Meet The Eritrean Culture ..

                                     Eritrean Traditional Food & Coffee 

This blog is about  Eritrean Traditional Food and Coffee. Eritrea is located in East Africa which is surrounded by Sudan from the South West, Red Sea from East and Ethiopia from the North side as it is shown in the picture above. Eritrean main languages are ( Tigrinya and Arabic). Eritrean cultur have verity of dishes, traditional clothes, decoration styles. Today i am going to show you how to cook the main Eritrean traditional dish called Zigni as well as the traditional coffee called Bun and side serving called Hembasha. Some of the East african dishes are  known  that they contain  a verity of spices, but Eritrean dishes in specific the spices are very spicy. One of the main Eritrean dishes is Zigni which is made of a chili powder or as we call it Berbere. Zigni is always served with injera which is similar to a pancake, but with a taste of sour. Here are the ingredients and preparation methods of Ingera, Zigni, Bun, and Himbasha.




                                                        Ingera Recipe 

Ingredients:

• 2 pound of Tiff flour (it can be found in habesha- Eritrean or Ethiopian grocery or  you can order it from amazon)
• 1 tsp of salt 
• 2 cups of  warm water

     Directions:  
   Mix the Tiff flour,salt and water together in a big bowl, then cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it for 12 hours untouched.

After 12 hours you will see bubbles on the surface and the fermenting water rises to the top. It is okay, gently stir the mixture and leave it for the next day. The purpose of leaving it this long is to let the mixture to ferment very well and create more bubbles because that is the sign of a perfect Ingera. After the second day the mixture must be created more bubbles and is ready to cook.

After that put the mixture in a plastic bag or use a ladle to pour the mixture from the bowl. Then bring a saucepan and turn the heat into high level, then pour the mixture slowly in to the saucepan in a circle shape. Cook it until you see bubbles on the  surface of the injera, that means Ingera is cooked and ready to serve.

 And this is the final result ...

                                                                  Regular Flour
                                 

       
                                                     



                                                                 Teff Flour

                                                       



Notice:
 You can make Ingera with a regular flour as well if Teff was hard for you to found. For best results, try to make it thin because it is so tasty and delightful when it is thinner. When serving injera you have to roll it and  cut it into two pieces or three like the picture down below..

What is Berbere?

            Berbere is the main ingredient to make any Eritrean food including Zegni.Berbere is the Eritrean version of chili powder. The very first thing that should be done is Delikh which is made of Berbere and other spices which i will mention the ingredients down below. Delikh is made always in a big amount, so we can save it in a container for later use. This method makes cooking Zegni very easy, so any time we need to make Zegni or any other dishes Delikh is ready to go.                              





Delikh Spices 

     Ingredients: 

• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 6 white cardamom pods
• 1/2  a cup of dried onion flakes
• 2 pounds of berbere (chili powder)
• 3 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cups of water
• 1 cup of canola oil

Directions: 

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of water at a time, then add the canola oil  and mix it well  with a wooden spoon or wear gloves and mix it with your hand about 5-10 minutes  until it turns into a paste. Be carful of adding to much water because it will turn in to  a watery mixture, and you don't want that. The following picture is the final result ..

Notice:
You can add extra cups of water as needed to get a perfect paste of Delikh.




                               Zigni/ Tsebhi Sega Recipe 

Tesmi mixture (spiced butter should be done befor the Zigni): 


Ingredients:

• 2 lbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped 
• 3 tbsp minced garlic 
• 4 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tsp ground turmeric 
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 1 whole clove 
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, melt the butter slowly over medium heat; do not let it brown.
• Then bring butter to a boil.
• Add in the onion, garlic, ginger,turmeric, cardamom,cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.
• Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered and untouched for 45 minutes.
• Milk solids on the bottom of the pan should be golden brown, and the butter on top will be transparent. 

• Slowly pour the clear liquid into a bowl, straining through cheesecloth or sifter.
• It is important that no solids are left in the tesmi.

