Ayib be gomen

Ingredients

The greens

• 1 kgcollard greens
• or kale, or spring greens
• thick stems removed
• leaves shredded finely

The base

• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoonsniter kibbeh
• the spiced clarified butter
• or 3 tablespoons oil
• for a fasting version
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• a thumb of ginger, grated
• 2green chillies, slit
• or to taste
• half a teaspoon ground cardamom
• optional
• salt, to taste
• about 300 ml water

The cheese

• 300 gayib
• fresh Ethiopian curd cheese
• or 300 g fresh ricotta
• well drained
• or a mild fresh curd cheese
• crumbled

To serve

• injera, the sour flatbread
• other dishes alongside
• a hot wat, for contrast

Directions

1. Drain it well, since ayib is drier. Cottage cheese works if you drain it thoroughly. Warm soured milk or buttermilk gently in a pan. Do not let it boil at any point. Strain it through muslin over a bowl. Let it drain for an hour or two. Press it gently to firm it up.
2. Use cultured buttermilk rather than raw soured milk. That clarification lets it keep for months unrefrigerated. Strip the leaves from the thick central stems. Wash the leaves thoroughly in cold water.
3. Lift them out rather than pouring the water off. Stack them, roll them and slice across. It helps them collapse into the right texture. Put the finely chopped onions in a dry pot first. Use no fat at all at this stage. Cook them over a medium heat, stirring regularly.
4. Continue until that liquid has cooked away. That takes about twelve to fifteen minutes. Add the niter kibbeh or the oil. Stir it through the softened onions.
5. Cook them for five minutes more in the fat. Add the crushed garlic and the grated ginger. Add the slit green chillies. Add the cardamom if you are using it. Cook them for two minutes until fragrant. Add them in batches as they wilt down.
6. Add a splash of water to help them steam. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Simmer them for about thirty minutes. Stir them from time to time. Add more water if the pot runs dry. The greens should become genuinely soft. Cook off any excess liquid at the end. Season with salt and taste it carefully.
7. Take the pot off the heat entirely. Let it cool for two or three minutes. Fold it through gently with a spoon. Do not stir it hard at all. Serve it warm rather than hot. Eating is done with the right hand only. Add fresh cheese after reheating them.

Technique

• Add the cheese off the heat and fold it in gently. Fresh curd toughens and goes rubbery if cooked, and stirring hard breaks it into a uniform pale mush — you want visible white curds against the dark green, which is the whole look of the dish.
• Cook the onions dry first, with no fat at all, until the liquid they release has cooked away. That takes twelve to fifteen minutes and is a genuine technique of Ethiopian cooking, deepening them in a way that frying from the start does not.
• The greens are cooked long and slow until they collapse and darken, not blanched briefly to stay bright. That texture is deliberate and characteristic, and it surprises cooks used to European greens.
• Cook off any excess liquid before the cheese goes in. A watery dish will not hold the curds and they simply sink.
• Use a fresh crumbly curd that does not melt. Ricotta well drained, or drained cottage cheese, works; a melting cheese turns the dish greasy and stringy, which is entirely the wrong texture.
• Ayib is easy to make: warm cultured buttermilk gently without boiling until it separates, then strain it through muslin for an hour or two. Use cultured buttermilk rather than raw soured milk, which can carry bacteria that souring does not reliably destroy.
• Ayib is what cools the heat at an Ethiopian table, playing the role yoghurt plays elsewhere. Here it is folded into the greens themselves, which makes the whole dish a cooling one among hotter neighbours.
• This dish cannot be made on an Orthodox fasting day, since it contains both butter and cheese. Gomen cooked in oil alone is the fasting version and is a common dish in its own right.
• Niter kibbeh carries much of the flavour of Ethiopian cooking and keeps for months unrefrigerated because it is clarified. Buy it from an Ethiopian grocer; ghee with a pinch of cardamom is the nearest substitute and is not the same.
• Ayib be gomen is never the whole meal. It sits on the communal injera among several dishes, with a hot red wat providing the contrast — that structure of hot alongside mild is how the meal is built.

Substitutions

• Kale, spring greens or any sturdy brassica replace collards; all need the same long cooking.
• Well drained ricotta replaces ayib closely; drained cottage cheese also works.
• Oil replaces niter kibbeh, though the dish then loses much of its characteristic flavour.
• Ghee with a pinch of cardamom is the nearest substitute for niter kibbeh if you cannot buy it.
• The chillies can be left out entirely, since this dish is meant to be the mild one on the platter.
• Bread or rice replaces injera where teff flatbread is unavailable, though the sourness of injera is part of the balance.

Variations

• Gomen cooked in oil without cheese is the fasting version and is eaten constantly.
• Gomen be siga adds beef to the greens and is a fuller dish.
• Ayib served plain, as a cooling spoonful beside hot dishes, is how it most often appears.
• Kitfo be ayib pairs the raw minced beef dish with the same fresh cheese.
• Doro wat, the hot chicken stew, is the classic contrasting dish on the same platter.
• Some cooks add a little chopped tomato to the greens, which is a modern touch rather than traditional.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ayib be gomen?

Ayib be gomen is a salad & side from Ethiopia: collard greens simmered soft and folded through fresh curd cheese.

How long does Ayib be gomen take to make?

Ayib be gomen takes 20 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6 as a side. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ayib be gomen?

Yes, within limits. Kale, spring greens or any sturdy brassica replace collards; all need the same long cooking. Well drained ricotta replaces ayib closely; drained cottage cheese also works. Oil replaces niter kibbeh, though the dish then loses much of its characteristic flavour. Ghee with a pinch of cardamom is the nearest substitute for niter kibbeh if you cannot buy it. The chillies can be left out entirely, since this dish is meant to be the mild one on the platter. 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 Ayib be gomen?

Drain it well, since ayib is drier. Cottage cheese works if you drain it thoroughly. Warm soured milk or buttermilk gently in a pan. Do not let it boil at any point. Strain it through muslin over a bowl. Let it drain for an hour or two. Press it gently to firm it up.