Berbere Ethiopian Spice Blend

I recently set out to perfect shiro wot, a chickpea stew that is one of my favorite Ethiopian dishes and perhaps one of the easiest Ethiopian recipes ever. To make the perfect shiro wot, or other yummy Ethiopian dishes like vegan doro wot, tikil gomen and this Ethiopian lentil stew, you need two flavor building blocks of Ethiopian cuisine: berbere and niter kibbeh. Today I have the berbere recipe for you. It takes just 10 minutes or so to pull this spice blend together and it smells so good, you might want to eat it out of the jar😉.

What is berbere?

Berbere (pronounced ber-ber-ay) is a traditional Ethiopian blend of spices used to season vegetable, meat and lentil dishes. It’s the principal spice blend among the many spice blends that are part of Ethiopian cuisine, and it adds a distinctive and highly alluring aroma to anything it’s stirred into – the kind that makes you hungry even if you’ve just eaten! Berbere is made by combining toasted whole spices, including coriander seed, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, fenugreek and allspice, with chile peppers, paprika, ground ginger, garlic and onion powder. Making this spice blend couldn’t be easier and having it on hand opens up a world of delicious gastronomic adventures.

Why you will love this recipe

Quick and easy. Making a berbere spice recipe couldn’t be easier. You need under five minutes to toast the spices and then a few more to blend them up. If you make Indian spice mixes like garam masala you likely have all the ingredients you need on hand. Aromatic. This is a highly fragrant spice blend that will work magic into almost any Ethiopian recipe you make. Naturally vegan. Berbere is a vegan recipe to begin with because we are working with just spices and herbs. No substitutions needed. Versatile. This Ethiopian spice blend is wonderful in Ethiopian dishes, of course, but you can use it to spice up nearly any one of your favorite lentil or bean stews, including chili. Your imagination is the limit.

Ingredients

Spices: coriander seeds, green cardamom pods (instead of korarima, a local cardamom, that an Ethiopian cook would use)), cloves, cinnamon sticks, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, allspice berries, nutmeg, dried red chili peppers (like arbol peppers) and paprika. Herbs: ginger powder, garlic powder and onion flakes.