Description
One of the staples in Ethiopian cooking is Berbere, the chile infused spice mix that adds a punch of heat to many traditional dishes. A little berbere goes a long way and this recipe will make enough to cook several dishes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 Minced Shallots
- 4 Minced Garlic Cloves
- 2 Tbls Grated Ginger
- 3 Tbls Nitir Kibbeh
- 12 Cardamom Pods
- 1 Tbls Cumin Seed
- 1 Tbls Salt
- 2 Tbls Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbls Cayenne
- 1 Tsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Fenugreek
- 1 Tsp Allspice Berries
- 6 Whole Cloves
- 1/3 cup Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
- Heat a small, dry skillet over medium heat and add the black peppercorns, cumin seeds, allspice, cloves and cardamom pods. Sweat these, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until they become fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle.
- Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and discard the woody pods.
- Place all the whole spices in a spice grinder with 1/3 cup red chile flakes and grind to a fine powder.
- Add the salt, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne and fenugreek to the spice grinder and pulse until blended.
- Using the same pan from step 1, heat 3 tbls Niter Kibbeh over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ginger and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle.
- Put half the shallot mix and half the spice mix in a mortar and pestle. Grind those together until a paste begins to form. Add more shallots and more spice mix and grind together. Continue until everything is incorporated into a coarse paste.
- Put the finished berbere paste in a container with a labeled lid and store in the refrigerator.
