Alicha

Ingredients

The vegetables

• 4potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 3carrots, cut into thick batons
• half a white cabbage, cut into wedges
• or a mixture of what you have
• 2large onions, chopped finely

The fat and spice

• 4 tablespoonsniter kibbeh
• the spiced clarified butter
• or 4 tablespoons oil
• for a fasting version
• 1 tablespoonground turmeric
• 1 teaspoonground ginger
• or a thumb of fresh, grated
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• half a teaspoon ground cardamom
• optional

The liquid and seasoning

• about 600 ml water or stock
• salt, to taste
• black pepper
• 2green chillies, slit lengthways
• left whole, optional

To serve

• injera, the sour flatbread
• or bread, or rice
• ayib, fresh curd cheese
• other wat dishes alongside

Directions

1. Use a good quantity of it rather than a pinch. That stain is stubborn and it takes days to fade. Put the finely chopped onions into a dry heavy pot. Cook them over a medium heat, stirring regularly.
2. Keep going until that liquid has cooked away. That takes about fifteen minutes and it cannot be rushed.
3. Stir it through the softened onions. Cook them for a further five minutes in the fat. Add the turmeric, the ginger and the garlic. Add the cardamom if you are using it.
4. Stir them into the fat and cook for two minutes. Do not let them burn, since turmeric turns bitter quickly. Add the water or stock and bring it to a simmer.
5. Add the vegetables in order of how long they need. Potatoes and carrots go in first, since they take longest.
6. Simmer them for about twenty minutes. Add the cabbage wedges after that. Cabbage needs only about fifteen minutes. Mash one or two against the side of the pot if it is thin. Add hot water if it has reduced too far.
7. Season with salt and taste it carefully. It needs a good deal of salt, since the vegetables absorb it. Grind in black pepper to finish. That one is yellow split peas cooked to a thick purée.

Technique

• Alicha is defined by what it lacks. Ethiopian and Eritrean stews divide into hot red ones made with berbere and mild yellow ones made without it, coloured with turmeric instead. A table carries both at once, deliberately — one is not a lesser version of the other, they are two halves of how a meal is built, and the mild dish means children, guests and anyone who dislikes heat can eat from the same platter.
• Cook the onions dry first, in a pot with no fat at all, until the liquid they release has cooked away — about fifteen minutes. Only then does the fat go in. That is a genuine and characteristic technique of this cooking and it gives a deeper, more concentrated result than frying them in fat from the start.
• Stage the vegetables. Potato and carrot need about twenty minutes and cabbage about fifteen; putting everything in at once gives collapsed cabbage and hard potato.
• Use a full tablespoon of turmeric rather than a pinch, and buy it fresh. Ground turmeric fades within months and old turmeric tastes dusty and gives a dull colour. It also stains hands, boards and clothing for days, so wipe surfaces immediately.
• Do not let the turmeric burn when it goes into the fat. It turns bitter quickly, so lower the heat if the pot is running hot.
• Niter kibbeh, spiced clarified butter, carries much of the flavour of this cooking and keeps for months unrefrigerated, which is why it exists. Buy it from an Ethiopian or Eritrean grocer; ghee with a little cardamom is the nearest substitute and it is not the same thing.
• On fasting days oil replaces the butter entirely, and that version is equally proper rather than a compromise. Orthodox fasting excludes all animal products and is observed on most Wednesdays and Fridays plus long periods before major feasts, which is why so much of this cooking is naturally vegan — an old religious practice rather than a modern dietary choice.
• Slit the green chillies rather than chopping them, and use few or none. An alicha is meant to be mild; heat is what the accompanying wat is for.
• Mash one or two potatoes against the side of the pot if the sauce is thin. Alicha is a thick stew rather than a soup and the potato thickens it naturally.
• Injera needs teff and days of fermentation, and is sold ready made by Ethiopian and Eritrean shops. Its sourness is part of the balance of the meal, so bread or rice is a substitute rather than an equivalent.

Substitutions

• Oil replaces niter kibbeh for a fasting or vegan version, which is entirely traditional.
• Ghee with a pinch of cardamom is the nearest substitute for niter kibbeh if you cannot buy it.
• Green beans, courgette or squash can join or replace the listed vegetables; this is a method rather than a fixed list.
• Yellow split peas make kik alicha, a quite different and thicker dish from the same principle.
• Lamb, goat or beef make a meat alicha, needing about an hour and a half of simmering.
• Bread or rice replaces injera where teff flatbread is unavailable, though the sourness of injera is part of the balance.

Variations

• Atakilt wat, the potato, carrot and cabbage version, is the best known vegetable alicha.
• Kik alicha, made with yellow split peas, is a thick mild purée served alongside hotter dishes.
• Siga alicha and beg alicha are the beef and lamb versions, simmered far longer.
• Doro wat, the hot chicken stew with berbere, is the classic red counterpart on the same platter.
• Shiro, made from ground chickpea or broad bean flour, is the everyday stew of both countries.
• Gomen, collard greens cooked soft, is the standard green dish served alongside.

Frequently asked questions

What is Alicha?

Alicha is a soup & stew from Eritrea: mild turmeric stew of vegetables or meat, without berbere heat.

How long does Alicha take to make?

Alicha takes 20 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Alicha?

Yes, within limits. Oil replaces niter kibbeh for a fasting or vegan version, which is entirely traditional. Ghee with a pinch of cardamom is the nearest substitute for niter kibbeh if you cannot buy it. Green beans, courgette or squash can join or replace the listed vegetables; this is a method rather than a fixed list. Yellow split peas make kik alicha, a quite different and thicker dish from the same principle. Lamb, goat or beef make a meat alicha, needing about an hour and a half of simmering. Bread or rice replaces injera where teff flatbread is unavailable, though the sourness of injera is part of the balance.

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

Use a good quantity of it rather than a pinch. That stain is stubborn and it takes days to fade. Put the finely chopped onions into a dry heavy pot. Cook them over a medium heat, stirring regularly.