We’ve been on a bit of an Ethiopian cooking streak lately. There are so many similar spice combinations and cooking techniques as the Indian cuisines, eating Ethiopian food feels both new and familiar. This week, we’re making Niter Kibbeh - like ghee it is a clarified butter but with the addition of spices. Use it as a base for doro wat - start the dish by caramelizing onions in the spiced butter before adding Berbere and paprika. The result is an extra layer of flavor. Or simply use it to cook rice or vegetables. You can use it as simple table butter, spreading it on toast, topping pancakes and waffles, or brush onto a hot biscuit.
One quick note - Niter Kibbeh is usually made with two traditional spices - Besobela and Koseret. We have been working on sourcing these herbs from Ethiopia and will be excited to add them to our ever growing list of spices. Besobela is related to holy basil and Koseret to lemon verbena so we will be substituting with those herbs from now.