Dulet

Ingredients

Offal and meat

• 300 gbeef tripe, cleaned
• 300 gbeef liver
• 200 glean beef
• 100 gbeef kidney, optional

To cook

• 150 gniter kibbeh, spiced clarified butter
• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm ginger, grated
• 2 tablespoonsmitmita
• or 2 tablespoons berbere
• 2 teaspoonsground cardamom
• 1 teaspoonground black pepper
• 1 teaspoonsalt

To serve

• injera
• ayib, fresh cheese
• extra mitmita, on the side

Directions

1. Use it the same day you buy it. Use it sparingly on a first attempt. Cleaning the tripe takes real work. Rinse it well under cold running water. Rub it hard with coarse salt on both sides. Rinse it and repeat that once more.
2. Let it sit for twenty minutes in that acid. Rinse it thoroughly one final time. It should smell clean and faintly of lime. Rinse the liver and trim off any tubes. Remove the thin membrane from the liver.
3. Soak the kidney in cold water if using it. Trim all the sinew from the lean beef. Pat everything thoroughly dry. Use a heavy sharp knife on a board. Chop everything to about half a centimetre. Chop the tripe, liver and beef separately first. The onion must be almost a paste. Chop it as finely as you possibly can. Melt the niter kibbeh in a wide pan.
4. Keep the heat moderate throughout. Never let clarified butter smoke. Add all the finely chopped onion. Cook it gently for about eight minutes. It should soften without browning much. Add the garlic and the ginger. Cook them for a good two minutes.
5. Turn the heat right up to high. Add all the chopped offal and beef. Toss it constantly in the hot butter. Add the mitmita and the cardamom. Add the black pepper and the salt. Keep tossing for about six minutes. Keep cooking until no pink remains.
6. Cut into a piece to check it through. The liver should be firm and brown throughout. Taste it and adjust the salt to suit. Add more mitmita if you want more heat. Serving it is done hot with injera.
7. Spoon it out onto a large injera. Set more injera alongside in rolls. Serve ayib, the fresh cheese, next to it. Put extra mitmita on the table. Tear off injera and use it to scoop. It really does not keep well at all.

Technique

• Dulet is traditionally served barely cooked or raw, but raw beef in Ethiopia is strongly associated with the beef tapeworm Taenia saginata, which is endemic there and well documented, so this entry recommends cooking it through.
• Ethiopians distinguish degrees of doneness, with tere meaning raw, leb leb lightly warmed and yebesele fully cooked, and dulet is often ordered leb leb.
• Mitmita is the hotter Ethiopian blend built on bird’s eye chilli, and is the one used for raw meat dishes, being considerably hotter than berbere.

Substitutions

• Plain ghee stands in for niter kibbeh, though it lacks all the spice infusion.
• Berbere can replace mitmita for a milder and more rounded heat.

Variations

• Kitfo, minced raw beef in spiced butter, is the better known relative and carries the same risk.
• Some households make dulet with tripe alone.
• A fully cooked version is served in many restaurants.

History

Made from the offal of a freshly slaughtered animal, often served barely cooked; a delicacy at holidays when a whole beast is butchered.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dulet?

Dulet is a main from Ethiopia: minced tripe, liver and beef fried with butter, chili and cardamom. Made from the offal of a freshly slaughtered animal, often served barely cooked; a delicacy at holidays when a whole beast is butchered.

How long does Dulet take to make?

Dulet takes 40 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Dulet?

Yes, within limits. Plain ghee stands in for niter kibbeh, though it lacks all the spice infusion. Berbere can replace mitmita for a milder and more rounded heat.

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

Soak the kidney in cold water if using it. Trim all the sinew from the lean beef. Pat everything thoroughly dry. Use a heavy sharp knife on a board. Chop everything to about half a centimetre. Chop the tripe, liver and beef separately first. The onion must be almost a paste. Chop it as finely as you possibly can. Melt the niter kibbeh in a wide pan.