Kik alicha

Ingredients

Peas

• 500 gyellow split peas
• rinsed and picked over
• about 1.5 litres water

The pot

• 3onions, finely chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 4cm ginger, grated
• 100 mloil
• or 80 g niter kibbeh
• 2 teaspoonsground turmeric
• 1 teaspoonsalt, or to taste

Sometimes added

• 2green chillies, slit
• 1 teaspoonground cardamom
• a squeeze of lemon

To serve

• injera
• as part of a shared platter
• alongside other wot

Directions

1. Butter is melted with garlic, ginger and spices. It is strained and keeps for months. Rinse the split peas in cold water. Pick out any stones or dark grains. Rinse them until the water runs clear. Drain them all off very thoroughly. Put the peas into a large heavy pot.
2. Cover them with plenty of water. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Skim off all the foam that rises. Do it in the first ten minutes. Let them simmer for about forty minutes. Stir them now and then as they go. Add hot water if they dry out. Judging the peas takes a look.
3. Put the chopped onions in a dry pan. Cook them over a medium heat steadily. Stir them regularly as they go. Give them a good fifteen minutes. Add the oil or the niter kibbeh. Stir it through the softened onions.
4. Let them fry for another ten minutes. They should turn a deeper gold. Add the crushed garlic to the pan. Add the grated ginger with it. Cook them for a good two minutes.
5. Add the ground turmeric to the pan. Fry it for thirty seconds only. Add the onion base to the cooked peas. Stir it all through thoroughly. Season the whole pot well with salt. Let it simmer gently together. Give it about twenty more minutes.
6. Stir it regularly so it does not catch. It should be thick and spoonable. Add hot water if it gets too stiff. That keeps it within the alicha idea. Remove them before serving if you like. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add a squeeze of lemon if it seems flat. Add cardamom if you want more warmth. Serving it is done as one dish among several.
7. Spoon it onto a large injera platter. Set it beside other stews and vegetables. Tear off injera and scoop with it. It keeps four days refrigerated.

Technique

• Ethiopian stews divide into key wot, the red ones made with berbere, and alicha, the mild ones made without it and coloured with turmeric instead; alicha are cooked for young children, for elderly people and for guests unused to the heat, and are liked in their own right rather than being a lesser version of anything.
• Onions are cooked dry with no fat before the oil goes in, a distinctive Ethiopian technique that drives off their water first so the fat then fries rather than steams them, giving a deeper and less greasy result.
• Yellow split peas are not kidney beans and do not carry the same lectin risk, so they need no hard preliminary boil; simple long simmering is entirely enough, and they break down on their own to thicken the stew with no thickener added.

Substitutions

• Oil in place of niter kibbeh makes it suitable for Orthodox fasting days.
• Kik wot is the same pulse cooked with berbere instead of turmeric.

Variations

• Slit green chillies are added whole in some households for aroma.
• Cardamom goes in near the end in some homes.
• It is served as one dish among several on a shared injera platter.

History

Yellow split peas with turmeric and no chili, the mild stew cooked for children and for guests who cannot take berbere.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kik alicha?

Kik alicha is a soup & stew from Ethiopia: mild yellow split-pea stew with turmeric and ginger. Yellow split peas with turmeric and no chili, the mild stew cooked for children and for guests who cannot take berbere.

How long does Kik alicha take to make?

Kik alicha takes 15 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kik alicha?

Yes, within limits. Oil in place of niter kibbeh makes it suitable for Orthodox fasting days. Kik wot is the same pulse cooked with berbere instead of turmeric.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kik alicha?

Add the ground turmeric to the pan. Fry it for thirty seconds only. Add the onion base to the cooked peas. Stir it all through thoroughly. Season the whole pot well with salt. Let it simmer gently together. Give it about twenty more minutes.