Eritrean Injera Burrito and Berbere Tajine

The Sweet Potato recipes are still coming.  I told you I run with an ingredient.

Actually I made this Berbere Sweet Potato Tagine a little while back.

This is a Ethiopian Eritrean inspired Tagine is filled to the brim with reddish, yellow, green vegetables  and chickpeas then cooked slowly, really slowly.  You can see the sweet potato, the butternut squash, the carrot and nutty chickpeas, but the faded  shredded cabbage is hard to see, but you will detect it when you start eating.

This Berbere Tagine is adapted from my Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti.  I changed some of the vegetables and the spices for Berbere spice blend.  I had made so much of this dish, that we had it over 3 days, twice with rice and once wrapped up in Injera - yes I made a Injera Burrito.

Curry sauce and chips, Saag Aloo in pies and Korean Kimchi Toasties -  fusion food is the rage, so I thought I'd try and be original and make an Eritrean Burrito with injera and the filling from the Berbere Tagine.  It worked fine, the only issue was handling the injera burrito by hand. The sensation of rolled up injera in my hands was interesting.  I think those of you who have had injera will concur as the texture of injera is somewhat unusual.  Unfortunately due to poor lighting in the evening, I never got round to taking a photograph of it, but it shouldn't be difficult for you to imagine what it looks like.  

I was quite pleased with myself and thought I had created something new with my Eritrean Injera Burrito.  I couldn't wait to tell my Eritrean acquaintances at work this, he smiled at me through his perfect white teeth choosing not to comment.  I don't know if this was out of politeness or bemused that someone messing with their cuisine. I wanted to push him for his honest opinion, but never got the chance - but I will see him again.  I do hope he approves, it made for an interesting meal. 

Vegan Eritrean Berbere Tagine
Serves 6-8
Ingredients

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 large white onion
1 small red onion
1-1½ Berbere tablespoon2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato puree4 large sweet potatoes, cut into even sized cubes
½ butternut squash, peeled and cut into even sized cubes

About 4 carrots, thickly sliced

60g dried apricots, cut in half
20g raisins
1 x 400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
A large bunch of coriander, finely chopped
Salt to taste
MethodHeat the oil in a wide pan. 

Add the onion and cook gently until the onions are softened and translucent. 

Stir in the Berbere, cook for a couple of minutes, before stirring in the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for 15 minutes. 

Add the butternut squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. 

Continue to cook for 40 - 45 minutes until the vegetables tender. 

Add the apricots, raisins and chickpeas and stir to combine. 

Simmer until sauce is thick, stir in coriander and season to taste.

I am sharing this with MLLA My Legume Love Affair that was started by The Well Seasoned Cook and now run by Lisa's Kitchen.  this month is is hosted by The Big Sweet Tooth;  Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition; and Farmersgirl Kitchen and Baking Queen Slow Cooked Challenge; Slow cooked Challenge. 

Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup

Its a soup kind of day.  

 I actually made this Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup when I had courgettes growing in the garden plot, they have come to an end now (though I have still have some courgette dishes to share).  

In recent years I have been exploring and enjoying more and more Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. The last recipe I made was during Refugee Week.  I have to admit this Berbere Soup is not authentic, but it is inspired as I was given a little jar of homemade Berbere spice blend by one of the volunteers in my workplace.   

This soup not only has homegrown courgettes, it also has but yellow split peas and sweetcorn enhanced with a good sprinkling of Berbere spice blend.  If your  interested in seeing more Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes, please see here.  I am sharing this with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition;  Food of the Wold hosted by Simple Living Eating and the spotlight is on Ethiopian cuisine; and  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Eritrea Recipes for Refugee Week

Refugee Week is often celebrated between 2- 26 June. It is a unique event as it brings people from all backgrounds together to highlight and celebrate the contributions that asylum seekers and refugees make to the U.K.   

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  Throughout this week, my Simple Act through my blog has been to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness of that particular country through its cuisine.

Today I will share some vegetarian and vegan Eritrea plates, but before I share the recipes, I'd like to begin by admitting that I had never heard of Eritrea until the refugee crisis.  Eritrea's neighbour Ethiopia had been imprinted on the memories of many thanks to Bob Geldof's  'Feed the world' campaign; but Eritrea a small country in the Horn of Africa was to come to our attention in the mid 1990s when many vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees from Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and  Eritrea were being dispersed across the U.K.  

