There is a reason why Doro Wat is the national dish of Ethiopia and one of the most famous of all African dishes – it’s fabulous!
Doro Wat is one of the most famous of all African dishes. You will find it in every Ethiopian restaurant and virtually anyone who is familiar with African cuisine will have heard of it. Another version, though not as commonly known here, is Sega Wat, made with beef (fyi, you’ll find recipes online calling it Sik Sik Wat, but I’ve confirmed with the chefs of several Ethiopian restaurants that it’s Sega Wat). You can directly substitute beef for chicken and follow the same cooking instructions.
Doro Wat is traditionally made very spicy. Super spicy. Like I-don’t-know-how-Ethiopians-have-any-taste-buds-left spicy. Western adaptations are still spicy, but quite tame compared to the real deal.
Traditionally Doro Wat is served with an Ethiopian flatbread called injera. It’s kind of a spongy pancake made with teff flour (a grain indigenous to the area), and the batter is left to ferment for up to 4 days before its used. The injera is used in place of an eating utensil and is used to scoop up the chicken stew.
This recipe for Doro Wat comes by way of request from Jared (Make a Request!). He said he has been trying for several years to find a good recipe. Jared, this recipe is both authentic and delicious – I think you’ll be very happy with it!
The key to authentic, great-tasting Doro Wat is good quality, flavorful berbere, and a very long cooking process. It can take several hours for an Ethiopian to make Doro Wat. You can cut back on the cooking time and your Doro Wat will still taste good, but it won’t taste like it’s supposed to. The magic is in the slow-cooked onions. And it takes time for the magic to happen.
Gondor Castle
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A central ingredient of Doro Wat is Berbere, a fiery, bright red and flavorful Ethiopian spice blend. It is best made fresh using whole spices that are toasted and ground for maximum flavor. A combination of whole and ground spices are used as seen in the picture below.
The whole spices are toasted and ground up with the already ground spices to make a beautiful, aromatic, flavorful and spicy seasoning blend.
Purchasing these spices will serve you well as each of them are commonly used in a large variety of other cuisines. Stored in airtight glass jars in a dark place, they will keep a very long time. If you’d rather purchase berbere, you can find it online. You need 1/4-1/3 cup for this recipe alone, so forget the tiny 2-3 oz jars of it you usually find for sale. The best deal I’ve found for bulk berbere (and it also happens to be organic and a reputable brand) can be found HERE.
Berbere makes a great rub for meat, poultry, and fish, as well as a seasoning for stews, soups, and vegetables. It’s a great all-purpose spice, so you’ll be able to make good use of this bulk package if you decide to buy versus make your own.
So now that you’re equipped with Ethiopian berbere and authentic Ethiopian injera, you’re ready to make Doro Wat!
Let’s get started!
Use a food processor to very finely mince the onion – you want an almost chunky puree.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of niter kibbeh in a Dutch oven (I use and love Lodge) and saute the onion, covered, over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more niter kibbeh if it gets too dry.
In the meantime, finely mince the garlic and ginger.
Add the garlic, ginger, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Continue to saute, covered, over low heat for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add 4 tablespoons of berbere and 2 teaspoons salt and stir to combine.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter, cover, and simmer over low heat for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After 30 minutes you’ll have a rich and luscious sauce that’s ready for the chicken!
Traditionally, bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces are used. You can either use chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks, or use boneless chicken breast. I used breast this time. Cut the breast into small, 1/2 inch chunks. Place the chunks in a dish with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and let sit at least 15 minutes.
Add the chicken to the sauce.
Traditionally, Tej is used, an Ethiopian honey wine. As a substitute we’re going to use white wine with a teaspoon of honey.
Add the chicken stock, salt and honey wine to the mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, boil the eggs. Once the eggs have cooled enough to handle, peel and pierce them all over with a fork, about 1/4 inch deep, to allow the sauce to penetrate.
After 45 minutes you’ll have a rich, luscious spicy chicken stew ready for the eggs!
Add the eggs and continue to simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust the seasonings according to taste. Add more berbere according to heat preference.
Serve with Authentic Injera (Ethiopian Flatbread)
Be sure to also try Sega Wat, the famous and incredibly delicious Ethiopian spicy beef stew!
