Doro wat

Doro wat is a thick, spicy Ethiopian stew of chicken and hard-boiled eggs, cooked in a red sauce built on berbere and onions. It is the best-known wat, the family of stews eaten with injera in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

What it really is

Doro wat is made by cooking a large amount of finely chopped onion dry in a heavy pot until it has lost its moisture, then adding niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter), berbere and a little water or wine to form a thick paste. Chicken pieces, usually drumstick and thigh, are added and braised slowly in the sauce until tender. Hard-boiled eggs, shelled and scored, are simmered in the sauce at the end so that they absorb its colour and flavour. Fenugreek, ginger, garlic and cardamom are typical parts of the spice blend and the butter.

The name wat refers to a stew cooked with berbere and a long-cooked onion base, and doro is the Amharic word for chicken. Shiro, a stew of ground chickpea or broad bean flour, is a different dish that is also eaten with injera, and misir wat is a red lentil stew with a similar spice base but no meat.

How it's served

• Served hot on a large plate of injera, with more injera on the side for scooping
• Usually shared from one communal plate, eaten with the right hand
• Traditionally part of festive meals and holidays, with one or two eggs per portion
• Often accompanied by salad, collard greens or other vegetable side dishes

How to write it on the menu

• Name the dish as doro wat, with chicken and hard-boiled egg, and say that it is served with injera
• Flag MILK, because the classic recipe uses niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter), and EGGS
• State the heat level, since berbere is a hot spice blend
• Note whether the dish is made with chicken on the bone, and whether a vegetarian version with lentils (misir wat) is offered