Misir wot (Ethiopian spiced red lentil stew)
70 min · 26 g protein · 472 cals / serving
Red lentils cooked down into a thick, brick-red stew with a mountain of slow-cooked onion, garlic, ginger and a homemade berbere blend: smoky paprika, chilli, fenugreek, cardamom and warm spices. It is rich, peppery and deeply savoury without any meat. Scoop it up with soft, tangy injera, a pile of garlicky collard greens and a sharp chilli-lemon tomato salad.
Ingredients
Misir wot
- 3 medium onions, very finely chopped
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
Berbere spices
- 1 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, cayenne or chilli flakes; real berbere is hotter, so add more if you like
- 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Misir wot
- 1 1/4 cups red lentils, rinsed
- 3 3/4 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
Gomen (garlicky collards)
- 2 bunches collard greens, stems removed, leaves shredded
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 green chili pepper, sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
Timatim (tomato salad)
- 3 large tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 green chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
To serve
- 4 small injera, or warm whole-wheat flatbreads
Steps
- Put the onions in a dry, heavy pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often, 8–10 minutes until they collapse and start to stick, adding a splash of water if they catch. Add the oil and cook 5 minutes more until soft and golden.
- Add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste and all the berbere spices and cook, stirring, 2 minutes until the paste darkens and smells toasty.
- Add the lentils, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 25–30 minutes, stirring often and adding water if it gets too thick, until the lentils have melted into a thick, spoonable stew.
- For the gomen, heat the oil in a large pan, soften the onion 3 minutes, add the garlic and chilli for 1 minute, then add the collards, salt and a splash of water. Cover and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until tender.
- For the timatim, toss the tomato, red onion, chilli, lemon juice and salt and leave 10 minutes.
- Lay an injera on each plate, spoon the misir wot, the gomen and the tomato salad on top and tear off pieces of injera to scoop it up.
Good to know
Can I use ready-made berbere?
Yes. Use 2–3 tablespoons of berbere in place of the paprika, cayenne and spices listed. Berbere is hotter than this blend and brands vary a lot, so start with 1 tablespoon and taste.
Where do I get injera?
Ethiopian and Eritrean shops and restaurants sell it fresh, and many will sell you a stack to take home. Warm flatbread or a little rice works too.
Is it vegan?
As written, yes. Ethiopian cooks often finish it with a spoonful of niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) for richness outside fasting days; 1 tablespoon of butter stirred in at the end gets close.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 71
- Protein
- (21%)
- 4 g
- Fat
- (17%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (63%)
- 14 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sodium
- 163 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1889 kcal goes into the pot and 3151 g of ingredients comes out as about 2650 g of food: 71 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.