Shiro

Ingredients

Flour

• 200 gshiro powder, milled chickpea or broad bean flour with spices
• or 200 g gram flour plus 2 tbsp berbere

Base

• 5 tbspoil, or niter kibbeh outside fasting periods
• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1thumb ginger, grated
• 2tomatoes, finely chopped

Spices

• 2 tbspberbere, or to taste
• 1 tspground cardamom
• 1/2 tspground fenugreek
• salt

Liquid

• 1 litrewater, hot

To finish

• a handful of chopped green chilli
• a little chopped onion
• olive oil, to pour over

To serve

• injera
• or bread

Directions

1. Chop the onions as finely as you possibly can. Coarse onion is unpleasant in what should be a smooth stew.
2. Cook them dry for eight minutes until they soften and release water. Continuing the base takes another ten minutes. Add the oil and cook the onions for another ten minutes. They should turn soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for two minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them down. Stir in the berbere, cardamom and fenugreek. Fry the spices for a minute so they lose their raw edge. This is the step that decides whether the stew is smooth.
4. Take the pan off the heat for a moment. Add the shiro powder to the base. Stir it in thoroughly so it coats everything. It will form a thick heavy paste.
5. Return the pan to a very low heat. Add the hot water a ladleful at a time. Whisk hard after each addition until completely smooth. Keep adding until you have the consistency you want. The whisking is what makes shiro smooth rather than grainy.
6. Simmer it gently for fifteen to twenty minutes. Stir it every couple of minutes. Taste it: there should be no raw floury flavour. Shiro for injera should be thick enough to scoop.
7. Add hot water if it has gone too thick. Taste it and adjust the salt and berbere. It should be clearly spiced and moderately hot. Pour a little oil over the surface. Scatter chopped green chilli and raw onion over it. Serve it on injera, spooned into the centre.

Technique

• Add the hot water a ladleful at a time, whisking, since all at once guarantees lumps.
• Cook the finely chopped onions dry first, which concentrates their flavour.
• Use oil rather than niter kibbeh during fasting periods.

Substitutions

• Gram flour with added berbere in place of ready-made shiro powder.
• Niter kibbeh outside fasting periods, which is richer.

Variations

• Bozena shiro, with minced meat cooked in.
• Made thinner, as a soup.
• With a whole egg cracked into the pot at the end.

History

Milled chickpea or broad-bean flour makes a stew that carries Orthodox fasting days, when animal products are forbidden for roughly 180 days yearly.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shiro?

Shiro is a soup & stew from Eritrea: smooth spiced chickpea-flour stew, everyday and fasting staple. Milled chickpea or broad-bean flour makes a stew that carries Orthodox fasting days, when animal products are forbidden for roughly 180 days yearly.

How long does Shiro take to make?

Shiro takes 10 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shiro?

Yes, within limits. Gram flour with added berbere in place of ready-made shiro powder. Niter kibbeh outside fasting periods, which is richer.

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

Return the pan to a very low heat. Add the hot water a ladleful at a time. Whisk hard after each addition until completely smooth. Keep adding until you have the consistency you want. The whisking is what makes shiro smooth rather than grainy.