Firfir

Ingredients

Base

• 6 piecesday-old injera, torn small
• 4 tbspniter kibbeh
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbspberbere

Sauce

• 2tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 200 mlwater
• salt

To serve

• fresh injera
• yoghurt or ayib
• green chilli

Directions

1. Tear the injera into small pieces with your hands rather than cutting it into squares.
2. Use injera that is a day or two old. Fresh injera is too soft and dissolves into the sauce instead of soaking it up.
3. Cook the onion in the niter kibbeh over a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, adding no liquid at all, until it is completely soft and collapsing.
4. Cook the onion dry and slowly. Ethiopian cooking starts almost every sauce this way, and rushing it with extra oil or a splash of water is the commonest shortcut and the most obvious one in the finished dish.
5. Add the berbere and fry it in the butter for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so that it does not catch.
6. Add the tomato paste, the chopped tomatoes and the water and simmer for 10 minutes into a thick sauce.
7. Add the torn injera in handfuls, folding it through the sauce until every piece is coated and stained red.
8. It should end up moist and coated rather than swimming. If it looks dry add a splash of water, and if it looks wet cook it a minute longer.
9. Season and serve hot, with more fresh injera to scoop it up and yoghurt or ayib alongside to cool it.
10. It was born from thrift: yesterday’s injera torn up and fried with berbere and butter turns stale bread into a hot breakfast.

Technique

• Niter kibbeh, the spiced clarified butter, is what makes this taste Ethiopian rather than merely spicy. It is worth making a batch.
• Berbere varies enormously in heat between brands and households. Taste yours before committing three tablespoons.
• The version made with shredded injera and no sauce, moistened only with butter and berbere, is called fitfit and is drier.

Substitutions

• Any thin sourdough flatbread torn small, if injera is unavailable.
• Clarified butter with a little ginger, garlic and cardamom warmed into it, in place of niter kibbeh.

Variations

• With scrambled egg folded through.
• Made with shiro rather than tomato as the sauce.
• Fitfit, moistened with butter and berbere alone.

History

Torn pieces of injera, Ethiopia’s fermented flatbread, mixed and warmed together with berbere spice, oil and often leftover wat stew, developed specifically as a practical way to use up injera that had gone stale or dry rather than let it go to waste, since fresh injera is made frequently in Ethiopian households and stale leftovers were common. It is closely associated with breakfast in particular, often prepared using the previous day’s leftover injera and stew rather than freshly made ingredients, reflecting its origin as a resourceful, no-waste dish rather than one designed from fresh components. Regional and household versions vary in exactly how much stew or spice is added, with some simpler versions using little more than berbere and oil to revive the dry bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Firfir?

Firfir is a breakfast from Ethiopia: torn injera soaked in spicy berbere sauce and butter. Torn pieces of injera, Ethiopia’s fermented flatbread, mixed and warmed together with berbere spice, oil and often leftover wat stew, developed specifically as a practical way to use up injera that had gone stale or dry rather than let it go to waste, since fresh injera is made frequently in Ethiopian households and stale leftovers were common. It is closely associated with breakfast in particular, often prepared using the previous day’s leftover injera and stew rather than freshly made ingredients, reflecting its origin as a resourceful, no-waste dish rather than one designed from fresh components. Regional and household versions vary in exactly how much stew or spice is added, with some simpler versions using little more than berbere and oil to revive the dry bread.

How long does Firfir take to make?

Firfir takes 15 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Firfir?

Yes, within limits. Any thin sourdough flatbread torn small, if injera is unavailable. Clarified butter with a little ginger, garlic and cardamom warmed into it, in place of niter kibbeh.

What is the most important thing to get right in Firfir?

Tear the injera into small pieces with your hands rather than cutting it into squares.