Shiro Wat

This is the first of my ethiopian recipes that i will post. All the ethiopian recipes were based from a variety of sources but needed some adjustments based upon what i had in the cupboard and my taste. I buy my Niter Kibbeh from Mama Rosina Ethiopian Bakery (253A Barkly Street in Footscray) in Melbourne. The berbere powder recipe used came from here which also happens to be my favourite restaurant. I will include the recipe used in the next post.

Shiro Wat

• 1/2 cup of besan (toasted for 5-10mins to change colour of flour and reduce rawness)
• 1 onion and clove of garlic pureed with water
• ½ cup of spiced ghee (Niter Kibbeh)
• 2 teaspoons of berebere
• 2 cups or more of water (to desired consistency)
• Salt

Cook onion and garlic puree on high heat until water reduces and puree colours. Add ghee and cook further couple of minutes. Add chickpea and make roux. Add water slowly stirring to prevent lumps. Add salt and cook for 10-15 mins or so. Serve with injeera.

This was really good but was fairly lumpy. upon reflection i would suggest blending the mixture if this is a problem.

Baked Ratatouille Gnocchi

I wanted ratatouille but felt it would be a little boring by itself. i remembered a baked gnocchi dish i had at restaurant and thought that i could do a similar thing with home cooked ratatouille and store bought gnocchi (i was being lazy).

Ingredients:

1/2 a medium eggplant diced
1/2 a medium zucchini diced
1/2 a green capsicum diced
2 tomatoes diced
1 medium onion roughly chopped
10-15 green beans cut in half
1 clove of garlic sliced
10-15 kalamata olives
500g of longlife gnocchi
some fresh herbs (marjoram, oregano, basil)
2 fresh bay leaves
a couple of big slurps of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
parmesan or pecorino to top

Cooking method:

1. Place eggplants and zucchini in a collander with some salt for 30 minutes to draw out moisture. This assists in preventing so much oil being absorbed.
   
2. Saute onions and bay leaves in oil for a few minutes on a medium heat in a heavy saucepan.
3. Add garlic and fry for a minute or so.
4. Add eggplant and zucchini and saute for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add capsicum and tomato and saute for a further couple of minutes.
6. Add fresh herbs, salt and pepper and turn heat to low and simmer on low heat for 30-40mins.
7. Normally long life gnocchi needs to be cooked in boiling water for a few minutes. Instead i placed the gnocchi directly into a shallow oven pan and spooned the ratatouille directly over, top with pecorino. Cover with aluminum foil and place into an oven at 180-200 degrees centigrade for 20 minutes or so.

Serve with a salad.