Tihlo

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 groasted barley flour, or roasted wheat flour
• about 500 ml hot water
• 1 tspsalt

Sauce

• 700 gbeef, in small cubes
• 3onions, very finely chopped
• 4 tbspberbere
• 3 tbsptesmi, spiced clarified butter
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 2cm ginger
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 500 mlwater or stock
• salt

Equipment

• small wooden forks or sharpened sticks, one per person
• a wide shallow communal dish

To serve

• from one bowl, with everyone eating together
• suwa, the local beer

Directions

1. Add hot water to the flour gradually, mixing with a spoon at first. Use genuinely hot water. Barley has almost no gluten, and hot water gelatinises the starch, which is the only thing that makes the dough cohesive enough to shape.
2. Add the water a little at a time until it comes together into a stiff, smooth dough. Now knead it hard for 10 minutes. Knead it properly and while it is still warm. It should become smooth, dense and slightly glossy, like firm modelling clay. Roll the dough into small balls the size of a large marble.
3. Keep them small and uniform, since they are eaten one at a time on the end of a fork. Cover them with a cloth so they do not dry out. Chop the onions extremely finely and cook them in a dry pan first, with no fat at all. Dry-cooking the onions first is standard Eritrean and Ethiopian practice.
4. Cook them for 15 minutes, stirring, until they are soft and reduced. Now add the tesmi and cook a few minutes more. Add the garlic, ginger and tomato paste and cook until fragrant. Now the berbere, which needs care.
5. Add the berbere and cook it in the fat for 3 or 4 minutes. Frying the berbere in fat rather than adding it to liquid is what develops it, but it burns readily, so keep the heat moderate and keep it moving. Add the beef and stir it through the paste.
6. Add the water and simmer, covered, for an hour until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. The sauce should be thick and glossy rather than soupy, since the dough balls are dipped into it rather than sitting in it.
7. Taste and season it firmly, because the barley dough is entirely unseasoned and it needs a strong sauce. Put the sauce in a wide shallow dish in the centre of the table. Set the plate of dough balls beside it, and give everyone a small wooden fork. Eat it hot, and keep dipping until the sauce is finished.

Technique

• The wooden forks are specific to the dish and are part of the tradition.
• Roasted barley flour is sold as besso in Ethiopian and Eritrean shops.
• It belongs to the Agame area and Tigray, and is not made everywhere in either country.

Substitutions

• Roasted wheat flour in place of barley, which is close.
• Lamb or goat in place of beef.

Variations

• Made with lamb.
• With a milder sauce for children.
• A fasting version made without meat.

History

A speciality of the Agame highlands straddling Eritrea and Tigray, eaten communally with small forked sticks from one shared bowl.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tihlo?

Tihlo is a main from Eritrea: roasted barley dough balls speared with wooden forks into spicy meat sauce. A speciality of the Agame highlands straddling Eritrea and Tigray, eaten communally with small forked sticks from one shared bowl.

How long does Tihlo take to make?

Tihlo takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Tihlo?

Yes, within limits. Roasted wheat flour in place of barley, which is close. Lamb or goat in place of beef.

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

Add hot water to the flour gradually, mixing with a spoon at first. Use genuinely hot water. Barley has almost no gluten, and hot water gelatinises the starch, which is the only thing that makes the dough cohesive enough to shape.