Doro Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Chicken)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3 lbs chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces, or 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons niter kibbeh
- OR Homemade Niter Kibbeh
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups yellow onions finely minced to a chunky puree in food processor
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
- 1/4 cup Ethiopian berbere
- or use HOMEMADE BERBERE (HIGHLY recommended!)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup Tej Ethiopian honey wine, if you have it, or white wine mixed with 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 hard-boiled eggs pierced all over with fork about 1/4 inch deep
Instructions
- Place the chicken pieces in a bowl and pour lemon juice over. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat the niter kibbeh or butter along with the olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the onions and saute, covered, over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and 1 tablespoon butter and continue to saute, covered, for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the berbere and the 2 remaining tablespoons of butter and saute, covered, over low heat for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken, broth, salt and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust the seasonings, adding more berbere according to heat preference. Add the boiled eggs and simmer on low heat, covered, for another 15 minutes.
- Half or quarter the eggs and arrange on the plates with the stew. Serve hot with injera, bread or rice.
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Cass says
Hi Kimberly! Made this last night and oh, what a hit it was! The taste was out of this world! One bite and I closed my eyes and just savored the spicy, woodsy flavors. This is something I will be making often. There’s a lot of healthy aspects to the recipes, esp the garlic and spices.
I noticed that I didn’t have as much sauce as whats in your pics. I live in Colorado so, do you think there’s something I need to do for high altitude directions? Or should I add more wine and broth? I really don’t want to mess with the recipe since everything was just perfect.
Thank you so much.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Cass, I’m so happy to hear that, thank you! I wouldn’t think the high altitude would make that big of a difference, but who knows. If you want a little more sauce go ahead and add some more of the liquids, a little bit at a time and tasting to make sure you don’t dilute the flavor. You can also add an extra pinch or so of the berbere blend.
Kristina says
Hi, I really liked this recipe! Just one question – is this made in the oven or on the hot-plate? Thank you in advance :)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Kristina, this is made on the hot-plate/stovetop.
Mats says
I did this according to the recipe and it turned out great! I definitely will do this again!
I would like to use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and swap the chicken for lupin beans in order to enjoy this with a friend who avoids meat.
It would definitely be interesting to try this with lamb also. Excellent recipe, full of possibilities!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Mats, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you! Yes, this is excellent with both lamb and beef. Thanks again!
Scott Robertson says
I am making Sik Sik Wat right now, and the smells coming out of my kitchen are amazing.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fabulous, Scott! We just went to an Ethiopian restaurant last month and had both doro wat and sega wat along with several other Ethiopian classics – such great food!
Julie Montgomery says
I’ve always loved Doro Wat in restaurants and was excited to find your recipe online. I followed it to the letter. Unfortunately, I was ultimately disappointed. As the onion, ginger, butter, garlic, and berbere simmered together this smelled very much like I would expect and I thought I was on the right track. However, once the chicken stock and wine were added the aroma changed and i knew this was not going to be the dish I was hoping for. Other recipes I’ve seen include even more butter and no stock…I think the stock dilutes the desired flavor and texture of this dish. I also did not like having the cut-up chicken chicken rather than the bone-in pieces as it is traditionally served. Ultimately this was a much more liquid-y dish and the flavor just didn’t quite do it for me. I mean, I tasted ‘fine’, and thankfully we ate it with injera to absorb the liquid, but I would not use this recipe again.
Jeff says
This sounds wonderful, but that seems like a lot of salt for 4 servings, especially because there’s salt in the Berbere. For those of us trying to keep our sodium intake reasonable, how much can the salt be reduced without the flavor suffering?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Jeff, flavor-wise it’s definitely not too salty. But if you want to cut back on the salt you can use a low-sodium chicken broth and of course reduce the salt itself. How much to reduce it by just comes down to personal preference – you can start with less, taste it, and then always add more.
Maureen O says
I love this recipe and forgot to leave a comment when I first discovered it — one of your “recent” posts. I just made it 4 days ago for the 4th time. I do use Penzey’s berbere but will try from scratch when I finish the jars. I love hot spicey but admit to cutting back from 1/4 cup to 1/8 after the first time. This is such a winner and does taste and smell even better the next day — I just add more eggs to the leftovers.
I am trying your Sega Wat on Tuesday. Can’t wait and will leave a comment at that recipe. I anticipate loving it — and probably adding more berbere since it is beef.
So happy I discovered and signed up with your website. Will probably make your carrot cake for Easter.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Maureen! Yes, I really, really highly recommend making your own berbere. That way you can control the heat and add more of the spice blend for a bigger flavor punch without exhaling flames :) And nothing beats the intensity of flavor in freshly made spice blends. I hope you enjoy the Sega Wat as well. Happy cooking! Best, Kimberly
Cami Weyland says
Absolutely OUTSTANDING! I made your homemade berbere spice blend which I think is key for the best flavor. Will definitely be making this again and again! Next I’m looking forward to trying your Sega Wat!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Cami, thank you!
