Ethiopian, 2

One of the other dishes I decided to try making was a sort of pumpkin stew. A lot of Ethiopian dishes are Wats (meaning stews), where meat and/or vegetables are gently cooked on the stove top in liquid. The basic stew method seems to be the same as anywhere else in the world - heat the oil, add the seasoning, brown the meat, briefly saute the vegetables, add the liquid and leave to simmer.

One classic Ethiopian dish is Shro Wat - pumpkin stew - where cubes of pumpkin or butternut squash are stewed in a peanut butter and tomato sauce.

Now, I love peanut butter, but Tobias isn't a great fan, so I decided to use pureed white beans to thicken a water-based sauce and use almonds for the nut-crunch effect. I also had some leftover roast pork with garlic in the fridge which I thought would be an interesting addition.

Please note, however, that Ethiopian cuisine does not use pork-meat in any form due to religious tradition. If you are looking for an authentic Ethiopian dish, even if I had made no other alterations to the dish, the addition of pork is enough to make it Wrong, Wrong, Wrong on more than just a culinary level. If you don't eat pork, but like the idea of adding meat, I would think lamb would do a nice job here as well.

We all thought it was very tasty, though I won't be making it again until pumpkin comes into season. It pained me a little to buy a imported pumpkin that had travelled all the way from Argentina. But unless the pumpkin crop is blighted, it will certainly feature on a menu in the autumn. The recipe can be found here.

Posted by Caroline on 29 June 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: ethiopia, experiment, new recipe