Ethiopia | Stew

Kik Alicha

Name: Kik Alicha
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Ethiopia, East Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed; 1 large onion, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated; 1½ tsp turmeric; 3 tbsp oil or niter kibbeh; 5 cups water or vegetable stock; salt, to taste

Mild Ethiopian yellow split pea stew with turmeric, onion, garlic, ginger, and a soft buttery texture.

Country

Ethiopia

Region

East Africa

Time

70 min

Serves

Level

easy

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Kik alicha is the gentle side of the Ethiopian platter: yellow split peas cooked until creamy with turmeric, onion, garlic, and ginger. It balances hotter stews beautifully.

What the dish tastes like

Mild Ethiopian yellow split pea stew with turmeric, onion, garlic, ginger, and a soft buttery texture.

When to cook it

Best for Best for vegetarian platters, fasting meals, and mild family meals., with a easy cooking level and about 70 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Injera, misir wat, gomen, shiro, or doro wat.

Regional lane

Injera and wot table. Stews, sauces, and flatbread built for communal injera service.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

teff, berbere, mitmita, niter kibbeh, split peas

Chef board

Build the table around Kik Alicha

Injera, misir wat, gomen, shiro, or doro wat.

Best route from here

Injera and wot table

Collections to keep cooking

Ethiopian Fasting Table

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Ethiopia

4 steps 70 min total easy

Cook aromatics

Cook onion in oil until soft, then add garlic, ginger, and turmeric.

aromatics 10:00

Add peas

Stir in split peas and water or stock.

combine 03:00

Simmer tender

Simmer until the peas are soft and beginning to break down.

pea simmer 45:00

Mash and finish

Mash lightly, season with salt, and simmer until creamy.

finish 07:00

Some versions use niter kibbeh, while fasting versions use oil. Texture ranges from loose stew to thick puree.

Kik Alicha

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Kik Alicha

Step-by-step method

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