Kitcha fit-fit

Ingredients

Bread

• 4kitcha, preferably a day old

Sauce

• 100 gniter kibbeh
• 2 tbspberbere
• 1onion, very finely chopped
• salt

To serve

• yoghurt or ayib
• green chilli
• tea or coffee

Directions

1. Use kitcha that is a day old rather than fresh from the griddle.
2. Day-old bread is drier and it drinks the spiced butter instead of turning to paste, which is exactly why fit-fit exists at all: it is a dish built on yesterday’s bread.
3. Tear the kitcha into rough pieces about 3 cm across, by hand.
4. Tear it, do not cut it. Torn edges are irregular and catch the butter, and knife-cut squares slide against each other.
5. Melt the niter kibbeh gently in a wide pan over a low heat.
6. Take the pan off the heat and stir the berbere into the warm butter.
7. Off the heat for the berbere. It is a chilli and spice blend and it scorches in hot fat within seconds, turning bitter and dark.
8. Let it sit for a minute so the spices bloom and the butter turns deep red.
9. Stir in the finely chopped raw onion and a good pinch of salt.
10. The onion goes in raw and stays raw, which gives the sharp bite against the rich butter.
11. Add the torn bread and toss it thoroughly with your hands or two spoons until every piece is coated red.
12. Work quickly and serve immediately. It softens by the minute, and fit-fit that has sat for a quarter of an hour is a different and worse thing.
13. Pile it into a bowl and top with yoghurt or crumbled ayib, which cools the heat.
14. Serve with a green chilli on the side and a cup of tea or coffee.
15. It is breakfast above all, eaten across Eritrea and Tigray, and it is the standard way of using up the previous day’s bread.

Technique

• Fit-fit simply means torn or crumbled, and there is an injera version, injera fit-fit, made the same way.
• It should be sharply spicy, and the yoghurt is there to make that manageable rather than to soften it.
• The amount of niter kibbeh looks excessive and is not.

Substitutions

• Clarified butter warmed with ginger, garlic and cardamom, in place of niter kibbeh.
• Any flatbread torn up, though kitcha is what it is built for.

Variations

• Injera fit-fit, made with injera instead.
• Shiro fit-fit, moistened with chickpea stew rather than butter.
• With a fried egg on top.

History

Breakfast of torn kitcha moistened with tesmi and berbere, often crowned with yoghurt; fit-fit comes from the Tigrinya verb to crumble.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kitcha fit-fit?

Kitcha fit-fit is a breakfast from Eritrea: torn unleavened kitcha tossed with spiced clarified butter and berbere. Breakfast of torn kitcha moistened with tesmi and berbere, often crowned with yoghurt; fit-fit comes from the Tigrinya verb to crumble.

How long does Kitcha fit-fit take to make?

Kitcha fit-fit takes 10 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kitcha fit-fit?

Yes, within limits. Clarified butter warmed with ginger, garlic and cardamom, in place of niter kibbeh. Any flatbread torn up, though kitcha is what it is built for.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kitcha fit-fit?

Use kitcha that is a day old rather than fresh from the griddle.