ethiopian on the regular, carry on. Whatever your diet, you may want to heed this advice we're getting these days about the order in which we ought to consume our food...

Makes 35 to 40 cookies (if you don't have a big party, best to freeze half to bake at another time) 

Ingredients: 

3 cups teff flour 

1 & 1/2 cups thinly shredded coconut 

2 tsp tapioca flour 

2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp sea salt 

3/4 cup demerara sugar (or coconut sugar or brown sugar or whatever sugar you have on hand) 

1 & 1/3 cups dark chocolate chunks, 70% cacao (for an elevated experience, buy your fav dark chocolate and chop into chunks) 

1 & 1/3 cups virgin coconut oil (in a semi-solid state or having a margarine-like texture; cool in the fridge if needed to get the desired texture; this is important to get the right dough consistency) 

1 cup water (for mixing dry ingredients) 

5 tbsp ground flaxseeds 

5 tbsp water (for making flaxseed paste) 

Creative steps: 

First, make the flaxseed paste. In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseeds with water to make a paste and put aside. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add coconut oil, flaxseed paste and water and then mix thoroughly. Roll dough with hands into a ping pong-sized ball and flatten gently. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degree F for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are baked through and the aroma in the room causes a near swoon. En...joy. 

Sweet Potato + Avo + Sauerkraut

Breakfast.

Breaking the all-night fast.

This breakfast recipe I got from my naturopath....and I've been jazzing it up all summer and fall long.

Why so special? 

It's simple to put together. Cut up a sweet potato very thinly, throw the slices in the oven at 400 degrees, 9 minutes on each side. A couple more minutes maybe if you want to get it really crispy. Mash up one ripe avocado, lather it over the sweet-potato-slices. A forkful of sauerkraut on top. A generous shower of black sesame seeds. That's all. 

It easily allows for real multi-tasking. Throw the sweet potato in the oven. In the first 9 minutes: mash up the avocado; take the remaining ingredients out of the fridge and onto the kitchen counter; make the bed. In the next 9 minutes: wash any leftover dishes from the night before. The oven timer is not off yet, so look around, tidy up and make space for the day to unfold.

Everything happens on the chopping board (save for the time in the oven). Chop, assemble and serve on the board.

It's savory. A deep celebratory howl for savory breakfasts, everyone.

It's light yet wonderfully filling. Break your fast with this...and then face your day, tummy light, body spring’y, and eyes wide open.

Did we forget? It's delicioso.

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Feeds one

Recipe from the Integrative Health Institute in Toronto 

Ingredients:
1/2 of a medium-sized sweet potato; thinly sliced lengthwise (about 15 slices)
1 medium to large avocado; mashed, together with a couple of pinches of sea salt
Sauerkraut; a forkful for each sweet potato slice
A generous sprinkle of black sesame seeds

Creative steps: 
Bake sweet potato slices in the oven at 400 degree Celsius for 9 minutes on each side. For each side, begin checking for readiness at the 5 minute mark to prevent the slices from burning. Add more minutes as needed until the slices are cooked through and slightly crispy. Top sweet potato slices with mashed avocado (a tablespoon or so per slice) and sauerkraut (a forkful per slice). Sprinkle black sesame seeds on top. EnJoy.

Jazzing it up: 
Instead of avo -- hummus. Something creamy.
Instead of sauerkraut -- sliced cucumber or sliced tomatoes or both. Something moist (and veggie).
Instead of sauerkraut -- kimchi. This one I found to be too intense and a bit weird.