The UNHCR estimates that 5,000 people leave Eritrea every month and account for the largest group of people applying for asylum in the UK.

An asylum seeker is " A person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for asylum in another country, but whose application has not yet been concluded ."

Sadly I have met more Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees in my life than from any other background; and many have made the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean.  

One of the reasons Eritreans are fleeing is forced military conscription, not just young men, but also the elderly and this often results in forced labour.  What should last 18 months is indefinite, lasting decades.  If you do not uptake, then the consequences are arbitrary detention and often torture for the individual and his family.  Many Eritreans have described Eritrea as a Totalitarian state comparing it to North Korea.  Amnesty International are calling on Eritrea to end the system of indefinite conscription into national service and to recognise it as a human rights violation.  

The Theatre for Justice in association with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School are 'committed to creating exceptional works on the theme of social justice'  Something that I am personally very passionate about.  Theatre for Justice's 'vision is to establish s network of theatrical pioneers who are passionate about giving a voice to those who are silenced'.    They will be showcasing a play called 'Still Here' based on the experiences of an Eritrean refugee. See the Trailer HERE.   Still Here will be premiering at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2016.

Now onto food - before starting this blog, I only had Ethiopian - Eritrean cuisine twice in my life.  The first time ever was in 2000, when I went to see my best friend Leah in the US.  She took me to an Ethiopian restaurant.  The second time was when I lived in Scotland and I cooked the entire Ethiopian-Eritrean Menu that was featured in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics cookbook (2005).  I was inspired to make everything from scratch, the Berbere Ethiopian Hot Spice Blend, the Nitteh Kibbeh - Spiced Clarified Butter and the Injera - Sourdough Flatbread,  following the whole fermenting process that took a days.  On the menu wasYe'atakilt W'et - Spicy Mixed Vegetable stew, Yedifin Miser Alicha We't - Mild Lentil Stew with Basil and Yeshiro We't - Stew of Spiced Powdered Chickpeas. 

In the same cookbook that I stumbled upon Eritrean Zigni Spaghetti - Noodles with Hot Sauce.  I wasn't quite sure about it assuming it was more of a recent fusion recipe, but a few years later when I was volunteering for Venture Scotland on a camping trip to Glen Etive, Scotland I asked some of the participants who happened to be from Ethiopia and Eritrea about Zigni Spaghetti , they confirmed to me that this pasta dish indeed actually existed. 

Spaghetti Zigni hails back to the 1930s when the Italians tried and failed to colonise Ethiopia, however they did  leave behind culinary influences.  Zigni Spaghetti was one of those influences. 

Zigni is essentially pasta coated in a deep rich tomato sauce enhanced with the highly spiced Berbere blend.   Berbere in Amharic means hot.  Berbere is a Hot Chilli Spice Blend that is essential to many Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes .  Its become one of my favourite spice blends. 

I followed a recipe for Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew) that came from Ethiopian cook, Alemtshaye Yigezu.  For the recipe, follow this link. The only thing I did in addition was add both sweet potatoes and chickpeas to the dish, nothing more. 

 D'ba Zigni 

Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes. adapted from Mazi Maz in The Guardian. 

Not authentic, but as I had some Injera - Sourdough flatbread left over from a meal, so made some Injera crackers.  I am still waiting for an Eritrean acquaintance to show me how to make Injera from scratch, watch this space!  Please check out this short film made by the BBC showing One Child's Journey from Eritrea to England. 

Somalian Shahan Ful (Fava Beans in Xawash Tomato Sauce)

Refugee Week is a continuation of World Refugee Day and marks a collective acknowledgement across the world to raise awareness  of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers across the world.   

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some colleagues and some of my readers.

Today I will share a vegetarian Somalian dish, that also happens to be vegan.  It is Shahan Faul, Ful Sahan.  This is a bean dish that is also very common in Eritrea, Ethiopian and Sudan.  But before I share the recipe, you may be interested to know that Somali's have been in the U.K for over a century, arriving here as merchant seamen and settling in port cities like Bristol, Liverpool and Cardiff.  However, it was in the 1990s following famine and further conflict in the region in 2011 that many Somalis began to arrive in the UK after being granted with a refugee status.  

A refugee is "a person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of 'race', religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it" 

The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. 