Carol Kroeger says
Hello! I made this tonight as part of our Friday Night Feast and it was AMAZING! I followed your advice and made the niter kibbeh and berbere which added wonderful flavours. I also made several vegetarian dishes from a different website but none of them had the depth of flavour that this one had. Do you have any vegetarian Ethiopian recipes (like Yemisir Wot)?
I also tried making the Injera which was somewhat successful – I think think I know where I went wrong and it will be better next time.
Thanks so much for the recipes – they made the meal memorable!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Carol, thanks for the feedback! That’s fantastic that you took the time to make your own niter kibbeh and berbere – it really does make all the difference in flavor. Yes, I have developed a recipe for yemisir wot and others – thanks for the reminder, I will try and publish that in the near future :) By the way, if you haven’t already subscribed to my newsletter, that is sent out once a week and will notify you of my latest recipe posts: http://madmimi.com/signups/133131/join Thanks again for the feedback and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipes!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Carol, I just wanted to let you to know that I’ve just published my recipe for misir wat :) Here is the link: https://www.daringgourmet.com/misir-wat-ethiopian-spiced-red-lentils/ With your homemade niter kibbeh and berbere you’re all set to go!
Carol Kroeger says
Just signed up for the newsletter – looking forward to trying out more delicious recipes!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Carol! :)
Shan says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have definitely helped me to get chef points in the kitchen. This recipe is outstanding.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s awesome, Shan, thanks so much!
Sonya says
I’m really excited to prepare this dish! How spicy is this adaptation? I like heat but others in my family don’t tolerate it as well. I love your blog!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you, Sonya! It depends entirely on the berbere spice blend you’re using. If you make your own, which is what I always recommend (see the recipe link in my blog post) then you have full control over the heat level (simply omit or reduce the hot peppers).
Julie says
Thank you for including the recipes for the spice mixes. If I had to deal with searching for Berbere, I probably would have gotten lazy and passed. As it turns out, I had almost every engredient for both spice mixes in my kitchen already.
Anyway, its made and even while missing a couple of engredients is incredibly yummy. I cant stop stuffing my face! Honestly, I think I like it more than the last time I had it at a restaurant.
Great job and thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so thrilled to hear that, Julie, thank you!
Charlotte Borgeson says
Hi Kimberly,
You NAILED it on this one! I grew up in Ethiopia and have been trying to make doro wat at home for years–starting with a first recipe from Time Life. All my other attempts have ended up with a raw taste, not with that comforting smooth back taste. You did it with your layered sweating of the onions, slow cooking the spices, etc. Thank you very much! (I added a bit more berbere as I like it pretty hot!:)
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that, Charlotte, thanks so much for the feedback and thumbs up!
Joseph says
Heck with the taste buds! I’d like to know how Ethiopians still have a GI tract left after eating this! LOL!
Andrew says
This recipe was incredible! I wish I would have read the recipe for injera ahead of time! At least 4 days of fermenting but I I grew it is totally worth it. Used raw flour tortillas and cooked em on a skillet just before serving. Still good but nothing like the real thing! Had Ethiopian food for the first time a couple years ago and I couldn’t believe the flavor. Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. I used a little less wine and used better than bullion instead of broth which I also cut down. Used a bit extra butter and cooked it in a potjie. I wanted more of a thicker sauce and it came out absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!! Also a little trick… I soft boiled the eggs early and then put them in the fridge. When it came time to put in the pot I poked holes and let them simmer which resulted in a marinated egg with a super soft yolk!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Andrew, thanks so much for the feedback!
Judy says
I love this recipe! I initially made saga wat, but the meat ended up being too tough and it was much too spicy for my Western palate. I tried this recipe with some minor tweaks and it quickly became a staple! I put in half the Berbere and did not add the wine as I didn’t have any around. Additionally, I keep kosher, so I skipped the injera and added a couple of drops of olive oil instead (I don’t eat dairy and meat product together). While I’m sure I missed out on the unique and rich flavor of the injera, I used chicken thighs and let it cook for a very long time in hopes that the bones and skin would mimic the umami-type flavor that was missing. It keeps in the fridge nicely and I enjoy it very much! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful, Judy, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and were able to make those adjustments – thank you!
Judy says
I did the shortened version before but this time, followed the recipe exactly. Took a long time but worth it as the flavor profile was much deeper. I bought berbere from our African store and hubby went to buy injera (we live by at least 2 Ethiopian restaurants within walking distance). I made kik Alicha and Gomen and we all loved it. Why not eat at our local places? We love them but soooo heavy. We got a little sick from the richness so with your recipe I was able to cut the butter and use some olive oil. Absolutely delicious!!! Thank you! Next endeavor- injera!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Judy, and appreciate the feedback, thank you!