• Transfer the tesmi into a jar.
• Cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator.

                             

                              
        

 Zigni / Tsebhi Sega Ingredient:

• 4 big red onions cut it in small pieces.
• 1/2 cup tesmi ( spiced butter)
• 1/4 cup delikh (Eritrean chili paste).
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 2 lbs beef ( preferably to cut the beef into cubs)
• water 

Directions:

• Chop the onions into small fine pieces.
• Heat a shallow deep pan, about 3-4 inches deep.
• Add half of the spiced butter.
• Once butter is melted add the chopped onions and cook it until the onion is caramelized.
• Be sure not to burn the onions, keep stirring.
• Add the delikh (chili paste) to the cooked onions.
• Mix it well by adding a drop of water at a time as needed.
• Cook for about 15 minutes by adding a drop of water as you stir to stop it from drying.
• Add tomatoes and cook fro about 30 minutes more stirring it often and adding a drop of water as needed to prevent it from drying.
• Cut beef into small bite sizes, about 1/2 inch cubes.
• Add beef to the cooking paste and cook covered for about 20 minutes or until it is fully cooked.

                         

 Notice: 

• Zigni/ Tsebhi Sega must be served beside Ingera.
• Zigni/ Tsebhi Sega traditionally is cooked and served in a black pottery as it is served in the picture above. 
• Zigni has a specific way to eat, which is by hand, take some of the Ingera and deep it in Zigni like so ..  

                       

                                           Coffee/Bun and side Serving

Coffee/ Bun:

      Eritrean coffee is called bun and it have a ceremony which has high status in Eritrean cultur. Bun is offered in  any occasions ,daily basis, or/and when visiting friends. To make a Bun it should contain some traditional tools such as, bun maker/boiling pot made of pottery called Jebena, small cups called Fenjal, a tool to roast the coffee beens called Menkeshkesh, and a circular shap dish made of leaves called Meshrefet. Bun is always served with popcorn and a traditional bread called Hembash. Bun has a ceremony which is passing the bun after it has been roasted around all particpants to smell the lovely smoke by waving their hands toward their body in order to flavour the aroma. The particpants usually says tu'um which means good in Tigrinya to show appretiation for whom is hosting and brewing the Bun. 

Bun Ingredients: 

• 2 Finjal of green beens.
• 2-3 cups water (it depends on the Jebena size).
• 1 tsp powdered ginger ( optional) . 

Directions:

• Roast the coffee beens in the mankeshkesh in a medium heat.

                           

• Stir the beens and roeast them until they turns into dark brown
• Then pour it into the meshrefet.

• The beens then are poured in a electric pounder 
• Then ground it until it is powdery. 
• After that put the powdered bun into the Jebena then add the water.
• Put the mixture in low heat until it boiled up.
• When the bun boils up onto the neck of the Jebena and it is about to overflow that means the bun is ready to pour it into the Fenjals and serve.

                     

                               

                                         Bun Side Serving


         Bun side serving is a traditional Eritrean bread called Himbasha and dish of a popcorn each of them are served in a dish made of leaves.



                                          Himbasha  Recipe 


Ingredients: 

• 2 1/2 lbs regular flour.
• 1 tbsp suger ( optional).
• 1 tsp yeast.
• 1 tsp salt .
• 1/4 cup oil (optional).
• 1/2 cup raisins. 
• 1 cup warm water.

Directions:

• Put yeast and suger in a warm water bowel.
• Wait until it rises, about 20-30 minutes.
• Then mix all the ingredients to make a dough.
• After that cover the dough and wait until it rises about 2-4 hours. 
• Then bake it in a electric frying pan.
• This will flat the dough and you can make any design you want before it baked. 

                               

                       

Notice:

If the dough is too much for you to bake, you can divide it into three pieces, put the extra dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for later use. it stays fresh up to 2-3 days .