So back to the recipe...when I originally asked a Somalian colleague in my workplace could he give or suggest to me a vegetarian recipe that I could cook at home and he immediately put his hand to his mouth and tried to contain the roar in his laughter - we are big meat eaters.  

This is true, Somali cuisine is meat orientated.  Vegetarianism is quite rare.  Vegetables appear to largely be side dishes, or a combination of meat and vegetables.  By the way, you may be interested to know that in Somalia pasta features quite a bit a part of their cuisine. This arrived with the Italians n the 1880s and sweet dishes came with the Arabs.

Anyway, after musing at my question he mentioned this fava bean dish and here it is a bronze gold bowl of loveliness.  Ful Sahan is often served with anjara, injera bread or Sabaayad which is made with a sourdough starter, but we had it with chewy brown rice.  The slow cooking of the sauce intensified the flavour and made the beans soft inside, but still retaining its wholesome shape.  I totally loved it and could have just easily eaten this from a bowl.  I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair #96 hosted by Lisa's Kitchen;  and No Croutons Required.

Ethiopian Berbere Injera Crisps - Chips

I had some Injera - Sourdough flatbread  left over from the weekend's Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes.

I don't like waste, so I wondered what else I could do with them?  I saw a recipe for a savoury Injera porridge but I have to be honest that did not appeal, then I was inspired by Injera Chips from defunct blog The Berbere Diaries.   Only three ingredients, the Injera, Berbere and Vegetable oil - so there was no stopping me from making these.

I wasn't that generous with the Berbere and thank goodness as it was still quite spicy on the lips.   These Injera crisps are proper crunchy too like toasted corn snacks, so if you have tooth fillings, then I would advise eating them with caution or don't make them at all - you have been warned. How do I know this...take a guess?!  

I am sharing this with Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary No Waste Food Challenge hosted this month by  Its Not Easy Being Greedy. And here is a link to More Injera Please who has further ideas of what to do with left-over Injera, but I have to say - the crisps are high on my list.  Oh and just in case your wondering how Injera is made from scratch, then follow this link from The Guardian. 

Ethiopian Berbere Injera Crisps - Chips
Ingredients
1 - 2 left-over Injera
60ml vegetable oil
Berbere powder to taste
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark/275oc.
With a brush, coat the Injera in the oil, 

Liberally ssprinkle over the Berbere or to taste.
Either slice the Injera or rip it into pieces and arrange on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow it to cool and crisp up.
You may need to bake longer depending on the thickness of your Injera and your oven. 

Mazi Mas Ethiopian Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes made Vegetarian

As well as bookmarking recipes from cookbooks, I mentioned that I have bookmarked some recipes from websites also.   I've had my eye on a couple of Ethiopian recipes from Azeb Woldemichael of Mazi Mas as featured in The Guardian.  It is thanks to The Guardian that I have discovered Mazi Mas and have become a fan from afar.  Mazi Mas which translates in Greek 'with us' is a roaming eatery that serves global home cuisine to the public.  The chefs are migrant and refugee women who have struggled to find work in the U.K.  Mazi Mas reminds me a little of The League of Kitchens in  NYC, America.

For those of you who read my blog, will know that I've been cooking up some global cuisine since the start of this blog; and most recently Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine has been on the menu, thanks to some new people frequenting my workplace and inspiring me.  

I was more tempted by the Berbere spices which I have come to love and have a stash of.  The original Mazi Maz 'Tibs' recipe is made with beef skirt, diced small.  After giving it a little thought, I adapted the recipe and made it suitable for vegetarians, its even possible to veganize!  In place of the beef, I substituted Soy Schnetzel often used for vegan Ghoulash, but if you can't find them soya chunks will work too.  The rosemary came from my garden and so did the cherry tomatoes, the last from my greenhouse - yes in November. 

Both dishes: the Ethiopian Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and White Cabbage, Carrot and Potato are extremely rich and flavour packed.  I loved them both and so did D, he just wasn't keen on the Injera - Ethiopian Sourdough flatbread that has little bubbles on top like a crumpet.  He found the Injera texture a little to strange to eat, as it has a rubber aspect to it.  It didn't bother me at all; and I ate it traditionally with my fingers.  

