How To Make Ethiopian Zigni

Zigni is an Ethiopian stew made of goat meat and carmelized onions. This recipe uses Niter Kibbeh and Berbere, two staples of Ethiopian cooking. The carmelized onions give a sweetness that augments the spice of the berbere beautifully. We serve it with injera, Ethiopian fermented bread. We have recipes for these ingredients linked if you click on them.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Zigni:

Carmelize the Onions

We’ll begin by dicing the 2 red onions into a fairly small dice. We also want to measure out 2 separate portions of niter kibbeh, 3 tablespoons each, one to caramelize the onions and the other to use later.

Next we’ll melt 3 tablespoons of our niter kibbeh in a large stockpot over medium heat. To that we will add the onions. We are going to cook the onions for two hours to get them caramelized. This is a low and slow process that just takes time to come together. You will want to stir this occasionally to keep it cooking evenly.

Add Garlic and Ginger

After two hours we have nicely caramelized onions and they have reduced a lot. Next we are going to add the garlic and ginger, stir that in and let it cook for ten minutes.

Add the Spices and Tomato

Once our garlic and ginger has cooked a bit we will add the other 3 tablespoons of our niter kibbeh and the berbere. We are using just one tablespoon here but if you want it spicier you can add more.

This is also when we want to add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg and a scant teaspoon of salt. You want to go a little light on the salt as you can always add more later if it needs it. We will stir this in and then add the can of diced tomatoes. You can use fresh tomatoes here if you cut them up in a fairly small dice. Then we add the tablespoon of white wine vinegar, stir everything well and let it cook for 10 minutes.

The Meat

Now that we have the base of this dish all cooked together it is time to add the meat. We want anywhere from 1 1/2 lbs to 2 1/2 lbs of meat cut into largish bite size pieces. We are using goat meat here which is traditional but you can use any kind of meat to make this stew. You could use chicken, lamb, beef stew meat or anything you have on hand. The idea is to cook it low and slow so tough meat will become tender.

Cook Long, Low and Slow

We will cook this for 90 minutes on low heat, so it is just simmering, and then our Zigni is ready to serve. Traditionally this is served with injera and one or two other Ethiopian sides and that is how we like to do it.

Explore our Ethiopian recipes for a complete meal.

• Nitir Kibbeh (Ghee) Ethiopian Spiced Butter
• Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Paste
• Injera (Ethiopian Fermented Flatbread)
• Zigni (Ethiopian Goat and Carmelized Onion Stew)
• Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Lentils

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