Ethiopian Chicken Stew / Doro Wot

An oldie but a goodie from Ethiopia! Chicken is expensive there (or was when I lived there), so this would normally be served around the holidays, the Nativity and Pascha especially. Any day's a good day for ዶሮ፡ወጥ (doro wot) though, and since I was in need of a pick-me-up I decided to try my hand at this. (It's been a long time since I made it last.) This recipe was last updated in September 2026.

Doro Wot

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of nit'ir qibay or butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 medium red onion (chopped)
5 cloves of garlic (minced/crushed)

Doro wot over rice.

1 tablespoon of ginger paste
6 tablespoons of berberé*
1 cup of water**
450g / 1lb of chicken (cubed)
Black pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
2 hard-boiled eggs (shelled)
Injera (to serve)

*This is for moderately spicy doro wot. If you're not strong on spice try one or two tablespoons and see how you do.
**Or 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of red wine.

Directions
1) Melt the butter and olive oil in a medium-large pan over medium heat and sauté the onion until it's begun to soften and become translucent.

2) Stir in the garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute or two.
3) Throw the berberé into the pan and thoroughly incorporate, stirring for another couple of minutes.

4) Add the water (or water and wine) to the pan and thoroughly combine with the onion and spices, making sure to keep anything from sticking to the bottom and burning.
5) Stir the chicken into the sauce, cover the skillet, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 30 minutes - stirring every five or ten minutes - until the chicken has cooked and the sauce has reduced somewhat.

6) Once the wot has cooked down and thickened sufficiently add salt and pepper to taste and then the hard-boiled eggs, allowing the latter to heat through before removing the wot from the stove.
7) Normally doro wot would be eaten as is over (and with) injera, but if the latter isn't available to you doro wot is perfectly lovely with some rice, baguette, or your favorite flatbread. (I default to paratha when I can't get injera.) Whatever you do, enjoy!