Berbere Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

I have thoroughly been enjoying my home-made spice blend of Berbere and wanted to make another dish incorporating its warmth and heat, so decided to make a variation of Ethiopian Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew). However to make more of a meal of it, I decided to bulk it up with some sweet potato chunks and chickpeas.

As it was a stew like served it with some plain white Basmati rice, but some Injera would have been more appropriate. 

I actually made this dish at the weekend, when the skies roared with thunder and then burst bucket loads of water.  The trees, plants and weeds were all thankful and so were we as it gave a little break  from the stifling heat.

D is not overly keen on red lentils.  He doesn't mind it when I make Red Lentil and Cauliflower Cobbler or Spiced Root Vegetable stew.   And although he ate all of this lentil dish, he admitted to that that it did very little for him, but I was very happy with it.  

I followed a recipe for Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew) that came from Ethiopian cook, Alemtshaye Yigezu.  For the recipe, follow this link. The only thing I did in addition was add both sweet potatoes and chickpeas to the dish, nothing more.  I am sharing this with Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Camilla and Helen; and My Legumes Love Affair #85 hosted by Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey and Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen and The Well Seasoned Cook.  

Ethiopian Eritrean Inspired Zigni Vegetable Broth

And to be more specific the vegetables in this Ethiopian and Eritrean Inspired Zigni Broth are spinach and sweet potatoes, as I had neither pumpkin or squash to hand to make the more familiar D'ba Zigni.  

Like the Spaghetti Zigni , the recipe for this D'ba Zigni also comes from Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics.

I think this dish could benefit from being made a day in advance as the brothy liquid could infuse the sweet potatoes more deeply.  

Ideally this broth should have been served with Injera - Sourdough Flatbread, but I served it with Basmati rice, after all this was a relatively quick after work meal.  I did however, make the fiery Berbere Hot Spice Blend at home from scratch (pictured below).

Ethiopian Eritrean Spaghetti Zigni

I've had Ethiopian - Eritrean cuisine twice in my life.  The first time ever was in 2000, when I went to see my dearest and best friend Leah in America.  She picked me from San Francisco Airport and took me to an Ethiopian restaurant.  I enjoyed and ate everything.  The second time was when I lived in Scotland and I cooked the entire Ethiopian-Eritrean Menu that was featured in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics cookbook.  I was inspired to make everything from scratch, the Berbere Ethiopian Hot Spice Blend, the Nitteh Kibbeh - Spiced Clarified Butter and the Injera - Sourdough Flatbread,  following the whole fermenting process that took a days.  On the menu was Ye'atakilt W'et - Spicy Mixed Vegetable stew, Yedifin Miser Alicha We't - Mild Lentil Stew with Basil and Yeshiro We't - Stew of Spiced Powdered Chickpeas.  For a cuisine that was both new to me and took an effort to make, I decided to invite some colleagues over.  It made for an interesting meal, as it was different.  I just wish I had blogged about it, but it was a couple of years before I got the blogging bug. 

Well I share with you this story, as it was in this very same cookbook that I stumbled upon Spaghetti Zigni - Noodles with Hot Sauce.  I wasn't quite sure about it assuming it was more of a recent fusion recipe, but a few years later when I was hiking through Glen Etive with some participants from Ethiopia and Eritrea it had been confirmed to me that this pasta dish actually existed.  I have to admit, I had completely forgotten about the Zigni until recently when a volunteer in my workplace who is of Ethiopian origin reminded me of it and I was inspired to make it, I just wish I had been making it back all those years when I first flicked through the Celia Brooks cookbook.  

Spaghetti Zigni hails back to the 1930s when the Italians tried and failed to colonise Ethiopia, however they did  leave behind culinary influences.  Zigni Spaghetti is one of those.  Zigni is essentially pasta coated in a deep rich tomato sauce enhanced with the highly spiced Berbere blend.  I know it don't look like much, but it packs a proper fiery, hot and spicy punch.  Go on swivel you fork in it and give it a try. 

Well these days along side Arriabiata, vegan Puttanesca and pesto coated Spaghetti, I have begun to make Zigni.  It is now part of my fast food repertoire.  I tend to have everything at home to make it for speedy meals .   If you like Mexican and Indian cuisine, then I have no doubt you will like this.  Recipe can be found in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics , but in a nutshell it is Spaghetti  in a Berbere spiced tomato sauce.  Awesome!