Firfir
(1 serving)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil or nit'ir qibay*
1/2 medium-large onion (chopped)
5 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)
1 medium-large Roma tomato
2 tablespoons of berbere**
Salt (to taste)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 of an injera****
Extra injera (to serve*****)
Ayb (to garnish)
*Butter also works in a pinch if you're not making this vegan or fasting.
*Butter also works in a pinch if you're not making this vegan or fasting.
**Using 1/2 tablespoon will give you a mildly spicy firfir, I prefer something with a little more kick!
***I'm not sure why Imawaiyesh started using garam masala, but it gives a nice little something to the overall flavor of the firfir!
****Normally yesterday's stale injera is used for this, but I've also used the same-day remains of less successful attempts at making my own injera when they were too mangled to do anything else with them. You can also use stale flatbread if you so desire, although the texture and taste won't be as nice as injera.
***I'm not sure why Imawaiyesh started using garam masala, but it gives a nice little something to the overall flavor of the firfir!
****Normally yesterday's stale injera is used for this, but I've also used the same-day remains of less successful attempts at making my own injera when they were too mangled to do anything else with them. You can also use stale flatbread if you so desire, although the texture and taste won't be as nice as injera.
*****In my memory, when I was a kid we always ate firfir served on fresh injera using more fresh injera rolls, but that can be a bit sour for a beginner. Outside Ethiopia it can be tough (or impossible) to get fresh injera easily, and I usually find myself using frozen injera halves when I make firfir these days, so I don't usually fuss with getting fresh injera myself.
Directions
1) In a medium-large pan saute the onion in the olive oil on medium heat until soft.
2) Add the garlic and tomato and saute another couple of minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
3) Add the spices and saute another minute or two until fragrant.
4) Stir in the water and cover until the sauce begins to boil.
5) Gently stir in small pieces of injera. You want the pieces to absorb the sauce, but not completely disintegrate.
6) Serve as is with a spoon or with fresh injera and enjoy! (If you can find ayb that also goes nicely with firfir if you've made it spicy and aren't eating vegan.)
Directions
1) In a medium-large pan saute the onion in the olive oil on medium heat until soft.
2) Add the garlic and tomato and saute another couple of minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
3) Add the spices and saute another minute or two until fragrant.
4) Stir in the water and cover until the sauce begins to boil.
5) Gently stir in small pieces of injera. You want the pieces to absorb the sauce, but not completely disintegrate.
6) Serve as is with a spoon or with fresh injera and enjoy! (If you can find ayb that also goes nicely with firfir if you've made it spicy and aren't eating vegan.)
This reminds me of chilaquiles. A Mexican breakfast dish where stale tortillas are fried then softened in a sauce. My husband didn't like it at first but now he loves it.
ReplyDeleteOoh! I'd be interested to try that! Although I'm not going to lie, I tried the flatbread version of this recently and was definitely not a fan - the original texture of injera isn't far off from the end product of firfir, whereas using the flatbread the end result sogginess was off-putting.
DeleteJon, I have a good recipe that I can send you!
ReplyDeleteThanks! And yeah, I'm not sure I've seen them in my city :-/.
DeleteThough I imagine corn tortillas are impossible to find in china!
ReplyDelete